Texas employment law sets a different range of minimum wage standards than other states in the US. For instance the current price per hour for Texas employment law worker’s wages is $6.55 an hour. It is expected to rise to $7.25 July 24th, 2009.

In the state of Texas, there are several locations you can take advantage of if you are looking for employment. The Wagner-Peyser Act is in effect in Texas and is part and parcel of Texas employment law. This act was introduced nationwide in 1933. It served to establish a system of public employment offices, known as the Employment Service. In 1998 the Employment Service became a part of what is known as the One-Stop services delivery system.

Texas employment law is a part of this one stop delivery system and retains the name Employment Services. Their mission, plain and simple is to help job seekers find jobs and employers to find qualified workers. Texas employment law also offers job training programs and related services in some employment areas.

It’s a good idea, and places many of the services job seekers and potential employers need under one roof, rather than send them running all over the place to find information. In terms of improvements in Texas employment law, this is one that is greatly appreciated by both those looking for work and those searching for employees.

Some of the services you would find in the Employment Service one stop system include job search assistance, job referrals and placements. Those wanting re-employment services will also find help in this office, as will unemployment insurance claimants. Another interesting facet of Texas employment law one-stop Employment Service offices is the ability to also act as a quasi recruitment service for employers with positions to fill.

There are three ways to get services do it yourself, do it yourself with some help and let the staff do it for you. Other services could be available depending on what the market is demanding. For instance, you may be able to get an assessment of your skill levels, abilities and aptitudes, and/or career guidance, job search workshops and/or referral to training.

If you are an employer searching for workers, you may also take advantage of things such as help developing job order requirements, or in matching job seeker experience with job requirements. It takes a load off you when you have these extra services at your fingertips. You can also have workers skills and other attributes assessed, get help with any special recruitment needs, and find out how to set up Job Fairs. Another major bonus for employers under Texas employment law and using the Employment Service to staff their workplace is getting hard-to-fill job orders analyzed, and help with job layoffs.

Texas Employment Law The Right to Know is a post from: Employment Guide

You might not realize this, but when it comes to attorney employment law, attorneys don’t specialize in certain areas. Why? They all take the same exams to pass the bar, so finding a legal representative, an attorney employment law practitioner, should be fairly easy. All of them should be able to do this type of law, to a greater or lesser degree. Bottom line here is, there are relatively few ways for an attorney employment law specialist to actually BE a specialist.
Don’t get the wrong impression though that attorneys don’t have their particular areas of expertise. If you need one an attorney employment law person you can find one.
Employment law is a mixture of civil rights law, statutory torts and common law torts, not to mention adding in federal versus state laws. So if you need someone in this area, then best to check your lawyer out with the State Bar Association to find out how extensive the attorney’s experience is in this area before you hire him/her.
Something you should keep in mind is the expense factor of an attorney. Employment law experts can run up to $300.00 an hour or more. It takes hundreds of hours to try a case. If you’ve just been fired, you arent going to be able to afford an attorney. But, if you have what appears to be a really good case, then you might try asking the attorney about contingency fees. That’s where the attorney gets a portion (from 1/3rd to 45 percent or higher) of what the client recovers.
Before taking any case and trying it before the courts, you have to settle fees with your attorney. Employment law cases take several things into consideration. For instance, does the case have a good chance of winning? If it looks like a crap shoot chances are the lawyer will not take you on a contingency fee basis. It’s his/her time and money, and they need to spend it in the best way possible.
Another consideration for your potential case would be whether or not there are any damages. If you got another job the next day and for more money than at the place that fired you, where are the damages? What would be the point in suing? It would cost too much to make a point that might not actually BE made.
And speaking of costs, you need to pay for more that just the lawyer’s time. E.g. filing the suit costs money, so does having a stenographer at depositions, messengers cost and so do dozens of other incidentals that all add up over time. You’d better have a really good case before taking it to a lawyer.

