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Texas

Supreme Court upholds USERRA protections

07/07/2022

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states and other government employers can be sued under a federal law that protects employees who are serving or have served in the military from discrimination.

Supreme Court to hear FLSA case this fall

05/12/2022

When the Supreme Court considers an upcoming employment law case this fall, the outcome may rest on how narrowly Congress drafted the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Beware medical inquiries before making job offer

03/24/2022

When hiring, asking the wrong question can be an expensive mistake. In one recent case, a worker who wasn’t even looking for a job walked away with a $75,000 payday because of a prospective employer’s ill-conceived question.

New tipped-worker 30-minute rule challenged

03/03/2022

The Restaurant Law Center has sued the DOL to reverse a new rule requiring tipped workers who spend more than 30 consecutive minutes performing nontipped tasks to receive the full minimum wage for time exceeding 30 minutes.

DOL: That guy you just fired might be a whistleblower

02/24/2022

OSHA has a litigation unit devoted solely to enforcing 20 different whistleblower laws that fall under the Department of Labor’s jurisdiction. Here’s an example of the kind of case this unit handles.

No need to tell employee why she was fired

11/29/2021

When terminating an employee, you don’t necessarily have to explain the exact reason for your decision. However, you must still document your rationale at the time you decide to fire. If the employee sues, a court will want to see when and why you arrived at the decision, all documented at the time.

Train executives on FLSA classification rules

11/11/2021

Plaintiffs’ lawyers love to file lawsuits alleging an employee was improperly classified as a manager under the Fair Labor Standards Act. That’s because just one misclassification mistake can force employers to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay and penalties. Avoid that fate by training everyone with the authority to set job duties, schedules and pay how to properly classify workers as either exempt or hourly.

Firing during FMLA leave? Prove FMLA wasn’t reason

11/04/2021

Employees cannot be fired for taking FMLA leave. If you must terminate someone who has taken FMLA leave, be prepared to show it had nothing to do with their leave-taking. Do that by contemporaneously documenting what led to the termination and when you made the decision to fire.

Warn bosses about bias against addiction disability

09/09/2021

Refusing to hire someone because of the nature of their disability violates the ADA. That includes making harsh judgments about applicants who may have a disability related to addiction. It doesn’t matter whether the disability was triggered by the individual’s arguably poor choices.

Apply leave policy equally to all employees

08/13/2021

You probably have a well-defined leave policy that gives employees time off for vacations, illness and tending to personal business. Whether you provide separate pots of leave or lump it all into paid and unpaid time off, your leave policy must treat all employees equally.