Related question: as an "at-will" employee, do you ever have to sign anything or make an agreement confirming that status with your employer? Or is it just implicit?
It varies. In California, a common practice is for employer's to state affirmatively that employees have "at-will" status and there is no contract, and there is typically an acknowledgement that the employee signs. That isn't the case everywhere, but it is a common practice. The reason is that, even though that is the default provided for by law, that still did not prevent employees from trying to sue for "breach of an
implied contract." Employees lose those cases. But even having to engage in litigation in the first place costs employers time and money, so it is easier to pre-empt them in the first place by having those acknowledgements. Often (again, in CA anyway), that acknowledgement is part of an offer letter that the employee signs and returns or is part of an acknowledgement of the employer's handbook or policies.
So, short answer: It is the default position under the law, but yes, it is often repeated in a signed acknowledgement.
And the above is why, despite that I have been practicing specifically in the area of employment law for over 20 years, I have only had a handful of cases where the employee tried to allege breach of contract. For the types of contracts we are talking about, those cases are (almost) always losers in the U.S.
Following the discussion earlier I was surprised that people said they had no contract, but assumed it was probably just a miscommunication over what was meant by having a contract.
For those who are employees with "no contract" - is there any documentation that either you or your employer have (or should have) that confirms you are indeed an employee? Let's say you went for a job interview, and then were told over the phone or in person that you were successful, what would you literally do to "accept" the job? Would you just show up somewhere on a verbal agreement? If you showed up and the employer said actually you don't work here, or actually your pay is half what you thought it was, would there be something you would be able to point to to contradict them?
(These are not rhetorical questions, I am just trying to establish what the actual differences are between these things).
I get where you are coming from, but we are kind of talking about two different things. The employment "contract" we are talking about is a specific agreement about duties that must be performed and the employer's agreement not to discipline or terminate if the employee follows the letter of that. That isn't the case in most jobs in the U.S. The default is that employment is at-will and not by contract in most states, unless the employer and employee agree otherwise (which they are free to do, and does happen in some jobs).
That being said, there is typically an offer letter specifying that the employee is hired, what the basic position is that he/she is being hired for, and what the starting pay is. The employee typically signs an acceptance. So, yes, that is by the letter of the law, a written "contract" because it involves offer and acceptance. But the terms are typically VERY limited, and the offer letter will typically state explicitly that it does not create a contract of employment. Does that make sense?
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