The Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion this morning holding that advising an at-will employee that his employment will be terminated if he does not sign a mutual waiver to resolve disputes without a jury is not unlawful coercion sufficient to sset aside the agreement. If you read this blog frequently, you know I am a big proponent
NLRB Posting and Goose/Gander Rule for Employer and Employee NLRA Rights
By now we know that one of two federal district courts considering the issue has upheld the NLRB’s power to mandate most employers post Notice of Employee’s NLRB rights to form and join unions. While the NLRB is making employers educate employees about some rights under the NLRA, the required posting doesn’t go far enough in
BREAKING: NLRB Posting Rule Effective, But Not the Consequences of Failing to Post
I wrote before about several challenges to the NLRB’s controversial rule requiring employers to post notice of employee rights to form and join a union. Today, a court has rule on one of those challenges. In essence, the Court upheld the NLRB’s ability to require employers to post the notice of employee rights. However
Paying Texas Employees Using Debit Cards
Some employers have experimented using debit card payroll systems to decrease their payroll processing and administration costs. Frequently, Texas employers ask whether they can pay their Texas employees using debit cards. The answer is "yes" but only with the employee consent.
Texas law provides that employees must be paid in one of four forms:
- In U.S. currency;
Archive for Webinar on Investigating Employee Complaints in the 21st Century Now Available
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
Has the Expanded Definition of Disability under the ADAA Gone Too Far?
Daniel Schwartz at the Connecticut Employment Law Blog has an interesting post today about the effect the American Psychiatric Association’s proposed changes the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual could have to the Connecticut body of disability discrimination law. While Connecticut is unique, according to Schwartz, in its definition of disability and expressly includes mental conditions listed in
Court Holds Forfeiture Provision in Executive Stock Incentive Program Unenforcable Noncompete
Covenant not to compete cases normally arise when an employer seeks to enforce a restrictive covenant by having a former employee enjoined from breaching the covenant and working for a competitor. They can also arise when the employee is not expressly prohibited from competing, but is subjected to severe economic penalty if he engages in
TXANS to Host 22nd Annual Conference and Exhibition
The Texas Association of Responsible Nonsubscribers (TXANS) Texas’ leading proponent of sound and ethical practices relating to injury prevention and the provision of quality workplace injury benefits by non-subscribers to workers’ compensation. TXANS is hosting its 22nd Annual Nonsubscriber Conference and Exhibition March 22, 2012 in Austin, Texas. I’ll be speaking at the conference. Some
Plaintiff’s Repeated “I Don’t Know” in Depositions Are Claim Killers
A while back I took the plaintiff’s deposition in a sex discrimination and harassment case where the plaintiff’s primary answer to any question that called for facts that might undermine her claim was "I don’t know" or "I don’t recall." The deposition looked a lot like this one.
At a break, my client representative expressed a great deal
Carrots and Sticks: Ensuring You Have Buy-Out Rights When Employees Own Part of the Company
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