Question

Your opinion on the doctrine "employment-at-will," Is it fair?

Answer 1

The doctrine of ‘employment-at-will’ says that employment is for an indefinite period of time (non-contractual) and is legal right of the employer or the employee to terminate the employment, for whatever reasons they feel best fit the cause of termination. There are however certain exceptions to this doctrine wherein the employer cannot terminate the employee under certain situations. These exceptions are:

1. Contractual relationship: If there is a legal binding contract between the employer and the employee, then the employee cannot be terminated midway.
2. Statutory Consideration: Federal and State laws can sometimes protect the interests of the employees such that they cannot be fired.
3. Public Policy Violation: Employer cannot fire the employee for refusing to carry out an illegal order.

However, in spite of these three exceptions, since the bargaining power between employers and employees is highly unequal, the doctrine of ‘employment-at-will’ is far from being fair in this ways of working. It might appear that the doctrine is fair because it gives both the employer and the employee the right to terminate employment at will, but in reality, this doctrine is unfair to employees as they have a lot more to lose than employers do. Whereas employers can rehire or redistribute the extra work among other employees, the terminated employee is at a loss and needs to look for a job all over again. Some of the reasons why this doctrine is very unfair to employees are as follows:

a) Firstly, the employee is always at the will of the employer and in constant fear of being fired unless he/she obeys the employer at every step, even if that means sacrificing some benefits or morals from the employees end. This causes various instances of a corrupt work environment wherein the employer might fire a very hard working employee based on favouritism. This also leads to an unhealthy work atmosphere where all employees have to constantly agree to every opinion of the employer, even if they feel that it is wrong.

b) Secondly, whenever an employee is terminated, he/she has to face a period of unemployment that can last for a long time. This puts the financial security of the employee at stake. The employer on the other hand has nothing to lose if the employee resigns at will, as he/she will simply redistribute the additional work among the existing employees and has no compromise in his profits or salary whatsoever. Thus, the stakes are much higher for the employee than for the employer.

c) Thirdly, due to a lack of job security because of the doctrine, both the employer and the employee may end up having a very superficial and bitter relationship. Unless the employer is fair and welcoming, both ends are suspect each other of terminating the employment at their will. This creates mistrust among employees and employer.

d) Fourthly, employees are often exploited due to this doctrine. They are made to work extra hours without fair compensation in fear of being terminated otherwise.

e) Fifthly, although it is a professional violation, the undue advantage that employers have in this doctrine because the reason of termination becomes unimportant, make some employers extract personal favours out of employees, who surrender in fear of losing their jobs.

f) Lastly, the most important reason why this doctrine is unfair to employees is that, the path that the employment trajectory of each employee takes, depends solely on the nature of the employer. If the employer is fair, there is good work environment and the ill effects of the doctrine are negated. However, if the employer is unfair, resorts to favouritism and hankers for constant approval from employees, then it becomes difficult for honest employees to work productively in such an environment. Thus, which course the doctrine will take is controlled only by the employer and the employee has nothing to do but face the consequences of the doctrine.

Thus, to sum it up, the doctrine of ‘employment-at-will’ is not fair. The employees bear the brunt of the ill-effects of this doctrine while employers have numerous scopes of exploiting employees by threatening to use their power to dismiss them.