• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

Employer not liable for acts by independent security staff

08/01/2006

If your organization contracts out security services, the Texas Supreme Court has just handed you a substantial victory that makes it less likely you’ll be liable if your independent-contractor security guard injures someone …

When punishing employees’ use of slurs, equality counts

08/01/2006

The mantra in real estate is "location, location, location." But the mantra in employee discipline must always be "consistency, consistency, consistency" …

You can’t push contract-Breach case to federal court

08/01/2006

If you’re a Texas employer that agrees to settle an on-the-job injury case out of court, be prepared to follow through. If you don’t, you just may find your organization in a less favorable Texas court defending itself against breach-of-contract claims. And that can mean a big, fat award from an angry Texas jury …

Stick to FMLA certification rules, or lose your rights

08/01/2006

Make sure your supervisors (and you) know how to respond when an employee requests leave for his or her own serious illness or a family member’s illness. If you don’t follow the FMLA’s rules on how and when to request written proof about the illness or injury, you lose your right to challenge the employee’s leave request …

Texas court: Prisoners aren’t entitled to the minimum wage

08/01/2006

Compelling a prisoner to work without pay is not illegal, a federal court has ruled in considering a Texas inmate’s request. The prisoner worked in the prison laundry and claimed he should be paid at least the federal minimum wage …

Case study: Look closely at consultants’ motives

08/01/2006

The Texas Insurance Commission filed charges against consulting giant Mercer HR Consulting and its client, the Houston Independent School District, claiming the company had charged the school district $20 million since 2000 and then gave the district more than $800,000 in rebates …

A ‘Perfect storm’ for organized labor is forming over Texas

08/01/2006

For Texas employers, the long-range forecast shows an unstable union atmosphere over the next several years, with pressure building from health care costs, outsourcing and immigration reform. As the united front of the AFL-CIO and the new Change to Win union blow through the state, damage may be significant …

Traumatic event can trigger workers’ comp benefits

08/01/2006

Pennsylvania employers that don’t adequately protect their employees from dangers associated with their jobs, take note. If your employees suffer post-traumatic stress disorder or depression following an armed robbery or other unusual violent act, they may be eligible for workers’ compensation for the "psychic injury" …

OK’ing medical leave won’t equal acceptance of disability

08/01/2006

If you’ve ever wondered whether allowing an employee to take medical leave will tie your hands if it comes time to challenge that employee’s disability claim, take heart. Just because you didn’t ask for medical proof of disability once, that doesn’t mean you can’t later …

Subjective fear of discipline no reason to quit

08/01/2006

To make a "constructive discharge" claim, employees must show that their working conditions were so intolerable that they had no choice but to quit and that those conditions amounted to discrimination based on age, race, sex or some other protected characteristic. But, as a new ruling shows, an employee’s subjective "fear of future discipline" isn’t grounds for a lawsuit under this constructive-discharge theory …