Truth and Justice Introduction Losing a job is always painful, but when it happens suddenly and for unfair and even illegal reasons the sting can be far worse. When employers have broken the law in terminating an employee, though, there are methods for redressing such grievances. A case as clear-cut as this one shouldn't have any problem making the company sit up and take notice, and getting the terminated employee a better deal than they had before. WARN The suddenness of the mass layoff might prompt some to invoke the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, and it is possible that the provisions of this legislation apply here (US DOL, 2012). This Act requires employers to give advanced warning of mass layoffs in many cases; in this case, assuming the employees had been with the company more than six months and averaged more than twenty hours a week, and assuming that the 99 employees terminated in this mass layoff made up at least a third of the employer's workforce at the given layoff site (US DOL, 2012). If the 99 employees did not represent at least 33% of the employer's active workforce, however, which in some large corporations is entirely conceivable, the provisions of WARN would not apply (US DOL, 2012). Employee Polygraph Protection Act This does not mean that there would be no recourse in this situation, though. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 makes it illegal for most private businesses to require or even request their
Layoffs are tough for both the employee being laid off and the company for which he/she worked. The situation causes so much uncertainty amongst the remaining employees. The feeling among the employees is; if this happened to them this could happen to me as well. According to Johnson (n.d.), “There is a major disruption in the status quo; relationships are severed, work is redistributed with a probable increase in everyone’s
An employee can be legally fired at any time for any reason, unless they are being discriminated against (depending on the state), or if the firing is in retaliation, or if the firing goes against a
Delivering layoff notice to the employees of a company is not one that is easy to do and should not be taken lightly. The employees who are affected by the WARN notice should know that you care about them and their well being and that your concern does not completely lie with the survival of the company and its bottom-line. The letter that Bob Nardelli sent to the employees of Chrysler begins with a negative introduction to his statement and that feeling does not diminish throughout the message. Employees can sense this from the beginning and would likely be more responsive with less negativity. Throughout the initial paragraph, Nardelli is explaining how business has changed and sales have diminished recently (Bob Nardelli, 2008). Instead of
The company has the right to terminate an employee as long as the termination does not discriminate or
There are many employment laws out there but ill discuss about three of them and what are the consequences if the company did not comply. The employment laws I will discuss are the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act 1990, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. My next topic would be how an organization might structure their policies, practices and culture to ensure compliance.
Wrongful Termination (a.k.a. Wrongful Dismissal) is a legal phrase that refers to any situation in which a worker’s employment is ended by the employer (terminated) in breach of contractual terms of employment, or due to any of the following: discrimination, retaliation, an employee’s refusal to be involved in illegal activity, or an employer’s
The law clearly states the Supreme Court has held that binding arbitration is equally applicable to both parties. The law also states that “An employee’s agreement to arbitrate is clear when the employee signs an application form or agreement requiring arbitration, receives something of value from the employer, and is given a copy of the relevant arbitration rules.” CITATION Bag10 \p 92 \l 1033 (Bagley & Savage, 2010, p. 92)There is of course the possibility of recourse for the terminated employee, Mr. Compton, in a lawsuit filed by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission0. The law states that “The EEOC may file a claim in court on its own behalf against an employer, even if the employee involved had entered into an enforceable
One of the things everyone looks forward to is having security. However, the job market has not been strong enough to give job security. Since the Market crashed in 2008, there has been an increase in “at will” employees. At will employment means that the company or the firm has the right to terminate your employment at any given time for any reason with or without a legit cause. At will also give employees the flexibility to quit their job as they wish without giving any notice or reason. In “Employment at Will and Due Process” by Patricia A. Wethane and Tara J. Radin expresses their views on “At Will” employment. Radin and Werhane mention several views on ethical treatment of employees, in principle and in practice, against at will employment. In this article they believe it violates certain rights that employees have, it violates the principle of fairness, and there are certain legal objections.
In a wrongful termination case, the terminated employee must prove more than having been treated unfairly, s/he must be able to prove one or more of his/her legal rights were violated” (Wrongful Termination Website, 2011). Employees in many states are at a disadvantage, possessing few rights, because of the employment at will rule, meaning employers can fire employees at any time and for no reason at all, just like employees can quit any time and for any reason. This makes the definition of wrongful termination extremely narrow.
Facts of the case: Imagine you are an HR manager and your boss and owner of the company, Bill, comes to you suspecting his assistant, Paige, is stealing money from the company. Bill would like a polygraph test conducted to see if Paige is stealing from the company. He would also like you to conduct electronic surveillance on Paige’s work e-mail for anything suspicious.
4. Is it legal for the company to terminate an employee because of something they did away from work?
What if the employer dismissed an employee without following some procedures proscribed by the contract? The case of Gunton v Richmond-upon-Thames London Borough Council (1980) provided an answer on this matter, “if the contract
A similar case where an employee claimed unlawful termination in comparable circumstances is Megivern v Glacier Hills Incorporated. In this case the employee, Megivern, alleged that her employer, Glacier Hills Inc. unlawfully terminated her due to her pregnancy. The judgement was ultimately given to Glacier Hills Inc and the termination was sustained. Glacier Hills was able to show the reasoning surrounding Megivern’s termination by providing her performance records. Megivern was a less than desirable employee and the timing of her termination was not due to pregnancy (Megivern v. Glacier Hills
If I were in the position of the pregnant employee, I wouldn´t agree if the company fire me. As pregnant employees are overprotected, I would fight against the company until they lose the case.
The main primary stakeholder in this ethical decision is the employee. The employee is effected by this decision because they are the one whose job is at stake in the end. The benefits of an employee being terminated are that if they have an issue in their life that is permitting them from performing their best, it may give the employee time to find a solution to the problem. It also may give them a chance to start work with a new employer and get off on a better foot. In the employee’s case, the harms outweigh the benefits. A harm of a person being terminated is that they lose an income. If the employee is terminated they no longer have any money to be supported by. This would cause a great financial harm to the employee. This may also cause a harm to a person’s identity. Some people find their identity in their job. If a person is let go, they may think they didn’t perform right or something is wrong with besides the idea of their non-work issues interfering with their