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Texas

Can a friend or relative pick up a paycheck?

12/24/2014
Q. Some of the employees in my company’s Texas office have inquired about alternative payment delivery options. Among other things, they have asked if they may have a friend or relative come to the office to pick up their paychecks. Is this permissible?

Insubordination is grounds for denying unemployment

12/24/2014
Employers can terminate employees for insubordination, and that can include walking out of meetings to discuss performance issues. In turn, being insubordinate can mean denial of unemployment compensation.

Beware rogue bosses with ulterior motives

12/24/2014
Sometimes, a supervisor harbors prejudices that aren’t obvious. Always investigate before firing an employee who claims she’s in trouble because of her boss’s biases. If ­others agree there is a problem, you had better pay attention.

Violence after hours and away from work? That’s a matter for police, not EEOC

12/24/2014

There are some things that employers can’t control. One of those things is how employees act outside the workplace. Take, for example, this recent case in which a co-worker allegedly attacked another worker after work and off the premises.

No need to accommodate ‘disabled’ worker who misses mandatory drug test

12/24/2014
Employees who are not qualified for their jobs can’t claim ADA protection based on disability. And when a disabled employee has a position that’s covered by Depart­­ment of Transportation federal drug testing requirements and refuses a drug test, he’s automatically unqualified because DOT regulations require his sus­­pension.

Being placed on performance improvement plan isn’t grounds to claim ‘constructive discharge’

12/24/2014
Courts don’t allow employees to use constructive discharge as an excuse to quit unless they can off substantial reasons why they felt they had no choice but to resign.

On-premises fringes: Is there such a thing as a free lunch?

12/24/2014
The IRS has begun to examine the tax treatment of employer-provided free meals, such as those famously provided by Silicon Valley tech firms like Google.

Whistle-blower wins settlement with railroad

12/24/2014
Fort Worth-based Burlington North­ern Santa Fe Railroad has agreed to pay a North Dakota employee $30,000 in back pay to settle an OSHA whistle-blower complaint he filed against the railroad.

Proposed referendum would allow firing LGBT workers

12/24/2014
State Sen. Donna Campbell has proposed legislation authorizing a referendum to amend the Texas Constitution in a way that opponents say would allow Texas businesses to fire lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual employees and refuse service to LGBT customers if the business owner objects to the employee or customer’s lifestyle because of religious beliefs.

Texas boom continues

12/24/2014
More than 2.1 million jobs have been created in Texas since 2000, nearly a third of all jobs created nationwide during that time. Over the last 12 months, 413,000 jobs have been added to the Texas economy.