実はアメリカ人も随意雇用(employment at will)を理解していない？

差別でなければいつでも切れるというのは、随意雇用(employment at will)の場合であり、期間を決めた契約の場合には期間を守る必要があります。この点は結構知られていないですよね。RT @ikedanob: ...使えない労働者はいつでも切れる。 @kazemachi2

-- 安藤至大 (あんどうむねとも) (@munetomoando) April 12, 2013

Most Americans have a general understanding of the "employment at will" doctrine. They understand that it means that they are not guaranteed employment for any specific period of time.

In general, and at least intellectually, they understand that they can be fired at any time, and for any reason.

However, it is my experience that folks do not know what that overriding principle, that one can be fired at any time and for any reason, truly means and how it plays out in the workplace.

Tell that to your local waitress or retail clerk!

For many years, there was an unwritten contract between American companies and their employees. This contract said that if you came to work every day, did a good job, were productive, respectful and loyal to the company, then the company in turn would be loyal to you and would not terminate you unless there was good reason to do so.

Those days are long gone.

numerous state and federal laws have over the years sprung up to protect at-will employees from firings that come about due to nefarious reasons. The laws to which I refer to that are most familiar to the average American are Title VII (and similar state laws), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Click here to read more about these and other anti-discrimination laws and how they work.

Many courts are fond of saying that there is no "civility code" governing the workplace. I supplement that by telling callers that there are no "civil police" in the U.S. If a person is being subjected to mistreatment in the workplace, there are no "civil police" who will come to stop it.

unless the mistreatment is because of illegal motivations (i.e. discrimination based upon sex, race, age, etc.), the best one can do when being subject to unfair treatment at work is to try and work things out. This is the very essence of the employment at-will principle.