Scenario Mr. Con Fused has been an employee at Regional Hospital for the past fi

Question

Scenario

Mr. Con Fused has been an employee at Regional Hospital for the past five years. His employment there was recently terminated. The reason for the termination was: Inability to follow instructions. However, Regional has adopted an "at-will" policy. So in reality, no reason has to be given for the termination. Never the less, Mr. Fused was very upset at his termination....so upset, that he went to the media with his story.

Scenario for Post 1

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You work for the human resources department at Regional. The hospital attorney is preparing for a news conference regarding the termination of Mr. Fused. In an effort to help the attorney, you draft justifications for an "at-will" termination of a hospital employee. What are your reasons for supporting this policy? Your job is to convince the public that this is a necessary and useful policy.

Scenario for Post 2

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Now you work for a public advocacy group that has decided to help Mr. Fused. You hold a news conference in response to the hospital's news conference. What flaws do you find in the hospital's position? Why is "at-will" wrong for the medical industry? Be sure to read through posts of your fellow students, then select the "hospital" post that interests you the most.

Scenario for Post 3

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Now you choose. Read the posts submitted by the class. Which side seems more logical to you? Should the medical industry abide by an "at-will" doctrine? Why / why not? Be sure to cite to a fellow student's post.

Explanation / Answer

Post 1

Meaning of “at-will” policy: From the point of view of an employment contract, an at-will policy means that the employer can terminate any given employee from the organization at any given point of time, for any reason and it maybe with or without notice. The reason for termination does not matter in case of an at-will policy.

Reasons of supporting the policy:

1. Flexibility: This policy gives flexibility to both the employers and employees to terminate the contract of employment at any given point of time.

2. Freedom to quit: Employees / employers are not bound by any contract wherein they cannot quit. Either parties have freedom to quit the contract.

In case of the healthcare industry, this policy becomes even more important because time and accuracy is of the essence. Life of people is at stake and the hospital should be in a position to hire / fire people without any constraints. The hospital has to cater to 1000s of patients and legal barriers such as not being in a position to fire employees at-will leads to sub-optimum level of output which is not acceptable in this industry.

Post 2

At-will policy is not suitable in case of a healthcare because of the following reasons:

1. Financial stress: If the hospital follows at-will policy, the employees will always be under financial stress. Since there will be no guarantee of employment, they will not be able to plan their finances and this will lead to stress and negativity.

2. Job security: Job security is a sense of belongingness. All employees should feel like working that they are working together as a family and this will bring out the best in them. However, at-will policy makes an employee insecure and under constant pressure.

3. Conflict with co-workers: At-will employment can lead to reduced co-operation between employees as each one will want to prove himself. Benefits of team spirit might be lost.

In case of healthcare industry, mistakes cannot be forgiven easily as it has severe implications on the life of people. The above reasons will create negative atmosphere in the hospital and should be avoided.

Post 3

Being a neutral judge, “at-will” policy can be adopted by healthcare industry but with a few modifications. The policy has its own advantages and disadvantages as illustrated above. So a special policy should be framed by the hospital wherein they have the flexibility and freedom but at the same time do not lead to stressful situations for the employees.

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