§ 1.2.8.1.1 THE EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION ACT LIMITS EMPLOYEE PROTECTIONS UNDER CONTRACT.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 1.2.8.1.1 The Employment Protection Act Limits Employee Protections Under Contract. The EPA reverses the Leikvold v. Valley View Community Hospital⁹⁶ and Loffa v. Intel Corp.⁹⁷ line of cases dealing with implied contracts. These cases held that implied promises of job security as evidenced by employee disciplinary procedures, written, spoken or by conduct, could become part of the employment contract and limit the employer's absolute right to discharge what would otherwise be an at-will employee. Thus, before enactment of the EPA, there was a presumption that personnel manuals, employee handbooks, and employer policies were contractual and binding on the employer, too. Employers could overcome that presumption by an appropriate "disclaimer" of the documents as a contract. A jury was to decide whether the handbook, manual, or policies constituted a contract. The statute of limitations was three⁹⁸ or six years.⁹⁹ It is now one year.¹⁰⁰

The EPA abrogates the common law in the area of implied contracts within the employee-employer relationship:

The employment relationship is severable at the pleasure of either the employee or the employer unless both the employee and the employer have signed a written contract to the...