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Texas

53 employees plead guilty in Texas immigration case

06/01/2007

Richard B. Roper, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, recently announced that six more former Swift & Co. employees pleaded guilty to document fraud and illegal entry into the country …

Texas high court rejects employer liability for worker conduct

06/01/2007

The Texas Supreme Court recently issued two decisions limiting when employers can be held responsible for the wrongs committed by their employees. The cases offer hope that employers won’t always bear the brunt of their employees’ wrongdoing, as has often been the case in the past …

Court: Intermittent FMLA leave won’t cover tardiness, bathroom breaks

05/15/2007

Employees are becoming well versed in the FMLA game, and you’re paying the price. Unscheduled intermittent leaves now account for a huge portion of all FMLA leaves of absence. And while the law does allow employees to take FMLA leave in small bites for a doctor’s visit or to care for a sick relative, it doesn’t give them unfettered rights to random work breaks or to arrive late without a good excuse …

Revising crisis plan? Consider disabled workers’ needs

05/01/2007

In light of April’s shootings at Virginia Tech, organizations are taking a fresh look at their evacuation and emergency notification procedures. When you review yours, resist the well-intentioned temptation to lessen risk by shunting aside disabled employees …

Manager who did the hiring also should do the firing

05/01/2007

It may be a good idea to track who in your organization makes the decisions to hire specific employees. That way, those managers can also be part of the decision to discharge employees who turn out to be duds …

Seek accommodations even if the effort seems impossible

05/01/2007

As soon as an employee makes it known that he needs accommodations, it’s up to the employer to start an interactive accommodations process, even if it turns out that no accommodation is possible …

Pick qualification standards and stick with them

05/01/2007

Sorting through candidates for promotion? Make sure you apply the same education and experience standards to all of them. If you don’t, chances are at least one spurned candidate will consider a lawsuit …

New law, pending bill extend workers’ rights to use deadly force

05/01/2007

Gov. Rick Perry recently signed new legislation that extends an individual’s right to use force without retreat in the face of a criminal attack. Until now, a 1995 exception to a 1973 statute required persons to retreat except when an intruder unlawfully entered their home. Senate Bill 378, however, extends the right to persons in their vehicles and workplaces as well …

Three workers’ compensation bills pass Texas House

05/01/2007

On March 22, three workers’ compensation bills sponsored by state Rep. Helen Giddings passed the full House …

Report EEOC claims or lose insurance coverage

05/01/2007

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an employer against its employment practices liability insurance company because the employer didn’t tell the insurer about an EEOC complaint right away …