Employment that is not guaranteed and can be terminated at any time by either the employee or employer for any reason that is not unlawful (for example, a discriminatory reason). In most states, employment is presumed to be at-will unless agreed otherwise, in which case employment is terminable only for-cause (www.practicallaw.com/2-501-5241).
For further information, see Practice Note, Recruiting and Interviewing: Minimizing Legal Risk: Risk of Creating For-Cause Employment Relationships (www.practicallaw.com/1-500-4361). For more information on the use of at-will employment as consideration for non-compete agreements with employees, see Practice Note, Non-compete Agreements with Employees: Consideration (www.practicallaw.com/7-501-3409) and Standard Document, Employee Non-compete Agreement: Section: Consideration (www.practicallaw.com/7-502-1225).