Updates and commentary on legal issues that are important to us and our clients.
Health Insurance compliance for Employers is highly-regulated. Group Health Plans are not only required to comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), but must also comply with regulations set by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and numerous other laws that impact an employee’s health benefits. These laws set out standards under which group…
Statutory Lien Texas Property Code Chapter 53 defines who is entitled to a lien for labor and materials improving properties like homes, buildings, fixtures, improvements, and certain other lands. These people include: laborers, materials fabricators, suppliers, architects, engineers, surveyors, landscapers, and demolition services. Even if you’re in one of these categories, however, filing a lien…
Certain commissioned employees in a “retail or service establishment” are exempt from overtime pay under Section 7(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). A “retail or service establishment” is “an establishment 75% of whose annual dollar volume of sales of goods or services (or of both) is not for resale and is recognized as…
On occasion, employers have asked whether it is acceptable to pay a part-time non-exempt employee (for example, a marketing associate) an hourly rate and a salary for his or her work. As a starting point, it is important to note that the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) does not differentiate between full-time and part-time employees….
On December 1, 2016, the application of the “white collar exemptions” is going to change dramatically. Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. Section 13(a)(1) and Section 13(a)(17) also exempt…
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are habitually the preferred corporate structure for startups and small business owners. In many ways, they are also the most practical form for small companies who do not need or seek outside investment and do not envision significant growth. An LLC is a hybrid type of legal structure that provides the…
Duress is “[a]ny coercion of another, either mental, physical, or otherwise, causing him to act contrary to his own free will or to submit to a situation or conditions against his own volition or interests.” Mitchell v. C.C. Sanitation Co., 430 S.W.2d 933, 937 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1968, wit ref’d n.r.e.). Under Texas law,…
What’s an affirmative defense? When a party files a lawsuit for damages, they set forth factual and legal allegations as to how they were wronged by the defendant. In answering the suit, the defendant will deny the allegations, and in some cases, the defendant will also assert affirmative defenses whereby he sets forth his own…
As part of our labor and employment practice, we routinely assist our business clients with unemployment benefits hearings in front of the Texas Workforce Commission (“TWC”). The core issue in these hearings is usually whether the former employee (claimant) is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits. When the employer is opposing the claimant’s request for benefits,…
“So how much is this going to cost?” That’s the question I always hear from prospective clients. It doesn’t matter if they’re large or small businesses, individuals, family offices, or trustees. And it’s a perfectly sensible question that affects the bottom line. We require a retainer for all matters, which is not an estimate of…