Your employer provides you with all of your income and also subsidizes or provides crucial benefits to you. Whether they have a retirement plan or disability insurance program, those benefits may be subject to specific federal oversight. The Department of Labor’s...
Pension, Benefits & Compensation
ERISA sets standards for operation of employer-sponsored benefits
Nongovernmental, private-industry employers in Texas that choose to sponsor employee benefits, such as health insurance and retirement plans, must comply with the laws established by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The laws within ERISA were meant...
Texas woman says she was fired for taking approved FMLA leave
The federal Family Medical Leave Act is often associated with maternity leave here in Texas. However, FMLA leaves are available for many reasons in addition to pregnancy or the pregnancy of a spouse. Under this law, workers of covered employers may also take 12-weeks...
What employment rights do independent contractors have?
Many employment law disputes here in Houston stem from confusion about the classification of an employee. Employees have different rights than independent contractors, and while these differences are simple enough, they can become very complicated due to a number of...
Does your Texas employer have to pay you for jury duty?
As Texas residents who have been called to jury duty know, it just never seems to come at a convenient time. However, it is one of our responsibilities as citizens and it is something that we generally must do when asked. Many people who are called to jury duty have...
Verizon retirees cry foul in Texas over pension move
A couple of weeks ago, we discussed an interesting pension move that Texas-based AT&T was asking federal officials to allow, and now this week news has broken about another telecommunication's company and its pension plan. In a federal court in Dallas yesterday,...
Derek Boogard’s family says union failed to claim his salary
Houston sports fans likely remember when the NHL's Derek Boogaard died in May 2011 in a drug and alcohol related accident. The hockey enforcer, 28, was one of the league's highest paid players and many were saddened by his untimely death while he was still...
Company with Houston office settles ERISA pension investigation
Houston residents who have pension plans may or may not know that those plans are governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Also known as ERISA, this group of laws requires employers and plan administrators to act in the best interest of...
Ann Curry is an example of legal issues involved in a demotion
Houston viewers of NBC's "Today" saw Ann Curry's tearful last segment on the morning infotainment show yesterday. Various news media reports suggest that she was demoted from the show at Matt Lauer's request. Curry took over as Lauer's co-anchor about one year ago,...