Yesterday I hosted a webinar on Investigating Employee Complaints in the 21st Century: Comprehensive Investigations of Complaints of Discrimination, Harassment and Misconduct. There was a great turnout and many good questions posed from the participants. If you missed the presentation, you can watch the archive here.
I am actively seeking suggestions for interesting human resource or
From time to time I’m approached by a small company that has given an employee partial ownership in the company. While I haven’t yet had one written on the back of a bar napkin, the agreements usually aren’t much more sophisticated than this (or formal either). By the time I’m consulted, like many once-good marriages, the employment relationship
The Fort Worth Star Telegram has reported that the Texas Rangers are investigating the leak of Manager Ron Washington’s pre-game speech to the team before Game 7 of the World Series. The speech was reportedly taped by a member of the clubhouse staff and then leaked to JoeSportsFan.com. You can listen to the
The mid-term elections are approaching. Today I want to take the opportunity for a brief refresher on the Texas legal requirement for providing employee time off to vote. Under certain circumstances, Texas employers may be required to give employees paid-time off to vote. As I wrote about last year:
The Texas Election Code makes it a
Don Cruse at the Supreme Court of Texas Blog, wrote about the first case of the new term on which the Supreme Court of Texas requested full briefing —Hatton v. D.R. Horton, Inc. that case involves an issue of significant importance to Texas employers. According to Don, this case
concerns the enforceability of arbitration clauses in
Lawyers prosecuting and defending wage and hour misclassification cases (i.e., exempt/nonexempt and employee/contractor) will emphasize how fact intensive these inquiries can be. The importance of factual distinctions in litigating misclassification cases is demonstrated by two cases recently decided by the Fifth Circuit. In Cromwell v. Driftwood Electrical Contractors, a panel of the
In another cable splicer misclassification case arising in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a trial court decision that Louis Thibault was an independent contractor rather than an employee. Therefore, he was not entitled to overtime under the FLSA.
Thibault owned a business in his home state of Delaware selling picnic tables, storage
Recently I wrote about the risks posed by misclassifying employees as independent contractors. In an unpublished opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the federal appellate court that hears appeals from Texas) reversed a summary judgment awarded in favor of a company that had classified two cable splicers who performed post-Katrina telecommunications
Employees occasionally sue Texas employers for breach of contract claiming the employer violated its handbook policies in taking some action against the employee. Texas law precludes most breach of contract claims premised on violations of an employee handbook where the handbook contains a provision expressly disclaiming any intent to create binding or contractual rights –whether express or implied.
John Hyman at the Ohio Employer’s