Employment
1. What are the "allowable" reasons to terminate an employee?
Kansas is known as an employment-at-will state. Unless an employee's termination violates some specific law or public policy, an employee can be fired for any reason, good or bad, or for no reason. But, as we detail below, there are some prohibited reasons for firing employees; if an employer fires an employee for one of the prohibited reasons, it exposes itself to a lawsuit.
2. What are illegal reasons for termination?
Federal and state laws prohibit termination of an employee based upon race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or (within certain limitations) age. An employee cannot be terminated in retaliation for filing a worker's compensation claim, using available Family and Medical Act leave, serving on a jury or serving in the armed services. "Whistle-blowers" may also be protected by the law under certain circumstances.
3. Can I sue my employer in court if I get hurt on the job?
The right to sue your employer if you are injured on the job is severely limited by the Kansas workers compensation act. "Workers comp" generally requires employers to maintain insurance (or self-insurance) to pay for injuries that employees receive on the job. In exchange for that protection, employees have generally lost their rights to sue their employers in court for on-the-job injuries. Sometimes lawsuits against third parties for workplace injuries are permitted. Therefore, if you are injured on the job, your relief will typically come through a workers comp claim. The bad news is that some kinds of legal relief cannot be granted in a workers compensation case; for example, work comp claimants get no money under Kansas law for pain and suffering that they have endured. The good news for workers is that workers compensation cases generally move faster than lawsuits. Also, in a work comp case, an injured worker is generally entitled to get workers compensation benefits even if he or she was at fault in causing the injury.
4. Can my employer withhold my wages because of a dispute?
Generally, no. The Kansas wage payment act requires that employees receive pay for services actually performed, even if the employer thinks they were done poorly. Except for specific, narrow circumstances, your employer cannot withhold your wages to satisfy a claim your employer has against you.
5. Are employment agreements restricting my later employment enforceable under Kansas law?
A contract restricting your ability to go to work for another employer in the future is typically called a "covenant not to compete." Kansas courts will generally uphold a covenant not to compete if it is reasonable in a) the employment prohibited, b) the time the prohibition lasts, and c) the geographic area in which the former employee is prohibited from working. The court decides whether the former employee's ability to find work is unreasonably restricted by the agreement. A covenant not to compete cannot be used simply to eliminate ordinary competition, or to prevent a former employee from earning a living at all.