at will employment

Alice1 · April 2003

a friend of mine was just hired by a hotel chain in Alabama and the employee handbook indicates he is an "at will" employee however in the section for separation the company states they require two weeks notice.

"at will" is used in the paragraph explaining the 90 day trial period during which time either party can get out of the situation without cause.

I thought at will was for the duration of the employment not just the trial period.

Input please.

Bizee1 · April 2003

It is.
My take on their wording of the 2-week seperation notice is if the ee is wanting to voluntarily leave the er, they are requesting a standard 2-week notice.

scottorr · April 2003

A number of states are "at will" states which means that seperation can occur at any time for any reason. The two week notice is usually a courtesy. However, employers are not required to pay you for accrued time off at the time of termination. Many of them do, as a courtesy in return for the two week notice. I do not know this companies policies directly but in general "at will" is for the duration of employment. Hope I was of some help.

Gillian · April 2003

"At will" is a choice. While most states have "employment at will" as the standard of employment, employers may choose to operate under that philosophy or to operate under a "just cause" philosophy, the flip side of employment at will. The most common situations that operate under a just cause philosophy is the public sector and a union environment but individual employers may operate that way as well. The situation that you describe has two problems if the employer wants to operate under "at will". The first is the two week notice requirement. That detracts from the "at will" standard which says that anyone may quit at any time the same as the employer can terminate at any time. The other is the notice that employees can be terminated without cause during the introductory period. That implies that if the employee passes the introductory period that they they can only be terminated for just cause, the exact opposite of employment at will.

Pork · April 2003

The above are correct "at will" is as stated. Other parts of one's employee policy and procedures provide for the payment of "awards" and benefit continuation depending on the notice. For instance: with a notice one might extend medical coverage out to the end of the notice period. Otherwise, a no notice termination is an "AT WILL" "voluntary quit" and MEDICAL COVERAGE MAY END ON THE DATE OF TERMINATION. On the other hand the employee may be in a sensitive position and his/her notice may lead this company to accept the resignation and terminate, immediately "at will", in this case the medical coverage would also be cancelled and COBRA offered. All based on hoew the "employee handbook is written". Hope this helps! PORK

pecohr · April 2003

The company may "require" whatever they like but to keep the "at will" status they or the employee may end their employment at any time with or without notice no matter what is stated in the handbook.

at will employment

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