Can I terminate an employee for misconduct without warning?
Full Question:
I have an employee who questioned his commission check every month. My office manager would go over the totals and show him they were correct. She asked him to look at his totals daily so any correction could be made at that time. He would not sign the total tapes and turn them in. We gave the employee a letter stating that if the tapes were not returned at the end of the work day we would take them back and assume that he agreed with the totals. He
wrote on the letter just fire me! I think this is gross misconduct and I shoud be able to fire him without any problems. This employee has let me know in the past that if I fire him he will file a claim.
05/04/2009 |
Category: Employment |
State: ALL |
#16554
Answer:
California is an at-will employment state. This means that an employee can be fired without cause, and without warning. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, an employee cannot be fired for discriminatory reasons, or in retaliation for engaging in protected legal activity. An employer may not terminate an employee out of discrimination or in retaliation for making complaints about wage violations, such as nonpayment of minimum wage or overtime compensation. In a further example, if an employee has an oral or written contract
with their employer specifying that he or she will not be fired without 'good cause,' then the employer must provide a legitimate business reason for terminating such an employee.
