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Texas

Work rules can regulate some employee political advocacy

10/06/2008

On July 22, 2008, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Office of the General Counsel issued a guidance memorandum addressing unfair labor practice (ULP) charges involving political advocacy. The impetus for the general counsel’s memorandum stemmed from a series of ULP charges filed in late 2006 involving employers that allegedly disciplined employees for participating in nationwide and local demonstrations …

Must we comply with a former employee’s request for thousands of e-mails?

10/06/2008

Q. A former employee wants copies of 18-months’ worth of e-mails. That would be an enormous undertaking. Do we have to honor the request? …

Can someone who resigns get unemployment?

10/06/2008

Q. Is an employee who resigns entitled to receive unemployment compensation under Texas law? …

Pay for employee who works through lunch?

10/06/2008

Q. Must we pay a nonexempt employee who voluntarily works through lunch for the time, even though we never requested the extra work? …

Child support payments

10/06/2008

Q. Do we have to deduct child-support payments from employee wages? …

Supreme Court rules CHRA sole state discrimination remedy

09/02/2008

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that employees who want to sue for most kinds of employment discrimination under Texas state law must use the provisions of the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act. They can’t sue under the Texas Whistleblower Act in an effort to sidestep the CHRA’s rather complex procedures or miss its short filing deadlines …

Prepare layoff rationale before handing out the pink slips

09/02/2008

Sometimes, an employer needs to downsize its workforce for any number of reasons. Whatever the reason, document why you need to cut staff before you announce the layoffs. You don’t necessarily owe every affected employee an explanation—in advance—of why his or her job is being eliminated. But you will need a clear, coherent and rational explanation later if one of the employees sues …

You can reassign employee whose spouse made FMLA claim

09/02/2008

Employers know they can’t retaliate against employees for speaking with EEOC investigators about possible discrimination … But what about simply standing by as a spouse or significant other sues the same employer? Do you have to worry that
any job changes for the silent spouse will spur a successful retaliation lawsuit?

Public employers aren’t immune to FMLA reinstatement requirements

09/02/2008

Public employers aren’t required to abide by all sections of the FMLA because they have limited immunity from federal lawsuits. For example, state employees taking leave under the FMLA’s self-care provisions can’t sue for money damages. But recently the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that immunity does not extend to a claim for reinstatement after an employee takes FMLA leave …

Don’t let disability assumptions lead you to believe employee can’t work at all

09/02/2008

Employers that wrongly regard injured employees as disabled by refusing to consider them for any open positions may be setting themselves up for “regarded as disabled” litigation. The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against employees by assuming they are disabled when they are not …