Dear Governor Hobbs and members of the Arizona State Legislature, I am writing as a concerned Arizonan to address our state’s at-will employment laws, which I have seen cause profound damage. These laws erode trust between employees and employers, creating a system where a person’s livelihood can be tied to a manager’s personal whims rather than their professional merit.
My personal experience with abrupt termination without cause or notice is a painful example of this failure, but I am not alone. This constant fear of arbitrary firing creates a culture of silence where employees cannot speak up against wrongdoing, which harms both companies and the state’s economy.
A better model already exists. Montana is the only state to have moved away from the at-will model with its Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act. This law requires employers to have “just cause” to fire an employee who has completed their probationary period. A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that this law reversed a period of market uncertainty and restored Montana’s annual employment growth rate by a statistically significant 0.46 percentage points. This proves that a fair system benefits everyone.
This widespread system of fairness is also present in many international economies. The U.S. at-will model is an anomaly; most developed countries, including much of Europe and Canada, require employers to provide a “just cause” for termination. These systems provide a stable...
One of the nation’s largest specialty wound care providers for nursing home patients has settled a False Claims lawsuit for $45 million, but it continues to reject the allegations of wrongdoing ma...