What is "at-will employment"

n. (alternative form of employment at will English)

At-will employment is a legal presumption in all U.S. states (other than Montana), whereby either an employer or an employee may, with no adverse legal consequences, terminate the employment relationship for any legal or no reason. The at-will doctrine is not itself a form or component of contract, but rather is the default state deemed to exist prior to any contractual override.

However, the presumption can be overridden by an employment contract, either explicit or, in several states, implicit. For examples, in workplaces with a trade union recognized for purposes of collective bargaining, and in many public sector jobs, a contract is used to override at-will status such the employer must have a "just cause" to dismiss an employee. Other mechanisms by which at-will status may be modified or completely overridden include the Public Policy and Covenant of Good Faith exceptions.

Statutory anti- discrimination prohibitions, such as those under the Civil Rights Act, may also act to affect at-will status both apart from and in the context of any contractual override. For example, an employer using at-will to summarily dismiss a female employee could be at risk of violating anti-discrimination legislation, but that same legislation would also place limits on the kind of contract the employer and employee may draw up to override at-will status. Other than these modifying factors, most states adhere to the general principle that employer and employee may contract for the dismissal protection they choose.

The at-will doctrine remains controversial, and remains a central topic of debate in the study of law and economics, especially with regard to the macroeconomic efficiency of allowing employers to summarily and arbitrarily terminate employees. The rule is justified by its proponents on the basis that an employee may be similarly entitled to leave his or her job without reason or warning. In contrast, the practice is seen as unjust by those who view the employment relationship as characterized by inequality of bargaining power.

The history of the doctrine is debated, with recent scholarship arguing that the conventional view -- that at-will arose gradually during the latter part of the 19th century -- is incorrect and that in fact the United States always has followed the employment-at-will doctrine.