Texas employers should make preventing harassment in the workplace one of their top priorities. One way that this can be done is by training employees to recognize and avoid specific actions that could be seen as harassment. For instance, companies can provide examples of behavior to avoid such as asking colleagues on dates or sending emails containing lewd jokes or other inappropriate language.
How to avoid harassment at work
Bias may be considered discrimination
Employees in Texas and across the country may face discrimination in the workplace. Sometimes, discriminatory practices or behaviors may be overt and obvious, but the pattern is often subtle and difficult to determine. The law is typically broad and inclusive when it comes to discriminatory practices and even bias that makes employees feel excluded based on protected factors such as gender, religion or sexual orientation may constitute discrimination.
Settlement for Disney employees over costume costs
Texas workers who are required to wear uniforms on the job may be interested to learn that Disney employees will receive a settlement totaling $3.8 million in a dispute related to costumes. According to a Department of Labor investigation, two Disney resorts violated overtime pay, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. One of Disney's violations was that in requiring employees to purchase costumes, the pay to those employees dropped below minimum wage.
Class action lawsuit targets employee break periods
The number of employees who are suing their employers for workplace violations such as failure to pay overtime and other wage and hour violations has substantially increased in recent years, according to human resource management experts. One of the most significant of these cases is a lawsuit involving inadequate break periods that could have far-reaching consequences for employers in Houston and around the nation.
Noncompete agreement language can be crucial
When a Texas company is sold, the purchaser often requests the seller's owner to enter into a noncompete agreement. These agreements are usually limited to a specified number of years and to geographic locations in close proximity to the company. In late 2016, a Texas appellate court ruled on the enforceability of one such agreement.
