chapter 15

Employment at will

Employment-at-will means an employer or employee can end an employment relationship at any time for any reason.

Employment agreement

Most employees in the United States work according to the principle of employment-at-will.

Employment at will exceptions

Promissory estoppel Implied contract Public policy tort Implied covenant

Promissory estoppel

Promissory estoppel bars an employer from taking back a promise that an employee reasonably relied on.

Osha

To regulate health and safety standards for companies in the United States, the federal government created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Implied contract

An implied contract exists when an employer has led an employee to believe he or she is not an at-will employee.

Implied covenant

An implied covenant is the principle that in any employment relationship the employer and the employee will deal with each other fairly and honestly.

Some employment situations fall outside the rule of employment at will

Employees with their own individual contracts Protected classes of employees Unionized employees.

Employee protections

Protected classes of employees, such as women and minorities, cannot be fired on the basis of race, gender, age, or disability.

Public policy tort

Public policy tort permits a fired employee to sue an employer if the firing harmed the public good in some way.

Contracts

Some employees, such as sports stars, celebrities, and business executives, negotiate their own individual employments contracts.

Equal pay rule

The Equal Pay Act established the equal pay rule, which says that employers working in interstate commerce must pay women the same rate as men for doing the same type of job

Minimum wages

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires certain employers, such as hospitals, stores, and restaurants, to pay a minimum hourly wage.

Unions

Union members have specific procedures built into their contracts and cannot be hired or fired at will.

Collective bargaining

Union representatives negotiate contracts with representatives of management in a process called collective bargaining.