Formative Assesment Activity
How is employment-at-will applied in your organization or in one with which you are familiar with?
Michigan is an at-will-employment state, and has been for quite a while. Employers can fire you during a 90 day probationary period on any given job, without probable cause. It’s very hard to prove any wrong doing in being fired before the 90 day probationary period. On my current job the probation period was 1 full year. I had quarterly reviews, and received report cards which in the end of my year determined whether I would continue on as a full time employee with General Motors. It was a scary thing to know that I could be fired at any time, it does not seem to be a fair policy. If I had ended up with a manager that did not like me for any reason I could possibly be out of a job. Due to this policy I found my first year on the job to be quite intense and stressful. I had no feeling of a trustworthy work foundation.
To what extent do the exceptions to employment-at-will limit its application in the organization?
There are three exceptions to the employment-at-will application within any organization; public policy, implied-contract, and covenant-of-good faith. These limits protect the employee from being fired for getting hurt on the job, or if there is a sign contract between the employee and employer that employer has to adhere to that contract. Companies have to abide by these guidelines by law to provide fair treatment to employees. Once these limits are not applied it leaves the company open for possible law suits and loss of trust from employees. One example we’ve heard in the news for years is the treatment of employees of Wal-Mart. It was a huge case which cost the company a lot of money.
How might managers in the organization use knowledge of employment-at-will and its exceptions to protect the interests of the organization?
One way to protect the interest of the organization by using their knowledge of Employment-at-will is by overly
Michigan is an at-will-employment state, and has been for quite a while. Employers can fire you during a 90 day probationary period on any given job, without probable cause. It’s very hard to prove any wrong doing in being fired before the 90 day probationary period. On my current job the probation period was 1 full year. I had quarterly reviews, and received report cards which in the end of my year determined whether I would continue on as a full time employee with General Motors. It was a scary thing to know that I could be fired at any time, it does not seem to be a fair policy. If I had ended up with a manager that did not like me for any reason I could possibly be out of a job. Due to this policy I found my first year on the job to be quite intense and stressful. I had no feeling of a trustworthy work foundation.
To what extent do the exceptions to employment-at-will limit its application in the organization?
There are three exceptions to the employment-at-will application within any organization; public policy, implied-contract, and covenant-of-good faith. These limits protect the employee from being fired for getting hurt on the job, or if there is a sign contract between the employee and employer that employer has to adhere to that contract. Companies have to abide by these guidelines by law to provide fair treatment to employees. Once these limits are not applied it leaves the company open for possible law suits and loss of trust from employees. One example we’ve heard in the news for years is the treatment of employees of Wal-Mart. It was a huge case which cost the company a lot of money.
How might managers in the organization use knowledge of employment-at-will and its exceptions to protect the interests of the organization?
One way to protect the interest of the organization by using their knowledge of Employment-at-will is by overly