How easy is it to terminate an employess in your neck of the woods?

[Fuzz]

I'm sure it is quite easy to terminate an employee. The trick is making sure the cops don't catch you!

[Chibearsv]

At Will State means an employer is not required to give a reason for dismissing an employee and the employee may quit at any time without giving any reason and there are no legal repercussions for those actions alone.  The legal problem for employers can happen if they actually give a reason for terminating an employee that is deemed in violation of federal or state law.  It's tidier to have a prepared scripted exit interview with the employee which may help to avoid a future legal confrontation.  It's better than an employee imagining a reason that they were fired and taking the employer to court.  That happens, but it's pretty tough for an employee to prove violation of labor laws unless the employer is just blatant about breaking them....Like the bonehead that wrote the posted letter.  I especially like the bold caps section.  

[gormag38]

I'm part of a union in my shop. That, along with the fact that it's also a government, makes it pretty damn hard to terminate someone's employment. If they show up to work drunk or stoned, send em to rehab and their job will be waiting for them. If they don't show up to work without notification, make them use PTO or an unpaid day. Everything/anything needs to be documented to the extreme and presented to the employee before any reprimand can be filed. The only two 'fireable' offenses that I know of are theft/embezzlement and fudging your hours worked. 

[La_Tigre]

Oh to be the Manager of the Lunk Alarm…

[Fsonicsmith]

Thinking of dismissing Dianna? Good luck with that!

I am a lawyer but only in Ohio 🙂 In the US, most States are "at will". Chibearsv was 100% correct. I would only add that an employer, to take advantage of the at-will premise, must avoid any form of a contract, written or verbal. Generally the employee who does not possess something in writing will have a very difficult time establishing the presence of a contract. Even New York, Louisiana, and California, our three most liberal States, are at-will. Having just Googled it, it seems Montana is the only exception.

[Chas.Alpha]

I can get you off of my job site at my own discretion. If in my opinion you are even moderately dangerous to your fellow workers, (or in extension) your attitude is negatively affecting fellow workers... Toast. No further explanation required from my end. That said, firing people is the least favorite part of my job, but I do it 2 to 3 times a month. 😕

[Fuzz]

18 minutes ago, Chas.Alpha said:

That said, firing people is the least favorite part of my job, but I do it 2 to 3 times a month. 😕

I fire myself at least once per day. But for some reason I keep coming back into work. 😅

[El Presidente]

8 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

I fire myself at least once per day. But for some reason I keep coming back into work. 😅

...there is probably a govt assistance scheme for hiring challenged people such as yourself ......

[Nevrknow]

33 minutes ago, Chas.Alpha said:

I can get you off of my job site at my own discretion. If in my opinion you are even moderately dangerous to your fellow workers, (or in extension) your attitude is negatively affecting fellow workers... Toast. No further explanation required from my end. That said, firing people is the least favorite part of my job, but I do it 2 to 3 times a month. 😕

Hate it also. But for what we do, we do not have room for games or attitudes.

[chris12381]

The flip side of "at will employment" that often gets overlooked, is that an employee has a right to terminate their relationship with an employer "at will".    

There was a recent case in Michigan, where one hospital began losing nurses and and other staff to another hospital through offers of better pay, hours and staffing.  These nurses did not have any employment contract and were thus, "at will".  It became clear to the hospital that they were soon going to lose about 64% of inpatient care staff.  Rather than work with their staff to remain via any number of enticements, or encourage them to slow their departure until they could find replacements, they decided to seek injunctive relief to prevent their "at will" employees from leaving, claiming that it would "cause community harm" and that the other hospital should cease until they had hired adequate staff until they had found replacements, and requiring two of the employees to remain at the hospital for a minimum of 90 days until they could find replacements or have the OTHER hospital provide them with staff! 

At their request, a judge issued a temporary restraining order on a Friday until a hearing could be heard on the issue the following Monday.  At the hearing, it came to light that the employees who opted to leave had applied to advertised job postings and thus weren't "poached" by the other hospital. In fact, the employees had taken their new job offers to their current employer and gave them a chance to match it.  They refused to do so.  It was at that point the temporary restraining order to prevent their "at will" employees from leaving was sought.  

The judge immediately lifted the order.  

[Fuzz]

3 hours ago, El Presidente said:

...there is probably a govt assistance scheme for hiring challenged people such as yourself ......

I'm sure there is a scheme for the vertically challenged.

[Ken Gargett]

1 hour ago, Fuzz said:

I'm sure there is a scheme for the vertically challenged.

"if you are not this tall, you can't have that (any) job". 

[Fuzz]

54 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

"if you are not this tall, you can't have that (any) job". 

Heightist!

 

And yes, that is an actual word. I was surprised too.

[Ken Gargett]

6 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Heightist!

 

And yes, that is an actual word. I was surprised too.

did you find it in the randy newman dictionary for young adults?

[Kitchen]

8 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Heightist!

 

And yes, that is an actual word. I was surprised too.

The sole reason I'm not an NBA player.  

[Fosgate]

I live in Right to Work. Companies can fire for no reason. The catch is many do not want to pay a portion for workers unemployment compensation if they don't have to. So most will wait until you dig your own grave to establish a track record leading up to termination and or if terminated the incident is documented to avoid wrongful termination (Age etc) or show that the employee was negligent/insubordinate that would bar them from workers compensation. Another thing companies try to avoid is people quitting so they will fire. I worked at a call center where if it looked like you were leaving or you gave notice. They would try to fire you first. Why? Because it didn't effect the managements turnover % if they fired an employee. If their turnover gets to high then management gets the microscope on it's hiring, training, engagement etc. Also, Companies try to enforce non-compete clauses at hiring for some sales fields in hopes to keep them from leaving and taking clients with them, but that has yet to hold water in court. Best a big company can do is try to make it cost a lot in court trying to defend. Insurance company I currently work for took a former agent to court trying to enforce the Non-Compete. The agent was smart in that he had his business policy through the company still so they had to pay $30k in attorney fees for him so he could fight them in court. 

On another note I had an uncle that was a diesel mechanic for Caterpillar for over 35yrs with exceptional scores the whole time. New young guy cam in and they had medical screenings. My uncle was diagnosed with Alpha 1 antitrypsin (lung disorder) on a Monday, told to work in a paint booth on Thursday, he declined on Friday and on Monday they fired him. He went to work down at the Freightliner shop knowing very well who my uncle was. Let him do his own thing and let him take the time to go fight them in court for nearly a year. Judge ruled age and medical discriminations and my uncle being the good guy that he is, wouldn't take any monetary other than lost wages and they had to hire him back. (I personally would have retired). So he went back to work and he never heard a peep from management, new guy was not allowed any direct or indirect contact with him, and he was pretty much given free reign after that for nearly 10 more years until he died on New Years eve a couple years ago. 

So there is that. Still have to worry about Hostile Work Environment, Wrongful termination in accordance with federal laws. 

[Kitchen]

Well, they fired Toby, so it cant be all that hard in my state.