In Texas, operating a small business comes with numerous opportunities, but also the potential for complex legal challenges, particularly in the realm of employment law.

Establishing Appeal Rights for the Employer:

TWC administers the Texas Payday Law, which allows for the investigation of an employee’s claim of unpaid wages.

The main thrust of all employment discrimination laws is to make it illegal for employers to treat employees or applicants adversely on the basis of something about themselves that they cannot change or should not be expected to change.

As outside counsel employment law attorneys who advise employers and businesses in Texas, we help employers attempting to investigate, defend and prevent retaliation claims under Title VII. 

Premises liability claims are often brought against businesses and companies  in Texas. Any business which is in possession of a building or land (i.e. a premises) is subject to the possibility of a claim being brought by anyone who is injured while on the premises.

Workers’ compensation is a Texas regulated insurance system that ensures medical bills and some lost wages are paid for employees injured on the job. Texas does not require most private employers to have workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Employers not providing workers’ compensation insurance coverage are referred to as non-subscribers.

Texas employers and insurance carriers who write in Texas are often confronted with child support orders directing them to withhold earnings from an employee’s income.

For small business employers in Fort Worth, understanding the Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) stance on worker classification is critical to avoiding significant liability, as the TWC primarily relies on a twenty-factor common law test to determine if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

In McAteer v. Silverleaf Resorts, Inc., 514 F.3d 411 (5th Cir. 2008) the United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, rejected arguments by a Nonsubscriber to Texas workers’ compensation that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preempts state law on the issue of liability in a negligence claim.

Our law firm is often asked by human resources departments to provide a sample form for Employee Final Warning in Texas employment law. Here is a minimal example:

Alcohol intoxication is defined two different ways under the 1989 Texas Workers’ Compensation Act. Under the first definition, it is defined as having an alcohol concentration to qualify as intoxicated under Section 49.01, Penal Code. Section 401.013(a)(1).