[sawthat]

At-will means at-will. That said, larger companies generally have policies that require documentation and a "personal improvement plan" (PIP) before termination for cause. This is mostly to provide documentation in the event of a wrongful termination suit.

However, generally if an employee is considered a serious liability (they have hurt or threatened another employee) they can be fired immediately.

Startups tend to be a little more aggressive on termination because they can't afford to pay a salary to someone for months hoping they improve.

[asuffield]

> This is mostly to provide documentation in the event of a wrongful termination suit.

While it might serve that purpose, it's primarily to make sure that middle-management takes reasonable steps to let people correct and thinks the decision through before acting. Nobody wants to work in a place where people get surprisingly or randomly fired, or where a manager is firing all the people they don't like. Having processes (mostly) prevents that sort of thing from happening.