State Employment Law: “Just Cause” or “Right to Work”?

An employee’s legal rights after termination from a job vary from state to state. In some states, called “at-will” states, employment is completely at-will, unless expressly stated otherwise. In those states, an employer may fire an employee at any time, for any reason (excluding constitutionally protected reasons such as race, religion, and sex). For example, your supervisor could walk into work tomorrow and say, “You’re doing a bad job. Get out. You’re fired.” In an at-will state, this could be legal. In other states, called just cause states, employees can only be fired for “just cause.” What constitutes just cause also varies from state to state. For example, an employee may have to be put on an “Employee Improvement Plan” to improve his or her job performance before being terminated. Unfortunately, at some point, most public administrators will have to terminate an employee. Therefore, knowing what type of state a public administrator is working in is crucial to ensuring compliance with the law.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review the assigned pages for Chapter 10 in The Study of Law: A Critical Thinking Approach (4th ed.) for an overview of employment law issues relevant to public administrators.

Review the article “Revisiting the At-Will Employment Doctrine: Imposed Terms, Implied Terms, and the Normative World of the Workplace” to explore how at-will employment functions in real-life situations.

Review the article “Labor and Employment Laws” to research employment laws and agencies within your state. Specifically, find out whether your state is an “at-will” or “just cause” state, and identity any protected classes from firing within your state. If necessary, use an Internet search engine of your choice to investigate these issues further.

Consider how those laws may affect a public administrator.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post a 300 word summary by Thursday February 02, 2017 of whether your state (Maryland) is an “at-will” or “just cause” state. Then, explain if there are protected classes from firing in your state. Finally, explain how you think those laws may affect a public administrator.

Support your work with proper APA citations from the Learning Resources and any other sources.

Referral Information and the Interview Process

A court system refers a person who was found to be over the legal limit for drinking to Alcoholics Anonymous.

A doctor who has a patient exhibiting symptoms of methamphetamine addiction refers the patient to an addictions counselor.

A probation officer working with an individual who has a history of illegal gambling refers to the individual to an addictions professional specializing in gambling.

Referral is a central aspect of the addictions profession. Addictions professionals often both accept referrals and administer them. Few individuals truly begin therapy as a “blank slate.” Addictions professionals need to know how to integrate referral information into the interview to maximize interview time and to tailor the questions to the individual’s unique history and background of behaviors. Like any profession, the addictions profession uses certain terminology in assessments settings to describe observable behaviors, which also aids the integration of referral information for desired results.

In this Assignment, you review a case study that includes the type of information typical in a referral situation. You apply professional terminology to summarize client status and create interview questions.

To prepare:

Review the Learning Resources, including the following:

• The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Substance Abuse Treatment

  • Chapter 5, “Assessment of the Patient”

• Chemical Dependency Counseling: A Practical Guide

  • Chapter 4, “The Biopsychosocial Interview”

  • Appendix 6, “Sample Biopsychosocial Interview”Focus on the case study of Jane Roberts.

    Assignment Directions:

    Submit by Sunday 3/19/17 a 2- to 4-page paper in which you do the following:

• Based on the review of the Jane Roberts case study, in 1–3 paragraphs use professional terminology to describe the mental, physical, and behavioral characteristics of the client.

• Create 10 interview questions integrating the referral information from the case study provided. Provide your rationale for your choice of questions.

Cite your sources using APA guidelines.

• Answer all components in the assignment as there are usually several. These can serve as your headings in APA format. Using these headings will help keep your paper organized, ensure you cover all objectives, and enhance readability. You may find that if you bullet-point these requirements and refer to them as you write, you will address all of the portions of the question.