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Texas

Creating a drug-free workplace: How to draft a policy, conduct legal tests

05/11/2010

It’s in your best interest to detect employee drug abuse early and root it out immediately. But that’s easier said than done. Keeping your workplace drug-free means knowing how to spot the problem and effectively respond to it—without violating employees’ legal rights and creating legal liability.

Returning temps and the FMLA: What are our obligations as the client company?

05/06/2010
Q. A staffing agency has informed my company that a temporary worker who was previously assigned to us is returning from a leave under the FMLA. What are our obligations to this individual?

OK to test for alcohol under ADA?

05/06/2010
Q. We suspect some employees come to work drunk. Are workplace alcohol tests lawful under the ADA?

Shouldn’t applicants disclose disabilities?

05/06/2010
Q. We recently extended an employment offer to someone who was later determined to be unable to perform the essential functions of the position because of a visual impairment. As a result, we wasted a significant amount of time and missed the opportunity to hire other qualified individuals. Aren’t workers obligated under the ADA to disclose to an employer that they suffer from a disability?

Labor on the rise: Review your solicitation & distribution rules

05/06/2010

Unions are stepping up their organizing activity, and smart employers are preparing by making sure their rules on solicitation, distribution and access to private property meet legal requirements. If you don’t have a “no solicitation/no distribution” policy, adopt one now. It can help regulate two types of conduct that unions depend on when trying to organize a workplace.

Former county employees accuse judge of harassment

05/06/2010

Former employees of Brazoria County have filed an EEOC lawsuit claiming that a former judge sexually harassed them and that the county ignored the presence of sexual harassment in the workplace. The two women, previously employed in the county’s juvenile probation department, claim that Judge James Blackstock, who resigned last year over the scandal, has been harassing female county employees since 1993.

Houston issues comprehensive LGBT discrimination order

05/06/2010
Houston Mayor Annise Parker has signed an executive order protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) city employees “at every level of municipal government” from discrimination and harassment based on their sexual orientation.

Lone Star State tax burden remains steady

05/06/2010
Texas residents had one of the nation’s lowest per capita tax rates in 2009, according to the watchdog web site Taxadmin.org. Texas ranked 46th in state per capita taxes in 2009, up two slots from 48th in 2008.

Lowe’s to offer free employee health screenings

05/06/2010
Home improvement giant Lowe’s is offering free health screenings to its employees. Lowe’s partnerships with health care providers throughout Texas mean employees will be able to get free checks of their blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, waist size, hip size, weight, height, body fat percentage and body-mass index.

Court nixes Section 1983 protection for age bias cases

05/06/2010
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to expand the ways in which employees can charge their employers with age discrimination. It ruled that the ADEA pre-empts Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act when it comes to age discrimination.