Frequently Asked Questions of a Dallas Employment Lawyer

Representing discriminated employees in Southlake, Grapevine, Plano, Coppell, Dallas, McKinney, Lewisville, Frisco, Richardson, and Allen

After practicing Dallas labor and employment law for many years, our Dallas employment lawyer has been able to compile a list of frequently asked questions by our clients. These common questions are listed below:

What is employment law?
Dallas labor law or employment law concerns the legal relationship between employers and employees, which arise out of an employment contract. Labor law regulates the entire relationship between employer and employee including the initial hiring process, job duties, wages, promotions, benefits, employment reviews and termination of the employment relationship. It also includes litigation by a Dallas employment lawyer on the basis of unfair labor practices and discrimination.
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What are the Federal rules relating to minimum wages?
The Federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and is administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division. Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and Federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.
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What are the rights of the employees in the workplace?
All employees are entitled to basic rights in the workplace including the right to privacy, fair compensation, and freedom from discrimination. The other rights of employees include right to be free from discrimination and harassment, right to fair wages, right to a safe workplace free of dangerous conditions, toxic substances, and other potential safety hazards, right to be free from retaliation for filing a claim or complaint against an employer or in other words “whistleblower” rights. A workplace lawyer can better explain whether your issue violated state or national labor and employment laws.
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What are the privacy rights of an employee?
The right to privacy applies to the employee’s personal possessions, including handbags or briefcases, storage lockers accessible only by the employee, telephone conversations or voicemail messages and private mail addressed only to employee. The employees have very limited rights to privacy in their e-mail messages and Internet usage while using the employer’s computer system.
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What are the common forms of employment discrimination, prohibited by law?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the prominent anti-discrimination law, prohibits an employer with fifteen or more employees from refusing to hire, discipline, fire, deny training, fail to promote, pay less or demote, or harass an employee on the basis of race, national origin, gender, or religion. The federal Equal Pay Act requires any employer that is already subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide equal pay to men and women who perform “equal work,” unless the difference in pay is caused by differences in seniority, merit or some other factor that is not based upon sex. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants who are over the age of forty, by any employer with twenty or more employees. The Immigration Reform and Control Act bars any employer with more than three employees from discriminating against a U.S. citizen, or an “intended citizen”(such as one who may work legally but is not yet a citizen) on the basis of his or her national origin. A Dallas discrimination lawyer can further explain if you have a case.
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What is disability discrimination?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act bar discrimination against those who are disabled. The ADA bars discrimination by private employers with more than fifteen employees, and the Rehabilitation Act applies to all government entities and federal contractors.
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What is disability under ADA?
The ADA only applies to persons who meet the definition of “disabled” under the Act. A person is considered disabled, and so protected under the ADA, if he or she either actually has, or is thought to have, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits what the ADA calls a “major life activity.” Major life activities include walking, talking, seeing, and learning. If an employee has impairment that substantially limits his or her ability to perform one or more of these activities, the employee is considered disabled under the ADA.
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What constitutes racial discrimination?
Racial discrimination is the illegal treatment of an employee or applicant differently because of his or her race or color. In addition to prohibiting discrimination, laws also prohibit harassment based on race or color. Harassment includes racial slurs, racial jokes, offensive remarks based on race, offensive comments based on race, drawings or pictures that portray people of a certain race in an unfavorable light, threats, intimidation, hostile demeanor, or physical violence.
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What Constitutes Sex Discrimination?
The essence of sex discrimination is unequal treatment on the basis of sex. The treatment must not simply be different, but also unequal, and therefore unfair. For example, requiring women and men to use separate restrooms does not constitute sex discrimination. But it is sex discrimination to provide different working conditions, salaries, hiring, promotion or bonus criteria to women and men. A unique form of sex discrimination is sexual harassment. Discrimination based upon your race or sex is a very serious matter. If you feel that you are being discriminated against based on your gender or sexual orientation, it is very important to seek the assistance of a Dallas discrimination lawyer.
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What is sexual harassment?
