At-will employment is a type of employer/employee relationship wherein the employee can be dismissed by the employer for any reason, without “just cause” and without notification. In fact, an at-will employee can be dismissed by the employer for no reason at all. While an employee may also resign for any reason or no reason, consulting our employment lawyers in Raleigh NC might be a prudent step.

As opposed to at-will employment, contract employment is where the employer/employee relationship is codified in a contract between the parties, which will generally contain terms of compensation, grounds for termination, length of employment and particular job responsibilities. Termination of the employer/employee relationship in a contract employment context must generally be for “just cause” as outlined in the employment contract.

A covenant not to compete is a contract between an employer and employee wherein the employee agrees not to enter into or start a similar business or trade in competition against the employer. Generally speaking, covenants not to compete must be supported by additional consideration (aside from continued employment). The courts are generally inclined to enforce North Carolina non-compete covenants as long as they are supported by additional consideration and are deemed reasonable in their geographical and temporal limitations.

The most common protected categories are those that protect an employee’s civil rights based on age, race, sex, religion, national origin, color, disability or pregnancy.

Retaliatory discharge is a practice of dismissing or failing to promote an employee because that employee has complained to their employer about discrimination of the job, or because the employee participated in an employment discrimination proceeding, such as an EEOC investigation. This is an illegal practice, as enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a federal governmental entity “responsible for enforcing the federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information”.

Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.