Skip to the main content.
FAQs

Frequently asked questions.

Videos

Instructional videos about Horizon and working with our solutions.

Downloads

Helpful downloads and eBooks to empower your business.

Tax & HR Alerts

Helpful tax and HR alerts to help keep your business compliant.

Forms & Documents

Payroll and tax-related forms and documents.

Blog

Horizon's blog provides valuable insight into payroll, compliance, human resources, and more.

Success Stories

See our client success stories for a case study on how we can help your business.

Featured blog post

How Long Should Employee Onboarding Take

Featured blog post

Tips For Success With Seasonal Employees

Our Team

Payroll and HR strategy requires intelligent technology, personal attention and specialized expertise in the needs and nuances of your business. 

Clients & Industries

We provide payroll and tax processing services for businesses from 1 to 1,000 employees or more. Today, we have nearly 1,000 customers in 40 states.

1 min read

What At-Will Employment Really Means

 sticker-1732949__340.jpg

At-will employment basically means that the employer or the employee can terminate their relationship at any time, for any reason. 

What this says versus what it really means often leads to misunderstanding among employers. Does this mean you can arbitrarily fire an employee without documentation, without a reason? Nope. And even if you document every detail, it still may not land in your favor.

Write a company policy that explains at-will employment. Include it in your employee handbook and indicate that poor performance will lead to general disciplinary action.

Be consistent in the application of your policies. Businesses get into trouble when they don’t deal with all employees in the same manner. If you have a discipline policy, apply it fairly and consistently.

Establish “just cause” for termination. It's time-consuming, but not impossible. Employers should implement the following progressive discipline best practices to ensure the best possible result in the event of litigation:

  1. Document the details, even verbal warnings, and use a standard form.
  2. Include a witness during these meetings. Get signatures from everyone involved.
  3. Stick to the facts. If you have a company policy that has been violated, name it and reiterate the desired performance.
  4. Be compassionate with a poor performer, but not apologetic. If done right, a notice of termination should not be a surprise.

Learn more about the states that have exemptions to at-will employment (a full list is available from the National Conference of State Legislatures). The exceptions include the public policy exception, the implied contract exception and the covenant of good faith exception. It's in your best interest to read more and understand the specific laws in your state.

Stay up to date with employment law.  Our HR On-Demand offers 24-hour access to seasoned HR professionals who can answer the questions you have about your business. 

 

New Call-to-action

 

The Buck Stops … Where? Understanding Co-Employment

4 min read

The Buck Stops … Where? Understanding Co-Employment

In 2016, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman petitioned the state’s Supreme Court, alleging that Domino’s Pizza was a joint employer...

Read More
Hire Interns Without Taxing Your HR Resources

5 min read

Hire Interns Without Taxing Your HR Resources

Creating a strong internship program is advantageous for any organization, big or small, and internships benefit both the employer and intern....

Read More
Absenteeism: A Symptom You Can’t Afford to Ignore

4 min read

Absenteeism: A Symptom You Can’t Afford to Ignore

Employee absences are inevitable. Scheduled or not, legitimate or not, absences mean less work completed as time and money go to paid sick time and...

Read More