At our recent masterclass, “Exiting with Confidence: Best Practices for Lawful Terminations and Litigation Prevention,” Anne McWilliams, Caylee Scott, and I went back to basics on one of the highest-risk moments in the employment relationship: the termination. We debated whether a back-to-basics topic would draw interest, but preparing for it reminded me why it is…

California is technically an at-will employment state. But practically speaking, that designation comes with so many asterisks that employers who treat at-will as a blank check to terminate anyone at any time are setting themselves up for costly litigation.

Here are five things every California employer needs to understand about the at-will doctrine:

1. At-Will…