Friday, October 05, 2007

two new things I learned about US law/policy

1. "at will" employment

I first heard about this concept in an episode of Boston Legal. I actually didn't understand what they were talking about until I read about it in "Scamproof Your Life" (Kirchheimer, 2006, Sterling Publishing Co.).

It turns out, this is a policy of 49 (out of 50) states in America which says that an employer can fire an employee for whatever reason. Hence the term, "at will." Ayaw mo lang sa kanya, pwede. You hate his guts, pwede rin. Hindi na kelangan ng 30-day notice and for just cause--the practice here in the Philippines.

The only limitation is hindi pwede kung ang rason ay age, sex, or race.

Ganun din pag gusto mo mag-quit. You don't have to notify your employer 30 days before. You can just quit and leave the very same day.

Kaya palaaah. Naalala ko na ngayon pag nanunuod ako ng American films, sasabihin ng boss, "you're fired!" Tapos on the same day, pa-pack na ng employee yung mga gamit niya and then leave the office. Ganun pala ang law sa Amerika. Dito kasi, The day you fire someone is not the day he leaves. May period pa.

2. "sanctuary" policy

I didn't know this until I came across it in Dick Morris' book, "Outrage." In the States pala, when a police officer apprehends a traffic violator and finds out he's an illegal immigrant, he is under no compulsion to report the matter to the Immigration Authorities. Hence the term, "sanctuary." In a nutshell, the reasoning is hindi daw nila poblema yun. More importantly, they don't want to report illegals kasi etong mga illegals ay mga "sources" at "witnesses" ng mga pulis. Ayaw nilang ma-jeopardize yung relationship na yun.

Ito naman complaint ng INS (immigration and naturalization service) dahil pwede sana maging two-prong ang approach ng pulis, they are there as police officers and immigration agents.

Kaya naman pala walang takot kumuha ng drivers license ang mga TNT at walang takot din mahuli dahil wala naman pake ang mga pulis sa legality ng stay nila. "sanctuary" ang pulis.

How odd.

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