Losing your job significantly changes your financial future and the direction your life takes. As a result, it naturally feels unfair if you think that you have lost your job for no reason at all. You haven’t done anything wrong or made any mistakes, and you deserve to keep your position and your main source of income
If you have an employment contract, you may be correct that you need to be fired for a reason. For instance, executives at major corporations sometimes have employment contracts saying they can only be fired for cause. They can’t be terminated unless it can be shown that they broke the law or did something detrimental to the company – perhaps putting their own interests ahead of the business’s interests.
But most workers have no such assurances and are not using employment contracts, so it is possible to be fired for no reason.
At-will employment
For example, most workers who do not have contracts – the vast majority in America – are considered at-will employees. Under at-will employment laws, the employee can be terminated at any time and for any reason. As long as the reason isn’t illegal – such as racial discrimination – the reason for the termination doesn’t matter. The employee may feel that they are being fired for “no reason,” but their employer is not obligated to provide a “good” reason. It just can’t be illegal.
That said, you may believe that the termination did violate your rights if it was based on age, gender, race, religion or something of this nature. If so, be sure you know what legal options you have.
