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Illinois Employment at Will

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What is “employment at will” in Illinois?

There are several states that follow the employment at will doctrine, including Illinois. If there is no employment contract, then employment at will policies take precedence in most states. Basically, employment at will means that workers can quit a job whenever they want, whether or not they have a reason, or decide to work a notice. Employers can also fire workers whenever they want, whether or not they have a reason, or have provided that worker with any warnings.

In a number of situations, employers rely on the employment at will policy to get rid of employees. If a company follows this policy, it is usually spelled out in the employee handbook. Some language explaining the policies includes, “Nothing in this handbook shall be considered as an implied or expressed contract to limit the employment at will doctrine.”

More often than not, employees are asked to sign a document indicating that they have read, and understand, everything in the handbook and agree with it.

Employment at will doctrines are always restricted by the presence of a written contract. Thirty-eight states in the U.S. have decreed that any verbal promises of continued employment automatically make employment at will policies invalid.

This means that if Ann’s manager tells her, “you have a job here for life”, the law would recognize that statement as taking priority over any employment at will policies that exist.

It is important to note that the majority of states have placed stringent limits on employment at will policies. In the United States, 11 different states do not follow employment at will concepts at all. In these states: California, Massachusetts, Alabama, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Delaware, and Montana, the “covenant of good faith and fair dealing” is applicable to employer/employee relationships. JH