Recently in Other Employment Law Issues Category

Employment class action lawsuits involve a group of employees whose rights have been violated by an employer in a similar way. The class action can begin with one employee whose rights were violated under federal employment law, state law, or both.

Following the old saying of "strength in numbers," employment class actions are often used when the number of people affected by an employer's conduct is high.

Last time you were hired, did you take the time to read through every provision of your employment contract? If you didn't, you may be surprised by some of the terms that were included.

While employment contracts usually contain common elements like your start date, salary, and benefits, they sometimes include lesser-known provisions as well.

Below, we've laid out three important contract terms and how they affect you.

The holidays are here, and gifts are flying off the shelves at local retailers. So now would be the time to get gifts for your coworkers, employees or even (gasp) your boss.

Tread cautiously! While gifting might seem innocent, it's not always the smartest move to make. It might seem wise to give gifts to coworkers or to employees, but it's not always appropriate, writes The Houston Chronicle.

The same goes for your boss.

The economy is improving and so is the job rate. According to The Associated Press, the United States economy added 146,000 jobs in November. As a result, the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent.

That’s the lowest it’s been in years, going back to December 2008, when the economy was in the midst of freefall. These statistics come from a Labor Department report on the economy.

Interestingly, new hiring remained steady, despite the approaching fiscal cliff.

The talks between Hostess management and the labor union have failed, reports The Los Angeles Times. As a result, the junk-food giant might be facing bankruptcy and liquidation.

The company management entered into mediation talks with the union in an attempt to resolve the differences between the two parties and come to a middle ground.

But as of Tuesday night, no agreement was reached, The Associated Press explains.

Ok folks, listen up! This is your last chance to decide which candidate is good for the economy -- or more specifically, which candidate is good for employment issues.

A jobs report was released this morning, just in time for Election Day. This report has been all over the news and highlights the unemployment issue.

Of course, both presidential candidates are using this report to further their campaign platform objectives.

On the Republican side, candidate Mitt Romney pounced on the 7.9% unemployment figure, claiming that President Barack Obama failed to meet his 2008 campaign promise to lower unemployment to 5%.

What happens when an employee commits a crime? Or even just a wrongful act (not necessarily a crime)?

Is the employee liable alone? Or can the employer be held liable as well?

This is an interesting question, in light of the Halliburton VP's story that we wrote about this week. Joseph Andolino, senior vice president of Halliburton's tax department, was arrested in a prostitution sting, according to the Houston Business Journal.

While his actions don't necessarily render Halliburton liable, since there are no reports that he committed the crime while on the job, it still raises the question as to when an employer can be sued for the crimes (or even torts) of its employees.

Here's a case where criminal law and employment law coincide.

A Halliburton executive was arrested a few weeks ago on prostitution charges. Interestingly, Halliburton's response to this scandal will depend largely on the exec's status with the company.

Joseph Andolino was arrested in a Harris County prostitution sting, reports The Houston Business Journal.

Say your company was going under and you had the option to either go down with the ship or be paid part of your salary all at once to leave and find another job. Unless you truly were a ship captain and your ship was sinking, you'd probably take the buyout.

More than 2,000 American Airlines flight attendants have opted to take a $40,000 buyout in the face of the airline's restructuring, according to Dallas' WFAA-TV. This option was offered in order to avoid furloughs and firings as the airline recovers from bankruptcy. This program is called "Easy Out" and was negotiated by the flight attendants' union and American.

Is a company required to give its workers severance?

"Treasures" sounds like something Johnny Depp was looking for in "Pirates of the Caribbean." But locals may know it as a place where Depp or any other single man can go to look for some late-night adult entertainment.

The famous strip club in Houston has run into some trouble with the law recently, but thanks to a judge the club will stay open as long as it sticks to some new conditions, according to KHOU-TV. Some of the conditions include firing any employee who is convicted of a felony, instituting random employee drug tests, and installing extra security cameras so city attorneys can review the video.

Do these conditions constitute an intrusion on employees' privacy?