Texas Employment Legal Questions

A Texas employer can fire (demote, transfer, reduce the pay of) a Texas employee at any time for any reason or no reason with only 3 exceptions: 1) the employee has a contract which prohibits the action; 2) the action violates a state or federal statute (prohibitions on discrimination against race, sex, age, national origin, religion, disability, retaliation for reporting discrimination or retaliation for filing a workers compensation claim, filing a minimum wage or overtime claim - there are also some very specialized statutes regarding teachers, health care workers and nuclear power plant workers); and 3) the action violates a judge-made exception to the at-will employment doctrine - there are only 2 in Texas - refusal to commit a crime and in violation of a specific promise not to fire for a specific reason. Based on the facts you provided, the employer can legally fire you for "poor performance" even though that justification is or may prove to be untrue.  It is not uncommon for employers to make up reasons for termination, even if they don't need a reason at all.  If there are specific factors your question doesn't include (e.g. you are over 40 and the replacements are younger than 40; you are of one race and all of the replacements are of another; you recently reported violations of wage & hour laws or reported illegal discrimination), you should check with the EEOC at www.eeoc.gov. Good luck.    ... Read More

Unfortunately, and this may sound absurd and probably is, there no Utah law or even a Federal labor law that restricts the consecutive number of hours or days that an employee can be required to work. Utah law only has such restrictions on maximum consecutive hours and days worked by minors. The Fair Labor Standards Acts ("FLSA") governs the maximum hours, but only in terms of compensation for such hours. That is, the FLSA requires employers to pay overtime wages at the rate of 1.5 times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a week.... Read More

Your question raises a number of issues.  First, if you were improperly catagorized as an exempt employee when you were not, then your employer may owe you overtime pay for any week you worked over 40 hours in the last 2-3 years.  She may also owe you an additional penalty in the amount of the unpaid overtime.  Second, she may also owe you overtime in the future if you work more than 40 hours in a week.  There are several "mays" in this paragraph because the detailed exceptions to the general rule are too lengthy to get into in this forum. See www.dol.gov for more information on overtime. Third, the law does not require a Texas employer to give sick leave, vacation or holday pay to anyone and does not regulate what kind of employees get those benefits or not.  So your employer can deny them to you due to your new status.  However her statement that the law does not allow non-exempt employee to have paid time off is not true.  ... Read More

If the "someone" is your employer and you are an employee (not a contractor) then your employer cannot hold any amounts out of your wages except taxes and court-ordered child support without your written consent.  Texas Labor Code, Chapter 61 is called the Texas Payday Act and it provides this protection.  It also provides that an employee whose wages are withheld without consent may file a complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission, Labor Law Division, which will investigate and enforce your claim without charge. If the "someone" is not an employer or you are not his employee, then reply to this post and let me know more about the relationship of the parties.... Read More

"Reasonable Accommodation" is a concept found in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its Texas counterpart.  Unfortunately, those acts apply only to permanent disabilities of which pregnancy is not one.  Said another way, your wife is not entitled to a "reasonable accommodation" due to her pregnancy.  However, that is not the end of the issue. The law does prohibit discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.  If her employer "accommodates" other employees with non-work-related temporary disabilities (broken bones, sports injuries etc.) then it cannot deny those same "accommodations" to your wife because she is pregnant.  Unfortunately the enforcement mechanism for this is a complaint to the EEOC or Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division.  Your child will be born before they can resolve the matter.  Further, if she suffers no loss of pay or benefits, then the remedy for the discrimination is severely limited.   A better course of action might be for your wife to get a note from her doctor saying that she needs to be off on medical leave due to complications of the pregnancy.  Assuming your wife has been with the Company for at least a year and in that time has worked over 1250 hours, she is eligible for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave.  The FMLA requires employers to 1) give employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in connection with pregnancy-related issues and for the birth of a child; 2) continue any existing health benefits during such leave; and 3) reinstate the employee to the same or similar position upon return from such leave.  However the employee has to specifically request the Employer put her on FMLA leave and needs to have the medical documentation to support the request.    Good luck.... Read More

Unless you have a written contract of employment (either individually or through a union) with your employer, which limits the employer's rights to fire you, you are an "at-will" employee.  Most employees in the Texas are "at-will" employees.  This means that your employer may fire you (or transfer, demote you or adjust your wages) for any reason or no reason.  If you are an at-will employee and you refuse to sign the new employee manual or you refuse to work a holiday when asked, in general they can fire you or take any and all lesser disciplinary action.... Read More

What kind of a case do you think you have? I know of none. Yes, in GA, an employer may fire you for this, or for anything, so long as they are not motivated by Race, Age, Sex, National Origin, Religion, Handicap Georgia recognizes the doctrine of employment at will. Employment at will means that in the absence of a written contract of employment for a defined duration, an employer can terminate an employee for good cause, bad cause, a mistaken cause, or no cause at all, so long as it is not an illegal cause.... Read More

You can take both of these claims to a private attorney or if you are an employee (as opposed to an independent contractor) then you can take the commissions claim to the Texas Workforce Commission - Labor Law Department (www.twc.state.tx.us/ui/lablaw/texas-payday-law.html) and the overtime claim to the Wage & Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm#Texas).  If you choose to retain a private attorney, you should consider one who is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  See your local yellow pages or www.tbls.org.  You should also ask the attorney if he or she represents employees before disclosing any of the facts of your situation.  ... Read More

I am assuming you are not talking about a teacher contract with a school.  Some of the facts you recite are a little confusing to me, but given the games some employers play that is not unusual. You speak of salaried and hourly employees. Do the hourly employees get overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a week?  Do the salaried employees get deductions in their salary if they don't work a certain number of hours?  Do the salaried employees get overtime if they work more that 40 hours? Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, salaried employees who are not paid overtime cannot have their salaries reduced to reflect the the number of hours they actually work.  Hourly employees can have their hours reduced.  I or any other lawyer would need to see the actual contract or contracts to answer your questions.... Read More

Was it maternity (up to 12 weeks if you qualify per fmla) or workers comp (see a workers comp attorney but think that could be upwards of a year was there a mutual agreement that you could be off (under a separate theory), and that the company is in breach, since you came back per the agreement, and now they don't want you?... Read More

Yes, it is an invasion of your privacy, but I do not know if it is legal or not. It likely is legal, I know of no law against this. If you do not like this, you are free to quit your job - right?Also, an employer may, in GA, discharge you for socializing with persons that they do not approve or do restrict, since Georgia recognizes the doctrine of employment at will. Employment at will means that in the absence of a written contract of employment for a defined duration, an employer can terminate an employee for good cause, bad cause, a mistaken cause, or no cause at all, so long as it is not an illegal cause. Illegal causes are limited in Georgia to the EEOC/Discrimination grounds: : If it is not on that list, it is not protected in GA. For more information: http://sos.georgia.gov/firststop/georgia_employers.htm Otherwise socializing with the "wrong" person(s) would be one of these: good cause, bad cause, a mistaken cause, or no cause at all e with outside of work tell employees who they can and cannot socialize with outside of work?... Read More

If your employer employs at least 50 people, and you worked full time (1250 hours) for the last 12 months before your surgery, you would be entitled to FMLA, regardless of whether your employer "allows" for FMLA or not. As to the unemployment claim, you do not have to prove you were terminated.  You need to provide the unemployment office with copies of the doctor notes that you provided to your employer during the 6 weeks you were off, and show them the cell phone or home phone records noting the date you called to say you would be back at work.  You can then explain that this was the date they told you about your termination.  This evidence should suffice to get you unemployment.... Read More