The Model Employment Termination Act: Fairness for Employees and Employers Alike

The Model Employment Termination Act (META), which state legislatures are expected to consider in the near future aims to prevent the unfair firing of Amer~ ican workers. At the same time, the Act aims to prevent devastating financial blows to American business. For both employees and employers, META offers streamlined dispute resolution procedures that would be simpler, less costly, and less time-consuming than the civil courts. The essence of the proposal is compromise-not as a matter of political expediency but as a practical, balanced accommodation of the competing worthwhile interests of employers and employees. Workers are entitled to be free from arbitrary treatment; business is entitled to be free fromunnecessary expense. MET A would promote both objectives. META was approved and recommended for enactment in all the states by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws at its annual meeting in August 1991. By states, the final vote showed 39 jurisdictions in favor of the measure and only 11 opposed. That alone attests to MET A\u27s merits. The Uniform Law Commissioners (ULC) are a cross-section of influential lawyers, judges, law teachers1 and legislators from around the country, with an average of about six persons in each state delegation. Bills are prepared by committees that meet two or three times a year for intensive 2-day drafting sessions. Bills are not adopted by the ULC unless they have been read lineby- line at least twice during different annual conferences. More controversial measures, like META, may take three or more readings