The Perceptions of Employment At-will of the Millennial Generation
Open Access
- Author:
- Hayes, Cailin Kennedy
- Area of Honors:
- Labor and Employment Relations
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Paul Vincent Whitehead, Thesis Supervisor
Alan V Derickson, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- at-will
employment
millennial - Abstract:
- Employment at will is the idea that employment relationships are terminable at the will of either party. Hence, an employee may be fired by his or her employer for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all with no notice. This is the governing rule in the United States and has been classified in numerous court rulings as a common law practice. However, at-will “has been both refined and eroded over the years by statute and judicial case law” (Jeweler, 1994). Protections have been carved out, ranging from protection from discrimination on the basis of certain classifications to “just cause” clauses negotiated into collective bargaining agreements with unions. Many scholars see this practice as archaic and outdated; they argue that there is an imbalance of power between employees and employers, and push for reform towards a system of universal just-cause dismissal, similar to the system in place in New Zealand and other industrialized nations (Harcourt, 2012). This thesis involved conducting primary survey research and consulting secondary research to explore perceptions of this employment practice of Americans, particularly members of the Millennial generation. This study explored two areas: their understanding of employee rights under this doctrine and their perception of its fairness. Since the target respondents of this research are individuals who make up the incoming generation of workers in the United States, the implications of this research could either confirm or deny the views of scholars, and possibly argue that there is room for reform of current United States employment practices.