Legal Risk and Opportunity in Employmnet - Essay Example

When employees work at the discretion of their employers, it can be said to be ‘employment at will’ (Jennings, 2005, p. 727). An employment at will means that either employer or employee can terminate the agency relationship at anytime with or without apparent reason that employer can act in discriminatory manner. According to Jennings (2005), an employee who is appointed by an oral or written agreement is considered to be an agent and he has express authority to act on behalf of the employer.

“In an agency relationship, one party agrees to act on behalf of another party according to the directions given to him. It is a relationship that exists by common consent in which both parties agree to it and it is a relationship that is fiduciary in nature” (Chapter-18, p.701). Pat has been provided a Personnel Manual that mentioned the process for dealing with unsatisfactory employee and hence he believed that his employer’s freedom to fire him at will was limited. If an employee has exercised a right which was supported by public policy and the employer reacted against it, then a wrongful discharge suit can be claimed.

In the legal encounter one, Pat has insisted that sports funds should be equally allocated, but, his position on this issue was unpopular. He was unidentified by anyone in the school board. Pat believed that it created unfriendliness and resulted to his discharge from NewCorp. Employee must be informed of the deficiency and placed on a Corrective Action Plan if his performance is unsatisfactory. Jennings (2005) emphasizes that “one of the factors that determine whether a personnel manual and its terms constitute a contract is the reliance of an employee on its procedures and terms” (chapter 18, p. 727). Legal Encounter two creates a dilemma for NewCorp between electrical manufacturing supervisor Sam and his employee Paula.

It is a case of