In the federal context, sexual harassment is considered to be a form of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.”
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What are the different types of sexual harassment occurring at workplace?
Depending upon the circumstances prevailing at work place, sexual harassment at workplace can be categorized in to two classes. Quid Pro Quo harassment is the sexual harassment involving mutual favors mostly requested by some superior in lieu of some employment benefits to the employee. This occurs when a supervisor or one in an authority position requests sex, or a sexual relationship, in exchange for not firing or otherwise punishing the employee, or in exchange for favors, such as promotions or raises. The second category is hostile work environment. This involves sexual harassment that occurs through the presence of demeaning or sexual photographs, jokes or threats. In this type of harassment, the inappropriate behavior or conduct must be so pervasive as to, create an intimidating and offensive work environment.
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What are the laws that offer protection against sexual harassment?
In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) issued regulations defining sexual harassment and stating it was a form of sex discrimination prohibited by the Civil Rights Act, which had been originally passed in 1964. In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court first ruled that sexual harassment was a form of job discrimination and held it to be illegal. Today, most states have their own fair employment practices laws that prohibit sexual harassment and many of them stricter than the federal law.
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What are the legal remedies available to an employee in the event of termination?
If an employee has been fired without a good reason or in violation of federal or state law it could be a wrongful discharge which can be challenged. If a Dallas wrongful termination attorney representing an employee can bring a successful claim for wrongful discharge, employers can be made to pay back wages, fines, and possible punitive damages or even the employee can be reinstated. However, if the employee is an “at-will” employee there is little chance for the employee to succeed since the employer has the right to fire him/her for any or no reason at any time so as long as all protections afforded by state and federal law have been followed. Where no wrong has been committed, “at-will” employees have no remedy for employment termination.
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When is overtime payment made?
The FLSA requires overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one-half times an employee’s regular rate of pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek for covered, nonexempt employees. Some exceptions to the 40 hours per week standard apply under special circumstances to police officers and fire fighters employed by public agencies and to employees of hospitals and nursing homes. Some states have also enacted overtime laws. Where an employee is subject to both the state and Federal overtime laws, the employee is entitled to overtime according to the standard that will provide the higher rate of pay. Effective August 23, 2004, U.S. Department of Labor regulations state that all employees who earn less than $455 per week, or $23,660 per year, are automatically entitled to receive overtime pay.
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Who are exempted from over time pay?
Employees who earn more than 455 per week, or $23,660 per year, are exempt from overtime requirements if they are compensated on a salary, and not on an hourly basis, and if their job falls into one of the following three categories: executive, learned / creative professional. An employee falls in to executive category if his/ her primary duties are directly related to management and involves the exercise of discretion and independent judgment. If the employee is a learned professional with advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning or a creative professional in which the primary duties involves invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a field of creative or artistic endeavor, he/ she is exempted from over time pay.
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What are the work place safety rights available to the employees?
The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the Department of Labor, in order to reduce workplace hazards and implement safety and health programs. Under OSHA, the employer is required to provide work and a workplace free from recognized hazards, inform the employees of the potential hazards, and establish a written, comprehensive hazard communication program that includes provisions for such things as container labeling, material safety data sheets, and an employee training program. In addition to this the employer should inform employees of the existence, location, and availability of their medical and exposure records when employees first begin employment and at least annually thereafter, and to provide these records upon request.
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To what extent are public sector employees protected against unjust firing?
As per the prevailing civil service laws, a public sector employee generally cannot be fired for his/her political beliefs, membership in particular clubs, associations, or unions or for speaking in public on any issue, writing a letter to a newspaper, or similar action. Above all, a public sector employee is usually protected by “due process”. An employer must give an employee notice of the reason for being discharged, the opportunity of a hearing to contest the discharge, with a decision rendered by an impartial third party decision maker.
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If you have a problem in the workplace and you need Dallas employment lawyer, contact our law firm today to set up a consultation.
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