Attorney Employment Law Where Good Representation Counts is a post from: Employment Guide

If you are unemployed, but need a lawyer to take your case court (if you were fired), then you will need to find one that will take your case on contingency. If you live in California, try looking for contingency attorneys in employment law in California.

The major thing you need to know is that if you want your lawyer of choice to work for you and get a settlement, you have to have a good and valid and provable case. They don’t run charities and will only take cases that have a good chance of winning and are based on a point of law of some worth. Again, living in California and searching for a good lawyer with experience in employment law with take some finesse on your part.

Searching online for contingency attorneys in employment law in California is a good place to start, and will actually return you some solid results. Many of the contingency attorneys in employment law in California have many years of experience in their chosen area of expertise and would serve you well.

What you would want to do is check out their sites, as most contingency attorneys in employment law in California do post right on their web sites examples of the kinds of settlements they have been instrumental in obtaining. They also list the awards they garnered by taking cases to court. Now keep in mind that the figures you see on the sites are the total awards granted by the courts. Contingency attorneys in employment law in California will of course take their percentage off the top of the settlement. What you have to do is discuss with your legal representative the percentage he/she would take from your potential settlement.

Percentages taken on a contingency basis will vary according to the complexity of the case, how long it takes and several other variables. However, if your case if sufficiently noteworthy, and does address a point of law worth pursuing, then you likely won’t have too much trouble finding out about contingency attorneys in employment law in California.

Now here is some interesting information you will want to know before you go looking for a lawyer if you have been fired. California is an “at will” state. That means an employee works at the will of the employer. Subject to certain exceptions, you can terminate an employee for no reason, without notice.
You can terminate a woman, a person over forty years of age, an Asian, an African-American, a disabled person, etc. But you CANNOT terminate an employee because they are a woman, over forty years of age, Asian, an African-American, or a disabled person. So make sure you have your ducks in a row, and all the information you need before calling a lawyer.

Contingency Attorneys In Employment Law In California Split the Award is a post from: Employment Guide

Employment discrimination law quite simply prohibits discrimination on the basis of a number of things, but in this article we will be talking about disabilities. The major act that covers this area is called the American with Disabilites Act and it clearly defines who is protected by law and what illegal discrimination is.
Employment discrimination law in the disabilites arena isn’t easy law to practise, as there are (as with just about every other area of law in this discipline) so many variations on what each supposed definition means. Even just starting with the definition of who is an individual with a disability under employment discrimination law. Supposedly, a person with a disability is one who has a physical/mental impairment that really limits one or more of life’s major activities etc. Major life activities are defined as things an average person can do without too much difficulty walking, breathing, seeing, hearing, working, etc.
Under employment discrimination law you must look to the definition of what a qualified person with a disability is. They must be someone first and foremost that has the necessary skills, education or job experience and who can perform the work in question. The next component of this requirement is that they can perform the job with or without reasonable accommodation.
What is reasonable accomodation defined as under employment discrimination law? It can include making facilities accessible for people with disabilities, job restructing, a modified work timetable, extra unpaid leave, modifying equipment/devices and/or having qualified readers/interpreters on hand. As an employer complying with employment discrimination law, you are not required to lower production standards to make an accommodation, nor are you expected to provide personal use items (eyeglasses, hearing aids etc.)
Now having discussed accommodation provisions, there is a sort of exemption built into this area for employers. Although they are required to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified candidate, they are not obligated to do that if it would cause undue hardship on the operation of the employer’s business.
So in effect, undue hardship means something that causes significant difficulty or exprense when compared to things like the size of the business, their financial status and its operation/structure. This unfortunately seems to have the earmarks of a loophole that could be used by employers to subtly discriminate.
No matter what the reasons you feel you have been discriminated against, it is important to always check the existing statutes and case law prior to making a final decision on whether or not to file a complaint.

