ABSTRACT
“At will” employment is perhaps uniquely American – all US states except Montana are currently at will. At will means that both the employer and the employee have the right to terminate employment, virtually for any reason. While this appears fair on the surface, in fact at will employment is highly asymmetric in terms of power; the employee is not likely to be as free to leave a job as an employer is to fire, for any number of reasons. And, while employed, workers live under a kind of “private government,” as Elizabeth Anderson argues. Here they cede rights that ordinarily are ceded only to a public government. Among concepts discussed in this regard are non-compete “agreements” and their fundamentally unequal nature; non-disclosure agreements and class action waivers are two other company-imposed agreements not to the benefit of employees.
