Welcome back! Last week’s post provided an overview of employment contracts. This week, The Emplawyerologist focuses on one of the sub-topics, employment-at-will-- specifically how employers can avoid creating implied contracts and preserve employment-at-will status.

Remember: Employment-at-will allows both employer and employee to end the employment relationship any time for any lawful reason or no reason at all. Every state except Montana presumes employment-at-will. An employee can, however, rebut this presumption by showing, a) clear written statements in a contract, (e.g. a two-year term of employment, or firing for “just cause”; or b) proving existence of an implied contract, which is created by oral or vague written statements and behavior that lead the average person to believe s/he has a degree of job security. Whether a belief is reasonable depends on specific circumstances. The employer must then meet certain obligations, such as following a disciplinary procedure, allowing some time to re-evaluate the situation, or waiting until the expiration of a fixed term before it can fire the employee. Currently, at least 38 states recognize implied employment contracts.

You are reading an excerpt of the October 18, 2012 post on The Emplawyerologist. Click here to read the full post, and here to visit and read other posts on The Emplawyerologist.