Employment Discrimination Law Protection for Those Who Need It is a post from: Employment Guide

Employment law attorneys cover a wide range of areas within employment law from work place harassment to age discrimination. An area fraught with all kinds of legal potholes and loopholes, employment law attorneys will help you sort out how to proceed if you have a complaint.

Employment law attorneys have the best level of expertise to deal with age discrimination and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. An Act we will be taking a quick look at to determine how employment law attorneys may handle such cases.

Generally speaking when employment law attorneys take a look at a complaint being laid under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, they first have to determine if the employer DID discriminate against the employee with regard to privileges/conditions of employment based on the employee’s age. By the way, this law applies to employment agencies and labor organizations. The one thing you must be prior to filing a complaint under this act is, you must be over the age of 40. It doesn’t matter how old you are after that minimum.

Having said that, another thing employment law attorney’s consider is case law in this area, particularly if age is a bona fide occupational qualification. e.g. an airline pilot. There are several other narrow exclusions, but that’s why you hire employment law attorneys to wade through the jargon for you, and win your case of course.

A few other things you might need to know if you are contemplating filing such a suit. Usually you must pre-file a charge within 180 days after the alleged unlawful incident. Or, you need to file within 300 days if it was a state age discrimination law. Again, there are so many ins and outs and exclusions and rules that if you don’t have a clue, then talk to your lawyer.

There is even the consideration of jurisdiction for these kinds of cases. Jurisdiction meaning an employer must have 20 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks to be covered by the Age Discrimination Employment Act. It gets more complicated, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. But you get the idea. This is a complex area and
Employment law attorneys can make good money litigating settlements.

Speaking of settlements, some of the following remedies are often awarded in settled cases. Back pay, attorney’s fees, liquidated damages, front pay and injunctive relief. With so many options open, it can at least make your situation a little more bearable. Just be prepared for your case to take a long time in litigation. None of these cases are ever easy, but if tried properly and thoroughly, chances of success are good.

Employment Law Attorneys Working for You! is a post from: Employment Guide

There is one heck of a lot going on in the rapidly changing world of employment law cases. Virtually daily the courts are handing down decisions that can affect you dramatically in many different areas.

Although employment law cases arent exactly something you would elect to cruise on a daily basis, there are sites on the Internet that you can search for employment law cases that have been summarized for you just the highlights and what it could mean. The summaries are likely the best route to go as they make a great deal more sense than the legal versions of employment law cases.

Here are some recent employment law cases that could be of some interest to you highlights only. If you want to look up the whole case, you can just search for AARP v. EEOC (3rd Cir. 2007)

What it says in a nutshell is, employers and retirees may be able to design retiree health plans and early retirement incentive programs to take advantage of the retirees’ eligibility for Medicare benefits. This is a landmark decision.
Why is this of potential importance to you if you are a retiree? It is important because fewer and fewer employers provide health benefits for retirees. The reasons for this are corporations wanting a bigger profit, rising health care costs and of paramount importance, is if you qualify for Medicare on retirement, whether they can reduce/eliminate health benefits for retirees without violating federal age discrimination laws.
Many of the employment law cases you will find in your search are older cases, but are of great importance in terms of ratio decidendi meaning the precedents they set for case law across the nation. The ratio decidendi is the ground or reason of the decision in a case.
Another area of employment law cases raising a few eyebrows are cases dealing with what happens when key employees leave a company and then begin to compete with the firm they just left. There is an important decision in this area in this case: Aero Fulfillment Services, Inc. v. Tartar (Ohio 2007). This case deals with rights and limitations employers face when a key worker leaves. It also lays out steps for employers to take if and when such an employee leaves, dealing primarily with company trade secrets, confidential information and customer retention/fishing.
As you can see, if you have an interest in this area, you could definitely learn a lot about various decisions that directly and distinctly affect the labor laws in the US. While they may not apply to you presently, chances are that later down the road, you just may be in a position where you need to know things like this.

