States with exceptions to at-will employment | WrongfulTerminationSettlements.com

At-will employment is the dominant method of employment in the United States, meaning that an employee can be fired at any time for any reason.

However, there are instances where at-will employment is not accepted as an excuse for specific employment related issues. There are a number of federal anti discriminatory statutes that define protected groups who may otherwise be prone to discrimination, as well as local state laws that further shape public policy in employment matters.

The most widespread state level exceptions to the at-will doctrine are:

Public policy exception

When an employee can’t be fired for acting according to public policy.

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Implied contract exception

When the existence of an implied contract can be proven.

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Covenant of good faith exception

When an employee may only be fired with good cause.

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Local discrimination law

Beside Title VII, some states have a state level discrimination law.

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Here is a list of all of the states in the USA with exceptions to at-will employment, clearly marking whether the given state has legislation that create exceptions or not.

Keep in mind that the state level laws can be significantly different from state to state.

State	Public Policy	Implied Contract	Covenant of Good Faith & Fair Dealing	Local anti discrimination law
Alabama	No	Yes	Yes	No
Alaska	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Arizona	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Arkansas	Yes	Yes	No	No
California	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Colorado	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Connecticut	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Delaware	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
District of Columbia	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Florida	No	No	No	Yes
Georgia	No	No	No	No
Hawaii	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Idaho	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Illinois	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Indiana	Yes	No	No	Yes
Iowa	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Kansas	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Kentucky	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Louisiana	No	No	No	Yes
Maine	No	Yes	No	Yes
Maryland	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Massachusetts	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Michigan	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Minnesota	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Mississippi	Yes	Yes	No	No
Missouri	Yes	No	No	Yes
Montana	Yes	No	No	Yes
Nebraska	No	Yes	No	Yes
Nevada	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
New Hampshire	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
New Jersey	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
New Mexico	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
New York	No	Yes	No	Yes
North Carolina	Yes	No	No	Yes
North Dakota	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Ohio	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Oklahoma	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Oregon	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Pennsylvania	Yes	No	No	Yes
Rhode Island	No	No	No	Yes
South Carolina	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
South Dakota	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Tennessee	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Texas	Yes	No	No	Yes
Utah	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vermont	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Virginia	Yes	No	No	Yes
Washington	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
West Virginia	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Wisconsin	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Wyoming	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total states with exceptions	42	36	11	46

State level discrimination laws change the minimum number of employees a private company must employ for the law to have effect, so if your state has a discrimination law, make sure you check it.

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