Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Yes, if the employee is an at-will employee and not one with a written contract to be hired for a specified period of time, an employer may lay off (not enough work) or fire (poor performance, personality conflict, etc., etc. - choice to terminated employment made by employer and not based on lack of work) for ANY reason as long as it is not because the employee is a member of a protected class (age, race, gender, pregnancy, medical condition, disability, religion, etc.) or because he/she asserted his/her legal right (example: overtime pay). FMLA only protects the employee's job IF the employer would not have laid off or fired the employee anyway. At-will employment laws are the same for employers with 50+ employees or less.