Employment at Will - Breach Of Contract

Approximately half of the states have allowed exceptions to employment at will on the basis of an express or implied promise by the employer. Typically, a wrongful discharge action alleging the breach of an employer's promise is based on a statement by the employer that expressly or implicitly promises employees a degree of job security. Ordinarily, such statements are found in employee handbooks or in policy memorandums given to employees when they are hired. Some courts have interpreted such statements as unilateral contracts in which the employer promises not to discharge the employees except for JUST CAUSE and in accordance with certain procedures (Duldulao v. Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital Center, 115 Ill. 2d 482, 106 Ill. Dec. 8, 505 N.E.2d 314 [Ill. 1987]). Courts were more reluctant to find exceptions to the employment at-will practice in cases that involved an oral promise of long-term employment.