California is an at-will employment state, meaning employers may terminate their employees at any time without giving a reason. Employees may also strike, stop working, or quit at any time. However, California has at-will employment exceptions, which include retaliation, race, and religion, and it becomes wrongful termination.

In this article, our employment attorney discusses exceptions to California at will employment as follows:

What are the exceptions to employment at-will?

Public Policy

If the termination goes against public policy, then the employer is not allowed to terminate at will. Therefore it would be unlawful to terminate an employee because of a protected class or in retaliation for refusing to engage in illegal activity or reporting unsafe working conditions.

Protected classes include:

• • Marital status
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Age
  • Sexual orientation

Employment Contract

The terms of the employment contract must be upheld during the employment relationship. It obviously cannot apply more restrictive terms than laws, but it can provide additional termination protections. An employment contract may also give termination procedures and specific circumstances for termination.

All California employment contracts have an implied good faith covenant that means that no adverse actions would be made in bad faith. This means demotions and terminations would not be made in bad faith. A bad faith adverse action would result in a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Implied Contract

An employed contract occurs where there is not a written contract, but an employment relationship exists. For example, clauses in the employment policies or company handbook that makes the employee believe that they have job protection.

This implied contract must be upheld in termination decisions.

Additional California At-Will Employment Exceptions

• • Union workers with collective bargaining agreements may enjoy termination protection that requires giving “just cause” for termination.
  • Public sector employees may have protection because of civil service laws and memorandums of understanding from their union involvement.
  • Employment contracts that require “good cause” for termination.

When Is At-Will Termination Considered Unlawful?

Even at-will employees can be wrongfully terminated. The FEHA Act protects at-will employees from being fired due to protected characteristics such as:

• Age
• Religion
• Race
• Disability
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

Employees can also not be fired for political views, taking sick leave, protected leaves of absence, or using certain benefits before they expire.

They cannot be fired for speaking out against unlawful acts occurring in the workplace or anything else that would violate public policies.

Can you be fired for no reason in California?

Because California is an at-will employment state, the employer can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for almost any reason.

What are the exceptions to at-will employment in California?

Employees that have executive status and their contract requires termination for a “good cause” cannot be fired at will. Also, some civil service employees and employees who are part of a union may not be fired at will.

Do California at-will employment laws require a notice period?

At-will termination can legally happen without warning. But most employers and employees will give some kind of notice of the end of the employment relationship.