Hrm 564: Employee at Will

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While working in any organization, including Hall County, employment-at-will relations can create some severe outcomes. There are many cases in which the courts have exceptions, however not all of them will recognize these exceptions for public policy. A violation to public policy or employment-at-will occurs when an employee is terminated from their employment because they have refused to perform an act that will violate the law.

At Hall County if any violations to the public policy occurs, and the employee is terminated, the employee can try to plead their case in front of the Civil Service Advisor. This is an individual that is brought in to be impartial to both parties to make a determination if the public policy or employee/employer rights have been violated.

Hall County does not hire Independent Contractors as a norm. They do in certain situations and for certain departments. These Independent Contractors would come in if needed if certain situations arise. An example of this would be that on Friday October 2, 2015 a well-traveled road in the county had begun to undermine. The road department responded but would not be able to complete the repairs in a timely fashion and be able to keep their work load from getting back logged. The County Administrator then decided that he would bring in an Independent Contractor to make the necessary repairs so the Road Department personnel could try to keep their work load caught up, especially with the storms and rain that was heading their way.

Hall County has very few temporary employees and when we do, they come from a staffing agency. Hall County is under no obligation to keep these employees for any certain amount of time and do not have to pay insurance for these employees. Hall County has temporary employees working in the Finance department at this time. They do the work that a regular employee would do but not only has to follow the rules and guidelines of the county but also of their agency that employs them.

In conclusion, Hall County does employ temporary employees and Independent Contractors at times. Their employees are also employed-at-will. This is the case with all except for the elected officials that work in the county, such as the County Administrator and the Commissioners. Employment-at-Will can be a benefit to both the employee and the employer.

References

Bennet-Alexander, D.D., & Hartman P.L. (2007). Employment Law for Business.

(5th Ed). New York, N.Y: McGraw-Hill.

Coggburn, J. D., Battaglio, R. P., Bowman, J. S., Condrey, S. E., Goodman, D., & West, J. (03/23/2009). State Government Human Resource Professionals' Commitment to Employment at Will. Retrieved from http://arp.sagepub.com/content/40/2/189

Hall County Government. (September 2015). Hall County Employee Handbook. Retrieved from http://www.hallcounty.org/DocumentCenter/view/2270