Is the Biden Administration Eliminating Non-Compete Agreements?
On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. The EO outlines a need to create a fair, open, and competitive marketplace. A lot of the areas identified are non-employment related areas such as cable/internet providers and costs, farming, and government contracts. The EO does, however, contain […]
Federal Court in Texas Confirms Employers Can Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine
In June, a judge in the U.S. District Court of Texas – Southern Division, confirmed employers can terminate employees for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In a lawsuit brought by more than 100 employees at Houston Methodist Hospital, U.S. District Judge Hughes granted Methodist’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The employees attempted to allege […]
Changes Employers Need to Know Regarding Texas Sexual Harassment Law
Starting on September 1, 2021, Texas’ sexual harassment law will have some fairly significant changes. This past summer, both the Texas state house and senate passed amendments to Section 21 of the Texas Labor Code. The most significant change is that the law will now apply to companies with one employee or more (previously the […]
Amazon Abandons Arbitration: Should My Company Follow Suit?
You are likely already bound by many mandatory arbitration clauses tucked away in your contractual agreements, whether as an employer, employee, or even a consumer. This has traditionally been the route for companies hoping to deter class action claims from customers and employees, and to keep their disputes out of the public eye. However, after […]
Understanding the Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Attorney General Paxton
Who is an employer in Texas and who counts as an employee according to the Texas Whistleblower Act? Those are questions that surround the lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is facing claims from four former aides under Texas whistleblower law. According to a recent report in the Texas Tribune, those four former […]
Simon | Paschal Says: Be Careful with Kindness
It’s that time again for another Simon | Paschal Says opinion column. This opinion deals with kindness and the pitfalls employers face when they are too kind. Before you fire off that angry email to us about how important kindness is, let us clarify what me mean by being careful with kindness. First and foremost, […]
The “Post” COVID Workplace
Anyone that has followed the news understands that COVID is not going away any time soon. So while we think it’s important to talk about the “post” COVID workplace, it’s not really all that “post.” That said, there are some new normals and some considerations of which all employers should be mindful. Vaccinations With the […]
The NLRB in a Non-Union Setting
Many non-union employers fail to realize that the National Labor Relations Act still applies to them. While the NLRA is most often applied in the union setting, at its most basic level, the NLRA protects the right of employees to engage in protected concerted activity. Such protected concerted activity can occur in a union or […]
Do Texas Employers Have to Pay Employees for Work Missed Due to Inclement Weather?
The recent 2021 winter storm in Texas shut down a large portion of the state for the week. Lack of electricity forced the closing of many businesses. Those businesses that were able to stay open had numerous absences from employees who could not travel to work because of the snow and ice or could not […]
Transacting Business in Multiple States
Are you registered to do business in every state in which you provide services? What about those states in which your client is based but you provide all your services remote? Or that state in which you have a remote employee who moved away from your corporate office when most businesses transitioned to remote workers […]