Employment Law Cases Identifying Trends is a post from: Employment Guide

Without a doubt employment law can be a major pain in the butt if you happen to be on the wrong end of a “situation” with your employer. Knowing what areas of employment law apply to you, or may apply to you, is the best way to cover that butt in the worse case scenario.

Most often the type of employment law that would apply to you would be the area of human resources employment law. This is a fairly broad area and covers things from absenteeism to workplace violence. The hottest area of employment law right now is the ban on smoking in more and more areas across the country. Don’t make the mistake of thinking all the smoking bans are the same. They are not and therein is the rub. In the past year, 9 states (total now 23) have passed new laws restricting smoking in public places. And your workplace is considered to be public.

You need to know the employment law that applies to you in the state you live in, so you don’t run afoul of it. Do your research carefully, because in many cases there are even differences between state and local laws and even city to city. For example: in California smoking has been banned in workplaces since 1995. In Louisiana, their ban (put in place January 2007) exempts several categories of businesses. Are you in one of those categories? Checking out the employment law for your location will keep you out of hot water, inside your place of business and in other locations as well.
Wait, it gets worse. Many states that don’t have smoking bans do however have one or more municipalities that have implemented them for public locations and businesses. Here are some interesting figures to contemplate. As of 2007 there are at least 2,507 municipalities with public smoking bans. Out of this 2,507 there are 570 (give or take) municipalities that require a 100 percent free smoke workplace.
Here is another example. Illinois has no statewide public smoking ban. However, Chicago and Cook County and 37 other cities and counties do have bans. As well, Texas doesn’t have a statewide ban, but Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio plus over 20 other municipalities do.
Employment law can be the epitome of idiosyncrasies and if you don’t take the time to read the fine print, you could find yourself in hot water. Another for instance to point out the differences from place to place, are laws that exclude business that sell tobacco or alcohol, etc. It’s confusing to say the least. But, better safe than lighting up someplace that’s going to slap you with fines.

Employment Law -Things You Need to Know is a post from: Employment Guide

Federal employment law covers a wide range of statues that include things like family and medical leave and the Equal Pay Act. It’s certainly not an area to wade into for the faint of heart. Federal employment law, although complicated, is there to protect YOU while employed in the workforce.

The most important piece of federal employment law that would apply to you would be the Fair Labor Standards Act. You might know this bit of federal employment law as the “Wage/Hour Law”. Basically it has four components to protect you: minimum wage requirements, overtime requirements, child labor regulations, and equal pay provisions.

As federal employment law goes, this is a fairly straightforward act (29 USC 201) and lays out things in a relatively clear manner. It is likely one of the first things you should read pertaining to federal employment law when you get hired for a job.

Federal employment law dictates pay is required at one and a half times the hourly rate, for anything over 40 hours in any work week. There is an exception to this, and that applies to employees who do work considered exempt from overtime meaning professionals. For instance a lawyer, doctor, accountant, teacher etc. people in an intellectual profession. Or, they must be working mostly as a manager or supervisor, performing work of a high-level executive/administrative nature or an outside sales rep.

As you might have guessed already, there are a lot of exceptions in a variety of areas. This is made even more complicated thanks to the fact that some industries lobbied for exceptions to the minimum wage/overtime requirements. When in doubt, call you local Wage/Hour office and find out if you are in one of these industries. You can also ask them for a full text of Department of Labor regs.

If you have kids that are of an age to be working, you should also make yourself aware of the laws relating to them. Generally speaking, child labor provisions says those under 18 cannot work more than 20 hours a week when school is in session. There are other provisions relating to dangerous machinery and equipment. Does your child work for you on a family farm? If that is the case, then you might need a work certificate. Call the Wage/Hours office and they’ll walk you through what you need to be on the right side of federal employment law.

If you have any complaints about how you have been paid, you may register a complaint with the Department of Labor or file your own action in Federal Court. If successful, you could recoup lost wages for any where from 2 to 3 years.

