Discuss the various aspects associated with employment at will (EAW).

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Employment at will (EAW) holds that, in the absence of a particular contractual or other legal obligation that specifies the length or conditions of employment, all employees are employed "at will." In the same manner, an EAW worker may opt to leave a job at any time for any reason, without offering any notice at all; so the freedom is theoretically mutual.
The ethical rationale for EAW, both historically and among contemporary defenders, has both utilitarian and deontological elements. EAW was thought to be an important management tool. Total discretion over employment gives managers the ability to make efficient decisions that should contribute to the greater overall good. It was thought that the manager would be in the best position to know what was best for the firm and that the law should not interfere with those decisions. Another basis for EAW was the rights of private property owners to control their property by controlling who works for them.
Both legal and ethical analyses of these claims, however, demonstrate that there are good reasons to limit EAW. Even if EAW proved to be an effective management tool, justice demands that such tools not be used to harm other people. Further, even if private property rights grant managers authority over employees, the right of private property itself is limited by other rights and duties. Also, though the freedom to terminate the relationship is theoretically mutual, the employer is often responsible for the employee's livelihood, while the opposite is unlikely to be true; the differential creates an unbalanced power relationship between the two parties.