The Modern Workplace

Employment with [the Company] is employment at-will.  Employment at-will may be terminated with or without cause and with or without notice at any time by the employee or the Company.  Nothing in this Handbook or in any document or statement shall limit the right to terminate employment at-will. No manager, supervisor, or employee of [the Company] has any authority to enter into an agreement for employment for any specified period of time or to make an agreement for employment other than at-will. Only the president of the Company has the authority to make any such agreement and then only in writing.

The relationship between you and [the Company] is referred to as employment at will." This means that your employment can be terminated at any time for any reason, with or without cause, with or without notice, by you or the Company. No representative of the Company has authority to enter into any agreement contrary to the foregoing "employment at will" relationship. Nothing contained in this handbook creates an express or implied contract of employment.

Employers should continue to look carefully at their at-will disclaimers and consider labor law risks.  We'll post again soon with some tips about how to keep at-will disclaimers from becoming a problem. The good news for now is that the NLRB has supplied some much needed clarity for employers about the type of handbook disclaimers it will find acceptable.