"At Will"... What does it really mean?

If you live in an “At Will” state, you may believe you can terminate whenever, whomever you want – without cause – but that isn’t necessarily the case. Let’s examine this “At Will” concept.

Let’s have a look at this… “At Will” means you can terminate the employment relationship with or without cause. It also means the employee can terminate the employment relationship with or without cause. That means employees DO NOT legally have to give two weeks notice before they quit their job. Many employers have a two-week provision in their policies believing they can legally require that; however, they cannot. However, you can use the two-week notice provision if employees want to be paid out for their paid time off bank or other elective benefits provided by the employer.

So you can terminate an employee whenever and wherever you want, but there are limitations. One of those limitations is Title VII. Title VII prevents employers from terminating employees based on race, color, creed, ethnic origin, and gender. Then there is the ADEA (Age Discrimination in Employment Act) which prevents employers from terminating employees because they are 40 years old or older. And we mustn’t forget the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the Vocational Rehabilitation Act which prevents employers from terminating employees based on disability. Of course, these are all federal statutes. We cannot forget the state statutes such as WDLA (Washington Discrimination Leave Act) which prevents employers from terminating employees (and provides additional protections) because of permanent and/or temporary disabilities.

Public Policy provisions such as Whistleblowers Act (protecting employees who report their employer’s illegal acts to authorities), Voting Rights (giving employees the right to schedule time to vote in elections when their work schedule doesn’t allow for them to be available during voting hours), or Jury Duty (preventing employers from terminating employees who don’t get out of jury duty), etc. protect employees from “At Will” decisions. And there are court cases which also weigh in on “At Will” decisions.
So, the bottom line… While “At Will” is an option, it is always better to have a reason for terminating an employee. Sure, the employee may be a 52-year-old African American female, but if she violated your attendance policy one too many times, you have good cause and should move forward. And remember, the key to any termination decision is document, document, and document.