IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v115y2013i2p311-325.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Distributive Justice, Employment-at-Will and Just-Cause Dismissal

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Harcourt
  • Maureen Hannay
  • Helen Lam

Abstract

Dismissal is a major issue for distributive justice at work, because it normally has a drastic impact on an employee’s livelihood, self-esteem and future career. This article examines distributive justice under the US’s employment-at-will (EAW) system and New Zealand’s just-cause dismissal system, focusing on the three main categories of dismissal, namely misconduct, poor performance and redundancy. Under EAW, employees have limited protection from dismissal and remedies are restricted to just a few so-called exceptions. Comparatively, New Zealand’s just-cause system delivers much more just outcomes, both in terms of remedies and punishments. Despite a few shortcomings, it should be considered as a reasonable reference for policy changes in the US. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Harcourt & Maureen Hannay & Helen Lam, 2013. "Distributive Justice, Employment-at-Will and Just-Cause Dismissal," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 311-325, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:115:y:2013:i:2:p:311-325
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1400-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1400-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1400-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Radin, Tara J. & Werhane, Patricia H., 2003. "Employment-at-Will, Employee Rights, and Future Directions for Employment," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 113-130, April.
    2. John T. Addison & Pedro Portugal, 1992. "Advance Notice and Unemployment: New Evidence from the 1988 Displaced Worker Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(4), pages 645-664, July.
    3. Isabelle Huault & V. Perret & S. Charreire-Petit, 2007. "Management," Post-Print halshs-00337676, HAL.
    4. Belzil, Christian, 1996. "Relative Efficiencies and Comparative Advantages in Job Search," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 154-173, January.
    5. Alexander J. S. Colvin, 2006. "Flexibility and Fairness in Liberal Market Economies: The Comparative Impact of the Legal Environment and High‐Performance Work Systems," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 44(1), pages 73-97, March.
    6. Eger, Thomas, 2003. "Opportunistic termination of employment contracts and legal protection against dismissal in Germany and the USA," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 381-403, December.
    7. Jones, Stephen R G & Kuhn, Peter, 1995. "Mandatory Notice and Unemployment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(4), pages 599-622, October.
    8. Paul Swaim & Michael Podgursky, 1990. "Advance Notice and Job Search: The Value of an Early Start," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 25(2), pages 147-178.
    9. McCall, John J., 2003. "A Defense of Just Cause Dismissal Rules," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 151-175, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kihun Kim & Zulfiquer Ali Haider & Zhenyu Wu & Junsheng Dou, 2020. "Corporate Social Performance of Family Firms: A Place-Based Perspective in the Context of Layoffs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 235-252, November.
    2. Samir Shrivastava & Robert Jones & Christopher Selvarajah & Bernadine Gramberg, 2016. "Organisational Justice: A Senian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 99-116, April.
    3. Warren Cook & Kristine M. Kuhn, 2021. "Off-Duty Deviance in the Eye of the Beholder: Implications of Moral Foundations Theory in the Age of Social Media," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 605-620, September.
    4. Lopes, Evandro Luiz & da Silva, Marcos Antonio, 2015. "The effect of justice in the history of loyalty: A study in failure recovery in the retail context," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 110-120.
    5. Tae-Yeol Kim & Jeffrey Edwards & Debra Shapiro, 2015. "Social Comparison and Distributive Justice: East Asia Differences," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 401-414, December.
    6. Marte Bentzen & Göran Kenttä & Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre, 2020. "Elite Football Coaches Experiences and Sensemaking about Being Fired: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-13, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Audra Bowlus & Lars Vilhuber, 2001. "Displaced Workers, Early Leavers, and Re-employment Wages," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 20015, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    2. Peter Kuhn, "undated". "Canada and the "OECD Hypothesis": Does Labour Market Inflexibility Explain Canada's High Level of Unemployment?," Canadian International Labour Network Working Papers 10, McMaster University.
    3. Kahn, Lawrence M., 2012. "Temporary jobs and job search effort in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 113-128.
    4. Friesen, Jane, 2005. "Statutory firing costs and lay-offs in Canada," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 147-168, April.
    5. McCall, Brian P, 1997. "The Determinants of Full-Time versus Part-Time Reemployment Following Job Displacement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 714-734, October.
    6. Partridge, Mark D. & Rickman, Dan S., 1998. "Regional differences in chronic long-term unemployment," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 193-215.
    7. Santos, Miguel, 2010. "From Training to Labour Market. Holocletic Model," MPRA Paper 26617, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Uwe JIRJAHN & Stephen C. SMITH, 2018. "Nonunion Employee Representation: Theory And The German Experience With Mandated Works Councils," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 201-233, March.
    9. repec:fip:fedhep:y:2013:i:qii:p:30-46:n:vol.37no.2 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Gedikoglu, Haluk & McCann, Laura M.J. & Artz, Georgeanne M., 2011. "Off-Farm Employment Effects on Adoption of Nutrient Management Practices," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-14, August.
    11. Scherrer-Rathje, Maike & Boyle, Todd A. & Deflorin, Patricia, 2009. "Lean, take two! Reflections from the second attempt at lean implementation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 79-88.
    12. Farrell, Terence C., 2008. "An Economic Evaluation of Conservation Farming Practices for the Central West of NSW," 2008 Conference (52nd), February 5-8, 2008, Canberra, Australia 6177, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    13. Felipe Jiménez & Wilmar Cabrera-Montiel, 2014. "System for Road Vehicle Energy Optimization Using Real Time Road and Traffic Information," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-23, June.
    14. J�r�me Massiani, Giovanni Santoro, 2012. "The relevance of the concept of capacity for the management of a tourist destination: theory and application to tourism management in Venice," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 66(2), pages 141-156.
    15. Vassili Joannides & N. Berland, 2008. "Grounded theory: quels usages dans les recherches en contrôle de gestion?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00676580, HAL.
    16. David Gray & Gilles Grenier, 1998. "Jobless Durations of Displaced Workers: A Comparison of Canada and the United States," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 152-169, February.
    17. Gauguier, Jean-Jacques, 2009. "L’industrialisation de l’Open Source," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/4388 edited by Toledano, Joëlle.
    18. Adrian K. James & Ronald W. Thring & Steve Helle & Harpuneet S. Ghuman, 2012. "Ash Management Review—Applications of Biomass Bottom Ash," Energies, MDPI, vol. 5(10), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Hoen, K.M.R. & Güllü, R. & van Houtum, G.J. & Vliegen, I.M.H., 2011. "A simple and accurate approximation for the order fill rates in lost-sales Assemble-to-Order systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 95-104, September.
    20. Porro, Roberto & Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro & Vela-Alvarado, Jorge W., 2015. "Forest use and agriculture in Ucayali, Peru: Livelihood strategies, poverty and wealth in an Amazon frontier," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-56.
    21. Thierry Burger-Helmchen & Patrick Llerena, 2008. "A case study of a creative start-up: governance, communities and knowledge management," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 125-146.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:115:y:2013:i:2:p:311-325. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.