Tuesday, June 10, 2008
"Employment at will"
Just what exactly does "employment at will" mean? When I was hired for my current job I remember hearing them talk about what that means. To quote the employee handbook,"...all employees are employed at will for an indefinite period. This means that employees may resign at any time, and (my employer) may terminate employment at any time, for any reason with or without cause." It wasn't until today that I actually understood the impact of this policy. I walked in this morning to find that ... let's call her, Mary (not her real name) had cleaned out her cubicle! Mary and I had become good friends during the course of her time at our office. We were also planning on taking an exercise class together which starts next week. So, after talking to her on the phone it seemed that she was told yesterday that she was being fired. They gave very little reason and it was a total surprise! To top it off, it wasn't even our supervisor doing the firing but the director and her supervisor. It seems unreasonable to have a policy that says that you can be fired without cause at any time. In my line of work I thought that we valued working out conflicts and being straight forward. However, this policy appears to go against that! I know, I know... it's designed to protect organizations from litigation... which can get pricey. I'm not sure if I should be upset or just to look for a new job. Well, needless to say today wasn't the best start to my work week.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hi Tammy! Yeah, I know what it's like to lose co-workers who were like friends. The people that were let go at my company had to leave the same day too. So I wonder if that means the contract we signed included "employment at will." Though, the people who have been with the company for many years (but were let go due to the merge) they at least got a severance package. Or so I heard...
But other than that - it's poof. Unless you're the one that resigned, then you can do the 2 week thing.
That sucks! On the other hand, I don't think we have that at my work because I just got a new teacher in my room who the bosses have wanted to fire for a long time (you wouldn't believe what this woman does! and doesn't do!) but they can't because she has threatened to sue many times. She also plays the race card which always has everyone down here (in the South) tied up in knots. They have a ton of proof but can't fire her. So yeah, I guess there are two sides to that coin. It's been so stressful working with her and she's only been in my room for a week.
As a person who has wanted to get rid of certain employees (or even certain coworkers) before, I would have really appreciated an "employment by will" clause in some of the places in which I've worked. Bunch of slackers, defiant employees, and even downright thieves!
But I also understand that it must suck to have a fellow friend and employee fired for no apparent reason.
Sigh... the perils of work. Much better if we all go to retire like me mom just did! =)
Post a Comment