News & Events

2020 has certainly been a year of upheaval for business owners, but there is some status quo, especially when it comes to Texas labor laws where there are no new significant changes planned on the state level for 2021.

That means the major components we highlighted for labor laws for Texas in 2020 will still hold true next year, including a minimum wage of $7.25 hour, and compliance by businesses with the Texas Payday Law, which requires exempt employees be paid at least once a month and non-exempt employees receive a minimum of two paychecks per month.

While business has been undergoing a change towards digitization for years now, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid transition for many companies to a workforce that can connect, collaborate, and perform their roles remotely for an extended period of time.

One of the unfortunate realities of the COVID-19 pandemic is a historic number of Americans out of work since the public health crisis started.

U.S. government unemployment figures from August show that some 55 million workers have sought jobless benefits since mid-March.

Businesses started reopening this month in Texas, but with a vaccine for COVID-19 still on the horizon, it will not be “business as usual” for the foreseeable future.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in announcing another phase of business reopening’s on May 18 said: “Our focus is to keep you safe, while also restoring your ability to get back to work, to open your businesses, to pay your bills, to put food on your tables.”

In the cities of Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas, city ordinances passed in the years 2018 and 2019 that require employers who employee employees within these cities to start providing their employees with earned paid sick time, also known as the earned paid sick time ordinance. These sick days must be provided in addition to any company vacation days that are currently provided. If an employee gets sick or has a doctors' appointment, and they miss time from work, they can lose out on money that they need to support their family. These ordinances help to ensure an employee does not lose out on money from a paycheck because they were ill. 

As an employer in Texas, it is important that you understand overtime pay and overtime exemptions. If you fail to properly pay your employees, you could be violating federal law and state law. You may face fines and may have to pay your employees what they were legally owed plus penalties and interest. Unfortunately, not every employer fully understands overtime pay and overtime exemptions in the state of Texas, and the laws regarding exemptions recently changed at the start of 2020. Here is more information about overtime pay and overtime exemptions in Texas. 

The end of the year is fast approaching. If you want your business to hit the ground running in the new year, now’s the time to get organized with your end of year checklists. Here are some essential areas to cover as your company prepares for 2020.

Like all states, the state of Texas requires employers and employees to abide by certain labor laws, which govern issues such as minimum wage, overtime payments, meals and breaks, harassment, child labor and discrimination. In addition, employers in the state of Texas are also subject to all federal labor laws as well. In order to ensure ongoing compliance with these laws, Texas employers need to be aware of all current state and federal regulations, as well as any changes going into effect in the future. Below is some information about Texas labor laws in 2020. 

Like every aspect of the business world, human resources is a field that's always evolving. For this reason, it is important to keep up with the trends in this field. As 2020 approaches, it’s a good idea for businesses to think about what the coming year will bring with regard to HR. Below are some of the top trends you can expect to see in the field of HR next year. 

The holiday months are coming up very soon. While the rest of the world is preparing to celebrate, your business needs to prepare for the holidays in a different way. The holidays typically bring in more business, but they also herald some complications that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Gift yourself by preparing your business for the holidays with these proactive steps: