Answer to Question 1
At-will employment is an employment relationship in which either party can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any legal reason, with no liability as long as there is no contract for a definite term of employment. Although at-will employment allows an employee to quit for no reason, firms call upon it most often when they want to fire an employee at any time for any legal reason or for no reason at all. In all states (except Montana), if a formal contract does not govern a company's employment relationships, these relationships are governed by the employment-at-will doctrine.
Although the courts have generally upheld the right to terminate at will, this does not mean that employers should casually terminate employees without giving a reason or without following normal policies and procedures. Companies should follow their formal discipline and termination procedures whenever possible to help avoid discrimination and wrongful termination claims. The at-will clause is best thought of as a legal defense to keep the organization from being forced to follow its own policies inflexibly. For example, at-will employment allows an employer to quickly dismiss an employee who is behaving dangerously. Case law establishing when or if firms can rely on the at-will nature of the relationship varies from state to state.
Answer to Question 2
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