In the opening speech of his 2020 presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders noted that he “did not come from a family of privilege that prepared [him] to entertain people on television by telling workers: ‘You’re fired.’” Like most Americans, Sanders said, he “came from a family who knew all too well the frightening power [that] employers can have over everyday workers.” In his “Workplace Democracy Plan,” released last week, Sanders outlined how he would rein in that “frightening power.”

Most of the coverage of the plan has focused on its calls for a sectoral bargaining system, among other sweeping changes. Much less has been written about the plan’s promise to end “at-will” employment through a national “just cause” law.

If enacted, “just cause” would reshape the American workplace, requiring bosses to have a justifiable reason for firing an employee. The added protections could embolden workers, finally giving them the due process rights on the job that they expect in the political sphere. But the details will matter — and that’s why it’s important to compare “just cause” and “at will” in the United States to social-democratic countries.