Pub. 1 2011-2012 Issue 2

12 EMPLOYMEN By Florence M. Vincent, Attorney | Van Cott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy, P.C. U nder Utah law, employ- ment is generally pre- sumed to be “at will.” In other words, either the employer or the employee can terminate the job at any time. In contrast, if the employment relationship is based on a contract for a term, then gen- erally an employer may only ter- minate the employment relation- ship for “just cause.” Just cause generally includes reasons such as poor employee performance, em- ployee misconduct, or economic necessity. If the employee termi- nates the employment contract before the term expires, then usu- ally the employee is subject to a monetary penalty. While there are reasons for employment contracts that are for a specific term, there are also reasons for at-will employ- ment. At-will employment is recognition that both the employer and the employee need the freedom to part ways, at their discretion. Exceptions to the “At-will” Employment Presumption To mitigate the sometimes harsh conse- quences of at-will employment, courts have carved out exceptions to the presumption that employment is at-will. These excep- tions include violations of public policy, implied contract, and the implied covenant of good faith. The public policy exception to the at-will presumption protects employees against adverse employment actions that violate a public interest. Under this exception, a court may decide that since an employer’s action violates an important public policy, the employer may not rely on or defend its actions un- der the at-will doctrine. For example, if an employee is terminated after refusing to follow an employer’s illegal directive, a court may find that violates public policy and the employer may not rely on the at-will doctrine as a defense to a wrongful discharge claim. An implied contract of em- ployment is another excep- tion to the at-will employment presumption. An employee may expect to be able to work for a fixed term, or indefinitely, when the employer inadvertently creates an implied contract. Some ways in which this may occur include the following: • A supervisor or representative of the employer might make statements such as, “We need good people around here; you’ve got a job for life!” or, “We don’t dismiss employees without giving them a chance to correct their behavior.” “AT-WILL” What is Employment?