What exactly does At Will employment mean?

Question

In my office there's a co-worker who I'm surprised is still employed (productivity issues, attendance issues, and severe attitude problem). Nothing has been documented over the last two years and a manager told me that they can't just terminate her without documenting repeated behaviors for a while, which I found odd, because Washington is an At Will employment state.

Which brings me to my question. Every company I've worked for (including this one) has a policy you read upon hire that employment can be terminated by either party at will with or without cause.

Is At Will only applied to people who don't belong to a protected group? The co-worker in question is a 55 y.o. caucasian woman.

Answer 1

At will employment means that the employment relationship is voluntary on both sides and, generally, either side can sever the relationship with or without reason. That said, employers end up keeping under-performing or problematic employees for a number of reasons. First, while employment may be at will, employers are not allowed to discriminate unless the employer is an officially recognized church. If an employee feels that his or her termination was discriminatory they may sue the employer. That poses a substantial risk to employers because not only might they lose, but legal proceedings themselves are costly and drain attention and energy away from regular business activities. This is especially true if the employee is a member of a protected class because there is at least a perception that a lawsuit will be more likely.

Beyond that, most managers find firing people to be the single most difficult, distasteful, and gut-wrenching part of their job. While it is certainly no fun being fired, firing people is also painful and stressful and something that most managers only do when it is absolutely necessary.

One more reason, that speaks to the documentation you mentioned, is that when employees are terminated they are usually either terminated with cause or without cause. If an employee is terminated without cause (such as in a reduction in force) they are eligible for unemployment insurance. The more claims a company's employees have for unemployment insurance, the higher the company's premiums. If a company wants to make a case that an employee is being terminated for cause, and therefor may not be eligible for unemployment benefits, they have to make sure they have a well documented paper trail.

Answer 2

Citing an "at will" policy for termination generally sends the message you do not want to give anyone (the employee, unemployment insurance) the "real" reason for the termination. This almost automatically makes people (especially those in protected classes) suspicious and in our litigious society puts the company at risk. Even if you are NOT illegally discriminating spending money on an investigation by the EEOC, settlements, trials, all of these things cost time and money. If you don't have to go there DON'T!!

If you are sick of your employee's behavior then manage her as well as the rest of your team. Set clear expectations for your entire team and hold them accountable to them. Do not use the word "attitude". Attitude is subjective. Use the word "behavior". Behavior is something you can see. For example, "Sally, rolling your eyes at me during my presentation to the team is unacceptable behavior. I expect this to stop immediately. If this behavior continues you will be disciplined/written up."

Get two or three write ups on her and then terminate her for too many write ups. That way she will (most likely) not get unemployment and you will send a clear message to your team what will and will not be tolerated. Plus if she claims discrimination you have documentation showing very clearly it was due to inappropriate behavior/work mistakes/whatever and NOT illegal discrimination. Just be sure to hold EVERYONE to the same standards and be consistent.

Answer 3

The term literally means, 'at the will of the employer and employee' - in other words, you can quit when you want to - or be fired for no particular reason. As a 50+ 'caucasian' woman myself, I'm finding it odd that she was hired. I couldn't get a job when we moved to this town because of my age/looks. I'll ask this: 'whose mom/friend/cousin/girlfriend is she?' - In this area, they'll hire bubba's mom's sister-in-law because 'she needs the money' not because she's actually worth anything. An employee-based alternative to welfare, I guess. Those of us who actually work for our money (you, me, and 4 or 5 other folks in the shop, I'm guessing) are carrying those folks, and until we figure out some way to bypass that system, we're stuck, because it's an 'at will' employment. You can report your boss to the labor board, but it won't make you popular!

Answer 4

I understand At Will the same way you do. Today, most US companies are very careful when dismissing an employee for fear of wrongful termination lawsuits. The employee you mention fits into two minority classes, woman and over the age of forty.

Answer 5

If your job is as a clothing buyer then you are employed while driving to buy clothes. If your job requires you to leave work and bring food back, then you are driving for employment purposes. If your decision to go get lunch is a person decision, because you are hungry, then you are not driving for employment purposes.

Answer 6

Maybe she was hired through an agency for a not-so-obvious reason. A lot of companies hire people from drug-rehab facilities or shelters for abused people or maybe she has some developmental delays- you never know.