Most of the time, yes. There is a law that protects certain types of workers (primarily factory workers, iirc) and mandates that they be given 6 weeks of notice

Most of the time, yes. There is a law that protects certain types of workers (primarily factory workers, iirc) and mandates that they be given 6 weeks of notice. This notice period can be converted into 6 weeks of pay (that is, you have to pay them for six weeks, but you don't have to keep them in the building), an option companies almost always take. However, when you hear these things about America, you should understand that just because the law doesn't require notice, doesn't mean it never happens. First, no one gives notice unless they're a complete amateur; it's always laid off immediately with severance. But in many cases, severance packages are given to the employee in exchange for a separation agreement that waives all potential claims against the company, and these are sometimes quite generous (I know one guy who received over a year of severance). When you hear "America has no sick days", or "Americans can fire anyone they want at any time", or things like that, it just means that it's not mandatory for your employer to offer these. The majority, by far, do offer good benefits and PTO, and if the company is of a reasonable size, they usually offer some type of severance, because most good employees will not go near you if you don't have good benefit and PTO policies, and they won't go near you if they know that you never give employees a break when layoffs come around (as they inevitably do).