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I agree that workers need protection. For most people, there is a large power imbalance that can allow companies to take advantage of their workers. However, t
by dwaltrip 7y ago
I agree that workers need protection. For most people, there is a large power imbalance that can allow companies to take advantage of their workers.
However, things can go too far in the other direction. Imagine a small business having to spend months and months trying to fire someone who isn't doing their job and hasn't been receptive towards coaching or critiques. This could seriously harm the team they work on, not to mention the overall health of the company.
I don't know what the best solution is. But there are some complexities here.
- pjc50 7y agoMost places allow a probationary period for new employees. In practice, if you have actually done the assessment process and formal critique in a documented way, it's not a problem to get rid of someone who actually isn't working. What you can't do is fire people on a whim or personal anger.
- dwaltrip 7y agoDo you think that those describing difficulties in firing people as well as negative second order effects are significantly overstating these issues? I haven't researched this much myself, but the potential downsides seem fairly plausible to me. Thinking about it more, I suppose I've also had this implicit assumption that at-will employment has contributed to the disproportionate success of startups in America. It seems like it could be the case, but I don't have any hard evidence.