Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: Defining employment status

All employees are legally presumed to be terminable "at-will". It would take proof of an agreement that the employment relationship is only terminable for cause, to get around the "at-will" presumption. An agreement for employment for a specified time may be one way of proving for cause existence. But each case is determined on its specific facts. You'll need to run those facts by an employment law attorney for a legal opinion.

Re: Defining employment status

If you are asking how to take yourself out of 'at will' status as an employee, you do so by having a written contract with the company. However, as a shareholder and officer, you are not a run of the mill employee, and you already have some protections in those positions, based upon the By-laws of the company. You need to work with an attorney to create the appropriate documents to protect against whatever is concerning you. Feel free to contact me, this is one of the specialties I have done for 20 years.