4 ms·

What employment contract? They’re at will

by imgabe 4y ago

edmundsauto 4y ago
You would still be likey to have a contract, it would specify at-will and a slew of other clauses. It would not guarantee a term of employment, in the standard form (but could, if it were so modified).
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
resoluteteeth 4y ago
> What employment contract? They’re at will Despite the colloquial use of the word "contract," there is generally always going to be an employment contract (agreement) in place. Similarly, people colloquially talk about having a "contract" for things like cellphones meaning a fixed term, but there is always an actual "contract" (agreement) with the terms of the service regardless of whether the plan has a fixed term or not and regardless of whether it's prepaid or not.
- junofan 4y ago
  Contract and agreement are not synonyms. Contracts require consideration.
  - resoluteteeth 4y ago
    I inserted "agreement" in parentheses to clarify the meaning of contract as a type of legally binding agreement here as opposed to other usages of the word. I don't think this is a controversial definition of the word contract (for example Wikipedia's entry for "contract" states, "A contract is a legally enforceable agreement..."). I did not say that contract and agreement are synonyms that can be replaced with each other in all circumstances, so I'm not really sure that your comment is relevant to what I wrote. I was also trying to clarify that the employment contract might be titled "Employment Agreement" or something like that but is still a "contract."
  - alistairSH 4y ago
    Sure, but the larger point, that employees have employment contracts in at-will states, is still true.
    - danaris 4y ago
      Some employees have contracts. My workplace doesn't have them except for employees that are part of bargaining units (ie, the ones represented by unions). Sadly, I am not one of these; my employment is contract-free.
  - tialaramex 4y ago
    But employment minus consideration is either: If the worker isn't receiving consideration: Slavery, which is illegal in the civilised world (Americans still enslave convicted criminals...) If the employer isn't receiving consideration: Some sort of payroll error? Are you mistakenly still paying people you fired? Call HR now.
dragonwriter 4y ago
At-will employees have an employment contract, just one that does not restrict causes of termination beyond those that are not impermissible under generally applicable employment law. “But they didn't sign anything like a contract,” one might object. They accepted an offer to do work of some specification for pay of some specification. Even if there was nothing in writing and no other explicit terms, that's sufficient to have a contract.

What employment contract? They’re at will

by imgabe 4y ago

What employment contract? They’re at will

You would still be likey to have a contract, it would specify at-will and a slew of other clauses. It would not guarantee a term of employment, in the standard form (but could, if it were so modified).

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

resoluteteeth 4y ago

> What employment contract? They’re at will Despite the colloquial use of the word "contract," there is generally always going to be an employment contract (agreement) in place. Similarly, people colloquially talk about having a "contract" for things like cellphones meaning a fixed term, but there is always an actual "contract" (agreement) with the terms of the service regardless of whether the plan has a fixed term or not and regardless of whether it's prepaid or not.

junofan 4y ago
Contract and agreement are not synonyms. Contracts require consideration.
- resoluteteeth 4y ago
  I inserted "agreement" in parentheses to clarify the meaning of contract as a type of legally binding agreement here as opposed to other usages of the word. I don't think this is a controversial definition of the word contract (for example Wikipedia's entry for "contract" states, "A contract is a legally enforceable agreement..."). I did not say that contract and agreement are synonyms that can be replaced with each other in all circumstances, so I'm not really sure that your comment is relevant to what I wrote. I was also trying to clarify that the employment contract might be titled "Employment Agreement" or something like that but is still a "contract."
- alistairSH 4y ago
  Sure, but the larger point, that employees have employment contracts in at-will states, is still true.
  - danaris 4y ago
    Some employees have contracts. My workplace doesn't have them except for employees that are part of bargaining units (ie, the ones represented by unions). Sadly, I am not one of these; my employment is contract-free.
- tialaramex 4y ago
  But employment minus consideration is either: If the worker isn't receiving consideration: Slavery, which is illegal in the civilised world (Americans still enslave convicted criminals...) If the employer isn't receiving consideration: Some sort of payroll error? Are you mistakenly still paying people you fired? Call HR now.

dragonwriter 4y ago

At-will employees have an employment contract, just one that does not restrict causes of termination beyond those that are not impermissible under generally applicable employment law. “But they didn't sign anything like a contract,” one might object. They accepted an offer to do work of some specification for pay of some specification. Even if there was nothing in writing and no other explicit terms, that's sufficient to have a contract.