Human Resource Professionals’ Knowledge of Employment at Will

Abstract

This study is an investigation of the employment at will doctrine and the three exceptions to this doctrine. The purpose of this study is to examine the knowledge of human resource professionals pertaining to the three exceptions: implied contract, public policy, and covenant-of-good-faith. One hundred twenty-one participants were contacted by asking local Human Resources chapter presidents to distribute the cover letter and survey information to their members via email. Participants were randomly selected from chapters in fifteen different states. Several hypotheses were predicted and analyzed. Notable findings include a significant positive relationship between prohibited protected employment categories knowledge and employment at will knowledge, r = .60, p =.0001, and a significant positive relationship between education and employment at will, r = .22, p = .03. Training institutions and organizations can educate individuals on employment at will to prevent such litigation.