Federal Employment Law Protection for YOU! is a post from: Employment Guide

Florida employment law is comprehensive and addresses the needs of Florida’s workers in many ways. One of those ways is to deliver a fair and equitable Workers’ Compensation plan. If you need information about this plan if you are a worker covered by Florida employment law, then you can find it two ways either search for it on the Internet or go to the nearest Florida Department of Financial Services.

If you intend to seek benefits under Florida employment law regulations, then you need to have your ducks in a row before you do that. For instance, if you have an accident on the job, you must under Florida employment law, report it to your employer within 30 days of the accident or find your claim denied.

Do employers have obligations under Florida employment law to report a workers accident to their insurance company? Yes, and they must do so within 7 days after they have been informed by the employee of the accident.

If you find yourself in the awkward spot where the employer won’t report the accident to their insurance company, you do have other options under Florida employment law. You have the right to report the injury to their insurance company. If you need help call the Employee Assistance Office.

Are you concerned about the type of medical treatment you may get? Under Florida employment law provisions, the authorized medical services provider will give you the required care, and/or prescriptions. You of course will not be paying any medical bills, as they are sent directly to the insurance company.

Good news and bad news here. Under Florida employment law, you won’t get paid for the first seven days of disability. If you lose more time than seven days say for instance longer than 21 days or three weeks – you may be paid for the first seven days by the insurance company.

Of course you are going to be quite interested in the amount you will be paid while you are off on compensation. Generally speaking, in the majority of cases, your twice a month check will be 66 2/3 percent of your average weekly wage. There are a variety of formulas used to calculate your benefit check, in addition to various injury dates and how the formula is calculated. By the way, you don’t pay taxes on benefit income unless you are back to work on light duty, then you would pay taxes on those wages. Your first check arrives within three weeks of you reporting your injury to your employer.

Florida Employment Law: Workers Compensation Rights is a post from: Employment Guide

Labour and employment law are often terms used interchangeably. In actual fact, there is a difference between labour and employment law. Labour laws usually deal with employer-union relationships and employment laws with employer-employee relationships. Is this a distinction without a difference? Possibly, unless you happen to deal in labour and employment law on a regular basis and the distinction is important to your business.

Well, for the purposes of this short article, you will be reading about employer-employee relationships in the area of sick leave pay. As you know, most US employers offer sick leave pay. You will find some also offer accrued sick leave pay when employees quit or are laid off. This is mostly used as a benefit to attract and keep employees. However, this is NOT mandated under labour and employment law, it is strictly voluntary.

So great, where does that leave an employee? If an employer does offer sick leave pay, then you are entitled to it so long as you comply with terms and conditions in related policies or your employment contract. Since this is a totally voluntary benefit, labour and employment law has no effect on this. So basically, it is up to the employer to follow through or not. However, there may be a loophole here should you need one. If company sick leave policy states you need a Doctor’s note and the company doesn’t consistently apply this to everyone, you may be able to sue.

What about sick leave of your own or a family member? If this sick leave pay is totally voluntary and not governed by labour and employment law where does that leave you? Here you are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act and may have up to 12 weeks of sick leave for your own or a family member’s illness. This is without losing your job or group health benefits. So that’s good news.
You may recall that something dubbed the Healthy Americans Act was first introduced in the US Senate in 2005. The idea was to compel employers to provide annual sick leave benefits to workers who logged at least 1,500 hours in a year. That first Act didn’t get anywhere and was reborn as the Healthy Americans Act of 2007.
In a nutshell this act (if it passes) would dissolve all employer-based insurance. It would mandate every employer who covered his employees in 2006 convert the total they spent on insurance into salary increases. Whoa what a pay raise that would be! Employers would be legislated to do this, but would want to because every year health costs go up at least 10 percent or more. If the total for employers freezes at 2006 levels, employers would be exempt from 2007′s increase. There no indication this Act will pass in 2007.

Labour and Employment Law the Same or Different? is a post from: Employment Guide