At Will Employment Meaning

What does at will employment in California mean? Labor Code 2922 states, “An employment, having no specified term, may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other. Employment for a specified term means an employment for a period greater than one month.”

At will employment in California means that an employer may for an employee at any time for any reason – BUT not for an unlawful reason.

Rebuttable Presumption: Generally

Lab. Code, § 2922 (providing in part that an employment having no specified term may be terminated at will), creates a rebuttable presumption that an employment contract is terminable at will. Malmstrom v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. (Cal. App. 1st Dist. Nov. 25, 1986), 187 Cal. App. 3d 299, 231 Cal. Rptr. 820.

Lab. Code § 2922, provides that an employment relationship of an unspecified duration may be terminated at the will of either party. This section establishes a presumption of at-will employment that may be overcome by evidence of express or implied contractual limitations on the right of discharge or limitations imposed by public policy. Semore v. Pool (Cal. App. 4th Dist. Feb. 2, 1990), 217 Cal. App. 3d 1087, 266 Cal. Rptr. 280.

Under Lab. Code, § 2922, employment for an unspecified term is terminable at will. The presumption of at-will employment may be overcome by evidence of an implied agreement of continued employment, pending the occurrence of an event such as the employer’s dissatisfaction with the employee’s services or the existence of some cause for termination. Davis v. Consolidated Freightways (Cal. App. 4th Dist. Oct. 7, 1994), 29 Cal. App. 4th 354, 34 Cal. Rptr. 2d 438.

Lab. Code, § 2922, establishes a presumption of at-will employment. However, this presumption may be rebutted by evidence of a contrary intent. Gould v. Maryland Sound Industries, Inc. (Cal. App. 2d Dist. Jan. 25, 1995), 31 Cal. App. 4th 1137, 37 Cal. Rptr. 2d 718.

Lab. Code, § 2922, creates a presumption of at-will employment that may be overcome by evidence that, despite the absence of a specified term, the parties agreed that the employer’s power to terminate would be limited in some way, e.g., by a requirement that termination be based only on good cause. There is also a strong common law presumption that an employee may be demoted at will. DiGiacinto v. Ameriko-Omserv Corp. (Cal. App. 2d Dist. Nov. 25, 1997), 59 Cal. App. 4th 629, 69 Cal. Rptr. 2d 300.

Cal. Lab. Code § 2922 establishes a presumption that employment relationships may be terminated at will by either party upon notice to the other. This presumption may be modified by evidence of an express written or oral employment contract, or by evidence of an implied-in-fact employment contract. Maurey v. University of S. California (C.D. Cal. July 1, 1999), 87 F. Supp. 2d 1021.

Implied in fact contract terms not to terminate an employee without good cause will rebut the statutory presumption of Lab C § 2922 that employment for an indefinite period is terminable at will. Asmus v. Pacific Bell (Cal. June 1, 2000), 23 Cal. 4th 1.

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