Background checks are becoming an increasingly common part of the application process for major aspects of our lives including employment, housing, credit cards, college admissions and professional licensing. This continues to be true despite efforts of civil rights agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) to push back on the broad use of criminal […]
In a tough job market it’s always difficult to turn down a job but sometimes the company culture is so toxic or the boss is so insufferable that it’s more harmful to your health and career than the benefit of the paycheck. Of course, that’s an easy thing to say when you have a paycheck.
Texas Employment Attorney’s 10 Signs You Should Not Take That Job Read More »
Most people understand volunteering means giving away free labor, often to a charity or other non-profit organization. However, sometimes Texas for-profit businesses seek “volunteers” as a way of receiving unpaid labor or an employer requires its employees to volunteer time for a charitable or civic cause. What about these situations? The Department of Labor has
What is a volunteer under Texas employment law? Read More »
Under the Texas code of criminal procedure, an individual arrested for an alleged crime that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication generally can have the arrest record expunged from public records. This process is called expunction although many people refer to it as expungement. It is the same thing. The purpose of expunging
What is an expunction / What is an expungement in Texas? Read More »
Right now the job market is an employer’s market with an excess of applicants wanting jobs and promotions. This excess of job applicants allows employers to be exceptionally selective about hiring decisions. Even small defects in an applicant’s profile can make a difference in receiving a job offer. Relatively insignificant criminal records like public intoxication can
Is a background check ruining your employment opportunities in Texas? Read More »
Many large employers, particularly retailers, include anti-union information or videos as part of their new hire training process in an effort to prevent unions from gaining a foothold with workers. These videos have been around for a while in all their cheesy, disinformational glory. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) permits employers to share their
Behind the scenes with Target’s anti-union video Read More »
A recent Pew Research poll indicates 73% of the U.S. population uses social media. It’s out there. There are so many social media outlets to choose from it’s difficult these days to find people not on multiple social media sites. Although Facebook may be suffering from a wave of withdrawal, other sites are maintaining their status
Social media and employment discrimination claims Read More »
A question I receive to my Texas law firm is what shows up on an employer background check in Texas. Employers are increasingly performing background checks on job applicants in Texas. They look at both credit information and criminal backgrounds. There is considerable confusion about what employers can legally see in a background check in
Employer background checks in Texas: what do they show? Read More »
Ideally everything. Employment agreements, new hire paperwork, benefit plan descriptions, paystubs, corrective action notices, company newsletters, HR manuals, department manuals, emails relating to any of the above documents and anything else you might receive. Although a lot of these documents can be uncovered during litigation from your employer, it can be extremely important to have
What employment records should I keep? Read More »
Yes, Texas is an at-will state. At-will employment suggests that an employer and employee have equally bargained for the exchange of labor (from the employee) and payment of wages (from the employer) and freely engage in that transaction without the existence of an employment contract. This means that an employer may fire an employee for
Is Texas an At-Will Employment State? Dallas employment lawyer discusses Read More »