As the New Year begins a couple of things to consider: Is the company employee manual up to date – any changes necessary? – The beginning of the year is always a good time to review those policies and procedures and see how they worked in 2019. Often the year will show some deficiencies or problems with policies as they are applied. Are employee files up to date? Make sure all employees have acknowledged receiving…

  The above is a fuzzy map of the city limits of Dallas with zip codes – you get the point. The recently enacted Dallas Paid Sick Time Ordinance applies to the areas in green.  Here is our previous discussion on the details of the ordinance.  In a nutshell, employees who work work at least 80 hours a week in the geographic boundaries of Dallas are entitled to paid sick leave Today, I took a…

  Here’s a smattering of cases/disputes that are out there: Interesting article about two cases from Ohio involving a cookie entrepreneur and taco restaurant chain owner; Not in the employment world – but a Michigan judge shut down the construction of a hotel after determining it violated a non-compete; The typical pharmaceutical sales rep case – this one from Kansas City (paywall); A non-compete case from East Texas where a doctor sued a group…

We’ve been following the overtime rule changes since 2016.  The changes stalled out for various reasons but the US Department of Labor under the Trump Administration has delivered its new regulations which are effective January 1, 2020. Some of the key points: the minimum base salary for exempt employees moves up from $455 a week to $684 a week ($23,660 annually to $35,568 annually) the total annual compensation for “highly compensated employees” increases from $100,000…

Employers don’t spend enough time considering their non-competes.  That’s an overly broad statement, but it is usually the rule not the exception.  The reason that happens kind of makes sense. Most employers haven’t been down the road of enforcing a non-compete.  The provision at issue may be a one-off that’s included in one employment agreement or one that has been altered over time.  Point is there is no judicial experience with the non-compete.  The employer…

  Last week, Google said it was no longer going to enforce its anti-poaching provision that includes in its employment contracts.  I don’t see them going anywhere as it relates to Texas employers/employees. Under Texas law, an anti-poaching provision has to satisfy the Texas non-compete statute meaning it has to be ancillary to an otherwise enforceable agreement and reasonable in time and scope.  The provision will attempt to limit a departing employer from hiring a…

    Over the past few months we’ve been tracking the interplay between various Texas cities (San Antonio – Dallas – Austin) and the Texas legislature.  The aforementioned city councils adopted in similar form and fashion mandatory leave policies for employees within city limits.  The Dallas version provides for the following: In effect August 1, 2019 for employers with 15 or more employees and August 1, 2021 for smaller businesses; All for-profit and non-profit businesses…