Kristin L. Bauer is a principal in the Dallas, Texas, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She represents management exclusively in workplace law and related litigation.

In addition to handling an active employment litigation docket, Kristin counsels management on preventive strategies, including termination decisions, investigations, employment agreements, non-compete and non-solicitation issues, wage and hour laws, policies and handbooks, and other issues affecting the workplace.

Over its regular and two special sessions, the Texas legislature has passed several bills that are or soon will be in effect and will impact employers’ workplace policies and procedures. Additional special legislative sessions yet may be held and, with them, more changes may be on the horizon. Read more about these developments.

Texas employers no longer must provide paid sick leave to their employees in Dallas following the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Sean D. Jordan. ESI/Employee Solutions LP et al. v. City of Dallas et al., No. 4:19-cv-00570 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 30, 2020). The decision was released two days before enforcement of the Dallas

Today two plaintiffs represented by the Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a lawsuit challenging the Dallas paid sick and safe leave ordinance, which is scheduled to go into effect on August 1. It remains to be determined whether the implementation date will be officially delayed – either through a preliminary injunction or by agreement. The

They say everything is bigger in Texas and the controversy surrounding paid sick leave is no exception. With less than two weeks before the effective date of two paid sick leave laws in Texas, here is a quick scorecard on where these laws stand:

San Antonio

As is now being reported, the City of

As noted in our recent post, absent extraordinary legislative action or prompt legal challenge, by August 1, 2019, most employers with employees working at least 80 hours a year in Dallas or San Antonio should be prepared to comply with paid sick leave ordinances.

The city of San Antonio recently released an eight-month implementation

Although there is no Texas state-wide law that requires paid sick leave in Texas, the cities of Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio have adopted paid sick and safe leave laws. Proposed legislation  that would have blocked these laws from going into effect was introduced during the most recent Texas legislative session. However, as

Over the next several months, the fate of local paid sick leave laws may well be decided by the Texas legislature. But while lawmakers continue to debate whether Texas cities should be prohibited from establishing their own paid sick time mandates, efforts to expand their reach are marching forward. Last week, the City of Dallas

On November 16, 2018, the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals declared Austin’s paid sick and safe leave ordinance unconstitutional. Specifically, the court held the ordinance is preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act and is, therefore, unconstitutional.

The Austin ordinance has been under attack since its inception. The Travis County District Court originally denied a