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Texas

Do we need to get proof that employees who drive have licenses and insurance?

03/01/2010

Q. Some of our employees have jobs that require some driving. Do we need to ask these employees for proof that they have driver’s licenses and insurance?

When supervisor’s harassment is serious, make sure the punishment fits the crime

02/26/2010

Employers that don’t take swift action when they learn of possible harassment have only themselves to blame. Being too timid when it comes to punishing the supervisor is not a good idea. Whatever you do, don’t even think about transferring the harassed subordinate into a position with fewer responsibilities. Instead, move the harasser—or even terminate him.

Lawsuit-proof hiring: Post every job opening

02/12/2010

Here’s one of the simplest ways to avoid failure-to-hire litigation: Adopt a uniform system for posting openings—and then stick with that system. If you do, employees won’t be able to claim later that they didn’t know about an opening and would have applied if only they knew.

Check CBA for pay rules on safety gear prep

02/12/2010

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine many advantages of being a union workplace, but here’s a bit of good news: At least in some limited circumstances, working under a collective-bargaining agreement gives employers some protection against FLSA lawsuits that demand payment for time spent putting on and taking off protective gear at the beginning and end of the workday.

State unemployment tax rates increase this year

02/12/2010

Texas joins a number of other states that have had to increase unemployment tax rates in 2010. The recession has steadily drained the state’s Unemployment Compensation Fund.

Texas employees file FLSA suit against T.J. Maxx

02/12/2010

Employees of T.J. Maxx stores in Texas have filed a class-action suit alleging that the retailer stiffed workers out of regular wages and overtime pay. The lawsuit claims management required workers who exceeded their scheduled hours to work off the clock and told them to use vacation and sick time to cover time worked beyond their scheduled hours.

Employee can’t claim constructive discharge on what might happen in workplace

02/12/2010

Some employees try to fabricate a lawsuit by resigning and then alleging that some form of discrimination made their working conditions so intolerable that they had no choice but to quit. The name of this claim: constructive discharge. Fortunately for employers, it takes more than a few isolated comments to create intolerable conditions. And, as the following case shows, the fear that working conditions will become intolerable isn’t enough to justify quitting before things get bad at work.

Serial sexual harasser on the loose? Get ready for big trial—and possibly huge judgment

02/12/2010

If you are having trouble getting top management to take sexual harassment seriously, here’s a case that might help them see the light. Explain that if they let a sexual harasser become a serial harasser, all the cases could be tried together. And that vastly increases the chances that a jury will hold the company liable.

Texas High Court rules arbitration agreements valid despite changing employment conditions

02/12/2010

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that an arbitration agreement presented as a condition of employment is valid even though it was initially drafted by an HR management company that no longer manages personnel matters. The court looked carefully at the arbitration agreement and concluded it was a binding contract—partly because it contained a clause that allowed the employer to end the agreement prospectively only.

Court clamps down on litigation road shows

02/12/2010

Defending lawsuits is expensive, even more so if the case is being heard in some faraway city. Your staff would have to travel long distances to participate in the trial, maybe just for the employee’s convenience. Fortunately, federal courts in Texas are clamping down on such litigation tactics.