What is at-will employment?

At-will employment means that employers are able to terminate a worker at any time, with or without "just cause," as long as termination is not discriminatory.

Note:

• Unless there is a prior contract established between the employer and an individual worker that defines the terms of employment, or the worker belongs to a union or certain types of civil service, most workers are considered at-will.
• In general, employers may define the specific terms of at-will employment in an employee handbook that new hires must acknowledge when hired.