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Texas

Anti-virus software maker must ward off wage & hour suit

02/02/2009

Add another big company to the list of those accused of shorting employees for overtime pay. A sales representative who worked for anti-virus software publisher McAfee recently filed suit claiming it violated the FLSA by failing to pay him overtime.

Former Victoria’s Secret employee claims pregnancy bias

02/02/2009

A Beaumont-area Victoria’s Secret employee recently filed suit in Jefferson County District Court alleging she was discriminated against because of her pregnancy. Krystal Burns brought her suit under Title VII, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Texas Labor Code.

Texas town settles retaliation lawsuit with firefighter

02/02/2009

The city of Grand Prairie recently agreed to settle for $150,000 in a retaliation suit brought by a firefighter who says top brass objected when he tried to protect a co-worker from harassment.

What’s the best way to legally limit the length of leaves of absences?

02/02/2009

Q. How do we handle an employee who is on an indefinite leave of absence and does not know when he will be able to return to work?

What should we do? Employee wants a transfer as a reasonable accommodation

02/02/2009

Q. One of our employees recently developed a condition that makes it difficult for her to perform the essential functions of her job. She has asked to be transferred to a job she can perform. Are we obligated to do this?

Employers cut ’09 salary budgets; raises fall below 3%

02/01/2009

Remember those surveys last summer forecasting steady 3.6% salary increases for 2009? Forget about it. U.S. workers, on average, are now projected to receive annual merit increases of between 2.3% and 3.0% …

Obama signs Ledbetter Act, easing path for pay-bias suits

01/29/2009

President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on Jan. 29, making it easier for women and others to sue for pay discrimination that may date back decades. Drafted in response to a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said employees had at most 300 days to file pay discrimination complaints, the new law counts each unfairly low paycheck as a fresh discriminatory act.

Attendance policies: Control absenteeism without breaking the law

01/05/2009

Regular attendance is a key job function for most of your employees. But while you are free to set and enforce attendance rules, you must also comply with key federal laws, including the FMLA and the ADA …

Absent genuine doubt, grant FMLA care request

01/05/2009

Here’s a risk you’ll run into if you refuse to let an employee take time off to care for a child she says has a serious health condition that requires her care: If you guess wrong and the case goes to trial, it’s up to the jury to decide whether the child’s condition rose to the serious level.

5th Circuit passes on NLRB cases from elsewhere

01/05/2009

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, whose decisions cover Texas employers, tends toward conservative rulings. It recently rejected a case that could have opened up the litigation floodgates for companies that have pending unfair labor practice charges.