Unfortunately, when the price of oil goes down, the employment numbers also move downward in Houston. Many clients in the oil and gas industry are either planning or considering downsizing measures, which means that it is a...more
On its face, federal law does not list sexual orientation or trans-gender status as protected categories. Some states or cities have passed their own laws offering such protections, leaving a patchwork of laws across the...more
On December 9, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it had achieved $4.5 million dollars in settlements from private employers as a result of a two year investigation into contractors working in the...more
Election day 2014 brought more than just a wave of new Republican politicians, it also brought a wave of minimum wage increases across the country. For employers with operations in multiple states, payroll just got more...more
Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana laws which allow a lawful level of marijuana use. One question which comes up often in such states is whether an employer can lawfully terminate an...more
In many industries, it is common to pay incentives in the form of restricted stock options payable in the future if certain conditions are satisfied. In Exxon-Mobil v. Drennen, decided on August 29, 2014, the Texas Supreme...more
Employees at a Chicago plant are picketing over a new employer policy to time unscheduled bathroom breaks and discipline employees who exceed what the company deems as a reasonable amount of time. The company even went so...more
Last week, the Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision addressing the question of whether three recess appointees to the NLRB passed Constitutional muster....more
Hurricanes have posed unique human resources challenges for employers with operations in Houston and the Gulf Coast Region. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Hurricane Katrina alone wiped out more than 400,000...more
The City of Houston recently joined a number of cities that have passed their own anti-discrimination ordinances in an attempt to add coverage for sexual orientation and trans-gender discrimination, which are not explicitly...more
Late in the evening on May 28th, the Houston City Council passed a city ordinance that prohibits discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or trans-gender status. ...more
Before the ink on the Affordable Care Act was dry, prudent employers were analyzing the law to identify ways to save money and avoid many of the punitive aspects of the law....more
It is well-established that the NLRB has been aggressively litigating cases involving social media policies and employees terminated for making disparaging comments online. Recently, however, the NLRB has expanded its reach...more
According to the EEOC, the answer to that question is not only “Yes,” but that any severance agreement which limits the employee’s right to file a charge of discrimination is unenforceable and illegal. This week, the EEOC...more
On April 25, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision in the Sawyer, et al. v. Du Pont case. The case involved questions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the scope of the at-will doctrine in Texas....more
Houston is one of the few major cities in the country without a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Neither federal nor Texas law includes such a protected category, however, other Texas cities...more
On April 8, President Obama issued two executive orders which will impact employers who do business with the federal government. First, the President made it unlawful for contractors to retaliate against employees who discuss...more
There is not a lot that Democrats and Republicans can agree on with respect to Obamacare, but on April 1, 2014 the President signed into law a Medicare bill which had a provision tucked inside that will bring some important...more
Under the Obama administration, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken some radical positions, but its newest decision makes clear that all bets are off in the second term. The Regional Director of the NLRB...more
In This Issue:
Message from the Chair; Social Media and the Workplace: 2013 and Beyond; Unpaid Internships: Training Ground or Legal Landmine?; Supreme Court’s Nassar Decision Sets Higher Causation Standard for a...more
1/7/2014
/ Affirmative Action ,
Background Checks ,
Big Data ,
Causation ,
D.R. Horton ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability ,
Discrimination ,
ENDA ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Minimum Wage ,
OFCCP ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Unpaid Interns ,
US v Windsor ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar ,
Veterans ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
In This Issue:
- Message from the Chair
- A Second Obama Administration’s Impact on Labor and Employment Issues
- Will There be Comprehensive Immigration Legislation After the 2012 Presidential...more
1/1/2013
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hurricane Sandy ,
Immigration Reform ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Social Media ,
USERRA ,
Wage and Hour
One of the areas of wage and hour law which often creates confusion is payment for travel time. The rules are different, for example, depending on how long the employee is away from home, and whether the employee is driving...more