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Employment Law

Worker classification: Salary is just one factor that determines exempt status

01/04/2016
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because an employee is paid a salary, he or she is exempt. The employer must also show that the worker performed exempt work under one of the several exemptions available under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Resignation announced, then a change of heart: Can refusing to allow return be retaliation?

01/04/2016
Here’s a rather novel question being answered for the first time in the 5th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Texas employers. Can the refusal to accept a request to rescind a resignation ever be an adverse em­­ployment action and retaliation for engaging in protected activity?

FMLA leave may be ADA accommodation

01/04/2016

Here’s something to remember when an employee claims she has a disability that interferes with her ability to work overtime or even a full day. You can offer intermittent FMLA leave as a reasonable accommodation rather than restructuring the job or transferring the employee to another open position. Remember, the employer, not the employee, gets to pick the ADA accommodation.

New Texas gun legislation has implications for employers

01/04/2016
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed two pieces of legislation into law recently, regulating where and how Texans may carry firearms. As of Jan. 1, licensed gun owners may carry holstered handguns anywhere that concealed handguns are per­mitted—with some exceptions.

Internal complaint not enough: Whistle-blowers must file report with police

12/31/2015
Texas government employees who blow the whistle on their employers are protected from retaliation. But it takes more than just voicing an internal complaint or even cooperating in an audit to make a claim of whistle-blower retaliation stick.

No harm in being more generous than FMLA

12/29/2015
Employers are supposed to let employees who need FMLA leave know about their eligibility and what’s involved in taking leave. But what if you offer a leave plan that goes above and beyond what the FMLA requires? Courts won’t hold that against you—even if you flub the FMLA’s notice requirements.

EEOC expands outreach to immigrant groups

12/28/2015
A recent EEOC settlement may portend more litigation, especially for industries that employ large numbers of immigrants.

Worker older when hired? Then age bias is unlikely

12/24/2015
Do you have an older worker who now alleged age discrimination? If you hired him recently, chances are you can use his age at hire as evidence you didn’t discriminate.

New classification aims at ‘gig’ economy

12/22/2015

Traditionally, there are four possible ways to classify people who perform work. But two classifications—independent contractors and employees—cover most work. Except, some say, in the emerging sharing or “gig” economy. Now two economists at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, D.C., have proposed a new category: independent worker.

Can we require employees to pay for the portraits we display on our website?

12/21/2015
Q. I have a professional photographer come in on each employee’s first day of work to take photos for our company’s website. I ask each employee to pay half the cost of this service. A new employee is refusing to pay half the cost of his photos. Can I force him to pay?