Is it legal for my employer to hire someone for the same position without calling me back?
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Is it legal for my employer to hire someone for the same position without calling me back?
I have been laid off for over a year and have been on unemployment. When I was laid off my employer told me that I would be called back in a month, but I have not even received a phone call form the company. I noticed today in the local paper it has an ad for the same position that I got laid off from. What are my legal rights?
Asked on April 19, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Iowa
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Did you have an employment contract or union agreement providing otherwise? If not then your employer was under no legal obligation to re-hire you. Any general comments made to that affect would not be binding; they did not constitute an oral contract. The fact is that most employment relationships are "at will". Accordingly, an employer can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason at all. Unless discrimination played a role in this case, your employer is free to do as it sees fit with respect to the hiring/firing process.
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