Sacking of LJ staff with immediate effect & without severance pay -- legal in USA?
I've read a couple of links on my f-list to the news that LJ sacked 12 of its 28 US employees without warning this week.
There's an article about it here.
Following various links, I read that some or all of them have been told that they've been dismissed with effect from the end of this week.
Presumably this is legal in the USA, then. I find it pretty shocking, because over here we have employment protection laws that don't allow employers to treat their employees like that.
There are exceptions, and the basic protection is much broader in some circumstances (if, for instance, the dismissal is discriminatory in nature), but the general rule is that once a person has been employed for a year then he/she can only be dismissed (i) in statutorily specified circumstances, (ii) with appropriate notice, and (iii) in accordance with established statutory procedures. If those rules aren't followed then the employee is regarded as having been unfairly dismissed, and he/she will be entitled to compensation. The UK has always been pretty good on employment protection legislation (in relative terms), but similar provisions now exist throughout the whole of the European Community.
On American television I've heard references from time to time to "at will" employment, suggesting to me that employers are entitled to terminate such employment arbitrarily. I found the concept pretty bizarre and I've meant to look it up, but until now I've not actually done so.
How do people employed in the USA manage to protect themselves against the obligation to pay mortgages, loans and general household bills if it's possible for their employers to dismiss them at will, without notice and without compensation?
My heart goes out to all of those who've just lost their jobs. I hope this sort of thing can't happen to any of the American peeps I've met on here.
There's an article about it here.
Following various links, I read that some or all of them have been told that they've been dismissed with effect from the end of this week.
Presumably this is legal in the USA, then. I find it pretty shocking, because over here we have employment protection laws that don't allow employers to treat their employees like that.
There are exceptions, and the basic protection is much broader in some circumstances (if, for instance, the dismissal is discriminatory in nature), but the general rule is that once a person has been employed for a year then he/she can only be dismissed (i) in statutorily specified circumstances, (ii) with appropriate notice, and (iii) in accordance with established statutory procedures. If those rules aren't followed then the employee is regarded as having been unfairly dismissed, and he/she will be entitled to compensation. The UK has always been pretty good on employment protection legislation (in relative terms), but similar provisions now exist throughout the whole of the European Community.
On American television I've heard references from time to time to "at will" employment, suggesting to me that employers are entitled to terminate such employment arbitrarily. I found the concept pretty bizarre and I've meant to look it up, but until now I've not actually done so.
How do people employed in the USA manage to protect themselves against the obligation to pay mortgages, loans and general household bills if it's possible for their employers to dismiss them at will, without notice and without compensation?
My heart goes out to all of those who've just lost their jobs. I hope this sort of thing can't happen to any of the American peeps I've met on here.