The difference between an at-will and right-to-work doctrine is crucial to understanding your employee rights. While there are many misconceptions, it is important to know they are not opposite concepts but separate doctrines altogether.
The right-to-work doctrine involves unions. When employees and unionized employees work together, the right-to-work principle gives the same rights afforded to the union members to the non-union employees. Non-union employees do not have the pay union dues to enjoy the same rights.
At-will employment protects an employer’s right to terminate workers for reasons not prohibited by law. It also affords employees the ability to quit their job at any time without having to give notice.
Employers in at-will states, including California, can dismiss an employee without reason. Employers are not required to give the employee any notice. Under the at-will doctrine, employees cannot take any recourse against a company for dismissal unless their termination meets certain exceptions to the rule.
One exception to the at-will employment doctrine is a written contract or union agreement that explicitly states acceptable reasons for termination. An employee or union may have a written contract that ensures that it requires cause for termination.
Another exception to the rule is the “implied contract.” An implied contract assumes the employee will not be subjected to an at-will termination. For example, most companies have employee handbooks that go over company policies to ensure all workers are aware of the same pertinent information.
While the at-will doctrine is up to the state, not the employer, failing to explicitly state the doctrine in the employee handbook may allow for a case for wrongful termination based on an implied contract.
To avoid the exposure of an implied contract, most company handbooks state that they are an at-will organization.