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Texas

Track all discipline to prove you don’t discriminate when punishing employees

11/12/2012

Employee lawsuits that appear out of nowhere often involve some form of alleged discrimination against someone who believes he was disciplined more harshly than other employees. That’s one reason you should routinely track all discipline.

Discipline OK even if employee has complained

11/01/2012
Courts are consistently hesitant to second-guess well-founded employment decisions. Of course, they won’t let you get away with discriminating or retaliating against an employee for filing an EEOC complaint or lawsuit. But that doesn’t mean you can’t discipline an employee if she needs prodding to meet your legitimate expectations.

When disciplining older worker, be sure to document all examples of poor performance

10/29/2012
Employees who sue for age discrimination under the ADEA must prove that, if not for illegal age discrimination, their employer wouldn’t have taken an adverse employment action. That’s why, when age may be an issue, em­­ployers are better off having several good reasons for terminating the employee.

May we legally restrict when employees can take small amounts of vacation time?

10/05/2012
Q. We have recently needed to cut back on some of our employees’ shifts, meaning that some of our workers are now working fewer than 40 hours per week. In order to bring their hours up to 40, these workers have been filling their time sheets with varying amounts of their earned vacation. Are we permitted to restrict when our employees use their earned vacation?

How should we handle pay while our employee is serving jury duty?

10/05/2012
Q. One of our employees received a jury duty summons. What are our obligations towards the employee in terms of pay and leave?

Fry’s pays $2.3 million to settle harassment complaint

10/05/2012
Fry’s Electronics, which operates eight stores in Texas, will pay $2.3 million to settle sexual harassment and retaliation complaints arising from incidents at a store in Washington.

Arlington firm owes $53K in overtime wages

10/05/2012
Arlington-based Espitia Cleaning Inc. agreed to pay $53,095 in back wages to 130 current and former janitors following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

Retaliation suit costs construction company $38,500

10/05/2012
MKB Construction has settled charges it retaliated against an employee in El Paso after he complained of sexual harassment on the job.

Employee handbooks: Avoid the 12 most common, costly mistakes

10/05/2012
Employment law attorneys point to a dozen common employee handbook mistakes that cause employers their biggest headaches. If you want to make a plaintiff’s attorney salivate, show him or her an employee handbook that involves any of these issues:

Good-faith complaint required for retaliation to be possible

10/05/2012
Employees who complain about alleged discrimination are protected from retaliation—up to a point. Frivolous complaints don’t count.