Employment is an area that every individual will eventually deal with at some point in time because of the need to support one's self and his or her family. The topic of this paper is about the proper ethical treatment of the hiring and firing of employees. According to Werhane, employment at will (EAW) can be defined as a rule that states "when employees are not specifically covered by union agreements, legal statute, public policy, or contract, employers may dismiss their employees at will... for good cause, for no cause, or even for causes morally wrong, without being thereby guilty of legal wrong. At the same time, at will employees enjoy rights parallel to employer prerogatives, because employees may quit their jobs for any reason whatsoever without having to give any notice to their employers" (Werhane pg. 266). The topic in question is whether it is morally justifiable to practice EAW in our current economic situation and whether it is equal on both sides. I believe the answer to this question is that it is morally justifiable to practice EAW in the private sector because EAW maintains a critical balance between the freedoms of employers and employees.
             In the article, "In Defense of the Contract at Will," the author Epstein proposes several persuasive arguments in defense of EAW. The first argument is that EAW respects an individual's autonomy in making decisions. Autonomy refers to a person's freedom in making choices and decisions. No individual should have to be committed to an occupation or an obligation that severely restricts his or her freedom of contract. In this respect, EAW protects both the employer and employee equally because the freedom of contract asks for "no more and no less"(Werhane pg. 276). The employer is the sole owner of the capital so they are free to choose employment strategies that maximize the firm's efficiency (ex. unproductive employees, cyclical...