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Hiring at-will
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Hiring at-will
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
Our state government has recently legislated that newly hired employees will no longer be hired under the state's merit system, but rather are hired "at will." The following scenarios has occurred (wi
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Hiring at-will
posted at 6/9/1999 6:36 PM EDT
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Posts: 20
First: 6/9/1999 Last: 3/7/2002 |
Our state government has recently legislated that newly hired employees will no longer be hired under the state's merit system, but rather are hired "at will." The following scenarios has occurred (with some minor differences) on several occasions:
An applicant applied for a position, was interviewed, then given a written offer of employment. Several days after the employee had begun her job, personnel met with her to tell her they discovered that she didn't really meet their qualifications for the position, Therefore, she could accept another position (lower level, lower pay); otherwise, they would have to let her go. By the way, the employee had not misrepresented her credentials; personnel had simply not verified that the employee's work experience met the agency's desired minimum qualifications. In another case, an employee was interviewed and given a written notice of acceptance for a promotion. Several days later, personnel met with this employee and explained that they had made a mistake in their selection because after further review the selected employee was not "the most qualified." Aside from the obvious rather slip-shod personnel practices, I'm concerned about whether these practices might open up the organization to some serious legal repercussions. Also, does the written offer of employment (especially if it doesn't reference the at-will employment) have any significance? |
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Hiring at-will
posted at 6/10/1999 5:55 PM EDT
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Posts: 38
First: 6/9/1999 Last: 10/26/2004 |
Welcome to the world of "Employment at Will" (or EAW to our friends). Now, you can find out what the rest of us have been dealing with for many years.
EAW means that an employer can fire (or demote or discipline or whatever) an employee for a good reason, a bad reason or no reason at all, so long as it is not an illegal reason or in breach of contract. Illegal reasons are race, national origin, sex, and so on. A contract can be created by (depending on the state) oral promises or written promises on which an employee reasonable relies. Because it is so easy to become a plaintiff, any employer in an EAW state runs a risk that (unless it can demonstrate why it took the action it took0 a judge or jury will infer that the reason for the challenged action was an illegal reason. I advise all of my clients to keep these rules in mind whenever taking adverse employment action against an employee or applicant. "An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure," or a few dollars in legal advice now is worth thousands of dollars in litigation defense costs later. |
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