Employment & Labor

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The 81st Texas Legislature that began in January ended with an exhausting five-day filibuster of the voter identification bill, a legislative logjam of other major legislation left for debate until late in the session, a frantic last ditch attempt to save much of that legislation, and a final-day meltdown in the Senate. The 2009 session…

With unemployment rates skyrocketing, Ivana Hyre, the HR manager for Binge and Purr Cat Food Company, was facing a swell of well-qualified job applicants for three recently advertised positions.  With her department already short-staffed, Hyre knew that interviewing all of these candidates would take weeks.  To sort through the mountain of resumes, Hyre searched social…

For most of the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was considered nearly impossible to have an enforceable non-compete in Texas. After clarification by the Texas Supreme Court in 2006, non-competition agreements in Texas found new life.

This April the Texas Supreme Court again affirmed that noncompetition agreements are alive and enforceable in this great…

It’s March and NCAA Madness is in full swing. Cindy Rella, your office manager, is now a water cooler fixture bragging about her imminent victory in the office basketball bracket.  Sitting at your cubicle bitter that your team lost in the first round, and even more bitter that Cindy, the office sports idiot, used the…

Introduction: What Is There to Worry About?

Most employers know that Texas is an “employment at-will” state, meaning that—unless there is an employment agreement guaranteeing employment for a specific amount of time—employees can be terminated for any lawful reason. Being legally entitled to do something, however, doesn’t necessarily make it “safe.”  Litigation is expensive, and…

Kris Kringle wanted to celebrate the Christmas season in style with a knock-out-the-lights “Christmas Party” complete with a turkey dinner and all the trimmings.  However, human resources manager Holly Dais insisted that the bash must be called a “Holiday Party” due to the diverse nature of the workforce. Holly implied that to call the company…

Based upon Holly Dais’ advice, Kris Kringle opts to throw a “Holiday Party.”  The big day arrives and RevvedUp Retailer’s employees gather for a traditional turkey dinner at a swanky resort.  The setting is beautiful and everyone is having a jolly time until some of RevvedUp Retailers employees reveal they don’t like turkey.  Kris Kringle…

John is the CEO of a national retail chain. He is a big supporter of the Whig party and enthusiastic about the upcoming election. John loves to talk politics with his employees in the workplace and even hangs candidate signs on the outside of the building. Sometimes he invites his employees to join him at…