Employment At-Will: An Invalid Interpretation of the Modern Employment Agreement

Stephen A. Miller


DOI: 10.2190/981E-FGH5-51RW-G7T3

Abstract

Although the doctrine of employment at-will controls the majority of today's employment relationships, it does not reflect the realities of modern employment agreements. Employment at-will developed at a time when employment relationships were both simple and short-term in nature. Today's employment relationships are more complicated and long-term in nature. Exchanges of goods for money, services for money, and labor for money all share the basic elements required to make a contract. The law, however, recognizes the first two transitions as a contract, and the third as an "at-will" agreement. This distinction is both irrational and destructive. Current employment at-will law deprives employers and employees of the rights and protections of contracting parties. By rejecting the employment at-will presumption and recognizing the employment agreement as a contract, the law will be in harmony with the realities of the modern employment relationship and properly protect the rights of employers and employees.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.