The NLRB General Counsel's Division of Advice has issued opinions in two cases (available here and here), finding the employers' handbook provisions concerning "at-will employment" to be lawful. The Advice Memoranda, both dated October 31, 2012, provide much needed guidance for employers whose handbooks and policies advise employees that their employment is "at will" and may be terminated at any time. As the General Counsel observes in both memoranda, it has become commonplace for employers to rely on such policy provisions as a defense against employees asserting that the employee handbook creates an enforceable employment contract. Whether such provisions would pass scrutiny by the NLRB, however, has been an open question.
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