Employment in the USA – No Contract Equals no Recourse
Employment in the USA WHEN LIFE BECOMES UNFAIR
Hello my dear UK friends! It’s Moishe’s Mom, slowly emerging from a Maine winter from across the pond. It’s been such a long time since I last blogged. For the past two years, the entire world has been caught in the grips of this pandemic, now unfortunately endemic to our lives.
So many of people have either lost their jobs or have done what many of us have been saying for years–find another job; a better job; a job with better pay and work conditions and a future. So all of those working in eateries, those who drive our commerce across our roadways, and all of those physical laborers have done just that-they quit their jobs and have moved on to other professions or have decided to further their education.
And what has this great period of “resignation done, but create long wait times in restaurants, shortages in the supply chains (because no one wants to drive lorries (trucks), or unload shipping containers or complete other manual labor. People have moved on to other trades or professions tat that see as having a “future” with less wear-and-tear on the body and mind.
Employment in the USA – No Contract Equals no Recourse
Wynne’s return Employment in the USA
But let’s get back to the topic du jour–employment in the USA. In all fifty (50) states, including Washington D.C, are what is called “at will states.” In a nutshell, it means that the employee may be terminated by the employer (or company) for any reason, any time and without notice deemed appropriate by the employer. There are two exceptions to this rule–unions and contacts. If an employee has an employment contract, or if they are part of a union–even if the employee is not an actual union member–they will be protected by the union’s lawyer (solicitor).
As you may surmise, not many employees in the United States have an employment contract. And as such, have no protection under the law. One could come to work on a Monday, only to be escorted out the door later that day. Oh yes– that’s a common practice to be removed from the worksite by a member of the security department without being able to take any personal belongings with them. The company, business or institution then assigns someone from Human Resources to rifle through their desk items, packages the personal items and sends them to the terminated employee.
As one could imagine, this scenario is not only demeaning, it is demoralizing, Especially if the employee caused no alarm and did not behave in a way that was hostile or threatening normally requiring the assistance from the security staff for removal.
Employment in the USA means American professionals over the age of fifty (50) continually experience “age discrimination” or “ageism.” This group of employees, who if are without an employment contract; those who have worked their entire career building their skills and sharpening their networking rapport, have no recourse if they are told that their position has been eliminated. The reality is that their position was not eliminated but merely replaced by a younger person being paid half of what the “fifty-and-over” person was making. This happens every day, in every state with little or no financial respite for the elder employee.
Employment in the USA – No Contract Equals no Recourse
Employment in the USA Wynne’s article
Employment in the USA needs to modernise Even though the Federal Government has regulations protecting older workers under a protected class under the Equal Opportunity Employment. This is part of a slew of federal laws including : the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, All of these acts should make it illegal or difficult for employers to discriminate against “protected employees.”
The protected groups are supposed to be protected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), but as you can imagine, in an “at will” workplace environment, and without an employment contract, these protective classes are not really protected as once the lawsuit hits the desk of the Human Resource Department of a said company, the employee who filed the lawsuit is terminated.
If they can’t afford an attorney/solicitor, or if they can’t find one to take their case on a “pro-bono” basis with payment being provided to the law firm if their case is won, not many take this risk. They simply move on to find another job or remain jobless or worse stop searching for work.
Another common misconception is that Human Resource personnel work for the employee. They do not. They work for the company, business or organization. Without an employment contract, the employee is flying without a safety net. Human Resource staff can build arguments and files against the employee. They can work with the manager or supervisor to remove an employee simply by affecting their performance reviews. Even though “at will employment” is the norm in the United States, most firms have work performance warnings or performance improvement plans that are used to remove an employee they want terminated.
Employment in the USA Continued!
Employment in the USA ANOTHER GREAT ARTICLE BY WYNNE ID AGREE
Companies can even meddle with an employee’s salary. At any time, with only a 24-hour notice, an employer can inform you that they are reducing your salary/pay . The only exception is that they do not lower the salary below the appropriate State’s Minimum wage! And all of this backhanded dealing is dealt by staff in human resources departments! As per the law, it is not illegal, but highly unethical and immoral in my opinion. And this happens to the elder employee more often than not.
One of the professions lucky enough to have employment contracts are teachers and higher education professors. Depending on the organization, it could be a 3, 5 or 7 year contract. The current economic climate for professors in the USA is one that has moved away from “tenure” and landed in an “adjunct” employment environment. Adjuncts are teaching more than tenured staff because the administration can pay adjuncts less money and provide no benefits. Tenured professorial positions in universities across the USA has been on a steady decline for the past twenty (20) years, but has recently dropped to almost nil.
There are of course other professionals who are provided employment contracts that spell out the contract term, the compensation, annual raises and other perks. Union and bargaining units also provide employment security for those willing to join. But the harsh reality is that it’s an “employers world” and not an “employees.” No matter how good of a job one might be doing, if that employee is not liked by management, their supervisor or boss, they can be terminated for any reason, without warning in the USA. Please comment and tell me of your country’s employment polices.
Do you have Employment in the USA do you feel you’ve been treated just like me if so add your opinions to our comments section and I will reply to each and every one thank you, I will be using different blogging article themes to not only reach out to other demographics but it also helps collectibulldogs keywords and rankings when words used in search engines is more than just a few keywords.
Well, that’s it for now dear readers. I look forward to your comments and hope to hear about what employment laws exist in your country.
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