California at-will employment and 1 month advance notice for resignation mentioned in the employment contract

The contract would govern in this situation.

An employment contract stating that the employer will employ the worker for a set period of time can be different that at-will status. From your post, it appears that the document you refer to is inconsistent in its terms. The contract will need to be read and analyzed by an employment law attorney to determine if you are held to a one month advance notice or if you can quit as any other at-will employee. You may want to consider retaining an employment law attorney who can analyze your situation for a reasonable fee. You may be able to scan and email the document and consult via phone. Find employment law attorney contact info on .com. Kristine Karila, Employment Law Attorney

If you are an at-will employee, then you can leave at any time, with or without notice. Moreover, except in unusual circumstances where the employee is providing services that are unique to that individual, an employee cannot be required to give notice. On the other hand, I urge you to consider giving your employer the notice it requests. It's always better to leave on good terms, even by doing something you're not legally obligated to do. I hope this information is helpful to you. Sincerely, Craig T. Byrnes

You can resign at any time. However, because you have promised that you will give a one month advanced notice, if you cause damage by leaving in breach of that promise, the employer could have the right to make a claim against you for that breach. I will explain. Generally, unless there is an express agreement to the contrary, you are an at will employee. The term in your express agreement establishing your at will relationship confirms that. However the law provides that where there is a notice provision in an at will agreement, the relationship takes on a unique form of hybrid agreement. In such a situation, your relationship is at will unless and until the notice provision is implicated. At that point, if it is the employer who is doing the termination, it has to give you either one month's notice or it has to pay you for that last month if it terminates you immediately. In other words, the notice provision converts the last month in to an agreement for a defined term of time, and during that time you can only be terminated for cause as defined in the Labor Code. If your termination is not for cause as defined in the Labor Code then you have the right to sue for breach of the one month term agreement. However, the obligation goes both ways, meaning if you leave in breach of the one month notice provision, and provable damages occur to the employer as a result of your breach, the employer can seek those damages from you. You need to weigh the likelihood of damages occurring and of the employer coming after you for them. Unless there is a great deal of anger, or a great deal of damages, it is not common to see such employer claims against former employees. Good luck to you.