Is an Employee Handbook a Contract
Massachusetts:
I was recently terminated. I understand that MA is an at-will employment State and that absent a CBA or contract, there is little protection against arbitrary termination.
Conversly, recent case law in MA speaks otherwise. In Ferguson v. Host International, Inc., 53 Mass. App. Ct. 96 (2001), the Appeals court held that the plaintiff had a valid basis to challenge his termination as being in breach of rights contained in the personnel manual. Host had specifically disclaimed any intent to confer contractual rights on its employees and reserved the right to amend or cancel the manual without notice. Nonetheless, the Ferguson court found that reasonable persons could view that disclaimer languageas the “functional equivalent of fine print.” Thus, the court concluded that the plaintiff could “reasonably believe that the company would adhere to the portions of the manual establishing the system of progressive discipline and the guarantee of fair treatment, rather than apply them only when they chose.”
In my case, my employer has specific policies and procedures in place that govern the demotion and termination of permanent employees (which I was) with fair hearings and grievances and it is not until those are exhausted may an employee be terminated.
I have requested my fair hearing over three (3) months ago, in which has proven fruitless. I am a non-union, non-tenured employee but the policy dicatating termination does not state that one must be any of these in order to enjoy a fair hearing...only that they must be permanent. Any advice?
Re: Employee Handbook a Contract
Take every single document you have, including the policy, handbook, whatever, to a local attorney specializing in employment law and see what the attorney thinks. The devil is in the details.
Re: Is an Employee Handbook a Contract
Ferguson v Host International, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 904 (2005); also Knox v Civil Service Commission, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 904 (2005).
They're helpful cases in a general sense, but as PattyPA suggests the devil is in the details.
Re: Is an Employee Handbook a Contract
Employee handbooks are not unilaterally declared contracts, and in many if not most instances they are not. It is possible for the odd employee handbook to be written in such a way as to constitute a contract.
Your specific handbook would have to be examined by a MA attorney to determine if it is or isn't.