Employment arrangement in which the employee may quit at any time with or without notice and with or without good reason, while the employer may terminate the employee with or without cause and with or without notice for any reason that is not unlawful (e.g., discrimination, retaliation)…

Observation or monitoring of a person, group, area, or line of communication. Surveillance may be obvious, such as a security camera mounted in plain view to monitor the parking lot of an employer’s premises, or it may be secret like an employee recording meetings with their supervisor on their smartphone without informing the supervisor…

Also referred to as a successor in interest, this is an employer that purchases or merges with another employer and assumes the previous employer’s obligations and liabilities as to that precious employer’s workforce…

Also referred to as a labor strike, in employment law the term refers to a work stoppage caused by employees’ coordinated refusal to work, typically with the assistance of or at the direction of a labor union, in an effort to protest a decision or action by the employer that affects the terms and conditions of employment…

Time period during which a lawsuit must be filed, otherwise the lawsuit is subject to being dismissed upon the defendant’s motion (request). The limitations period varies depending on the type of legal claim and the statute or law under which the claim or claims are pursued…

Simply put, leave taken from work due to illness or injury. No federal law currently requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees, though in certain circumstances some federal statutes may require an employer to permit an employee to take unpaid sick leave…

When an employer makes employment decisions or takes an adverse employment action against an employee or job applicant based on their sexual orientation. In 2020, the United States Supreme Court held that employment discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity (such as transgender status) constitutes unlawful discrimination based on sex…

Also referred to as gender harassment, this is offensive and unwelcome conduct based on the harassed individual’s sex or gender that is severe or pervasive enough to affect the terms and conditions of that individual’s employment. Sexual harassment may be one of two recognized types: quid pro quo or hostile work environment…

Also referred to as gender discrimination, this occurs when an employer treats an employee or job applicant differently in employment decisions based on the employee’s sex or gender. Pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual stereotyping, and discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation have all been interpreted by courts and the federal EEOC as variants of sex discrimination…

Agreement between an employer and a departing employee whereby the employee typically receives some type of benefit to which they are not otherwise lawfully entitled in exchange for a binding waiver and release of any and all legal claims the employee might have against the employer that can lawfully be waived…

Under the federal FMLA, eligible employees are entitled to take leave from work to recover from their own serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition…

Shorthand reference to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which is located in Title 42 of the United States Code, Section 1981 (42 U.S.C. § 1981). Section 1981 is a federal statute implemented after the United States Civil War that declared African-Americans to be citizens entitled to rights previously reserved only for Caucasian males, including the right to enter into and to enforce contracts…

A second medical certification from a health care provider chosen by the employer when an employee takes leave under the federal FMLA for either the employee’s own serious health condition or that of a covered family member…

Slang term for a worker who is brought in to replace an employee who is involved in a labor strike, an employee who refuses to join a labor strike, or an employee who crosses a picket line to work during a labor strike.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and many state wage-and hour laws contain several categories of employees that are exempt from their overtime pay requirements. Texas does not recognize any exempt categories other than those found in the FLSA…

Group of individuals who are all legally protected from discrimination in employment based on having the same shared protected characteristic or trait…

Sometimes also referred to as a protected trait, this is an attribute an individual has that a legislative body has determined should not be considered in making employment decisions and that any such decisions therefore constitute unlawful discrimination…

Comprehensive term encompassing actions for which an employee may not lawfully be disciplined or retaliated against by an employer. Put another way, if an applicable law protects an employee’s right to take an action such as complaining about working conditions or taking leave from work, an employer is prohibited from disciplining or terminating that employee for exercising their legal rights…

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a professional employee is one of the three “white-collar exemptions” exempt from the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements of the FLSA…

Traditionally, the right of an individual to be left alone or to be free from unnecessary public scrutiny. In the employment law context, privacy typically refers to an employee’s right to be free from overly intrusive actions by employers that delve into the employee’s activities, beliefs, communications, or other personal aspects of that individual’s life…