In Defense of Private Companies

Private Businesses Aren't Out To Get Their Employees

By: Fat Lester

Author's Note: This was originally written in response to a post I saw on Amplify about unjust firings by private corporations.

As someone who has worked in managerial and executive positions at 100+ employee companies, I can personally attest to the contrary of the main point made by this article.

A Director of Human Resources is about one of the most difficult jobs in the entire world today, because of the litany of state and federal laws regarding hiring, firing, pay and incentives. The American government (with some help from the states) has made it extremely difficult for a private company to terminate an employee, even under just circumstances.

I've overheard former co-workers plotting frivolous lawsuits against the company while they thought no one was listening. They were discussing a preliminary meeting one of them had already had with a personal injury attorney regarding a meritless, yet-to-be-filed lawsuit. That is not to say all or even most attorneys would accept such a case, and I'm certainly not knocking the profession. That said, I think you get the point.

I've seen the pains companies must go through to ensure minimal potential for liability should an employee need to be terminated. Have you ever thought about all the documentation that must be conducted on a company's behalf just so that if they need to fire or lay off an employee for ANY reason, they've got documentation to support the reasoning should the terminated employee contest the firing in court.

That is not to say there are some nefarious individuals working for private companies out there that do some pretty bad things. However, the article at TechRepublic makes it seem like all these villainous corporations are just waiting to take advantage of their employees at every opportunity. That is not the case. The occurrences of fired (or still employed) employees frivolously suing private companies is far greater than the rate of employees fired under unjust circumstances.

Original copy of story to which this post responds: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=1706