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Laws to protect workers are virtually non-existent in Texas. Sure, Texas has a minimum wage law (it's $1.25 per hour), but that's just one more example of the trickery of the state legislature. You see, here in Texas, our state legislature believes firmly in the Golden Rule, which is: He that has the gold, makes the rules.
Texas is what is called a"right to work" state. What that means, explicitly, is that unions are forbidden from requiring of employers that they hire only union members. What that means, effectively, is that any organized workforce will soon be replaced.
Texas does have unemployment insurance for workers who are laid off (that means made redundant, for Rikki's friends in the U.K.). But, payment is made only to qualified applicants. A qualified applicant is someone who has lived and worked in the state of Texas, continuously, for the six months previous to the claim, and who is either,
Note that a worker who voluntarily terminates his/her own employment, even if the decision is a reaction to unfair employment practices, even gross reduction of wages or radical degradation of working conditions, is not eligible for support in Texas.
In any case, payment of the claim can be effectively blocked by the former employer, and they have plenty of motivation to do so, since the Texas Unemployment Insurance System is funded by the employers' payment of Unemployment Insurance Premiums.
Not all employers pay the same rates for unemployment insurance. The rate that is paid by each employer is determined by the number and frequency of unemployment claims against that employer that have been paid in the past. One way for employers to keep their insurance premiums to a minimum is to deny as many unemployment claims as possible. This is very easy to do, since every claim made to the Texas Workforce Commission is verified with the employer before being paid. The employer at that time is free to deny the claim, usually by accusing the employee of insubordination or other misbehaviour. If you find yourself in this position, your unemployment claim will be denied. You do have the right to appeal the decision, but you will receive no benefits while awaiting your appeal. In most cases, the former employee is simply compelled to take whatever employment is available, and then fails to appear at the appeal hearing, since the hearing will be scheduled for regular office hours and the newly employed have no accrued leave to use for attending the hearing and may fear that the new employer will view the dispute with some prejudice, should the appeal come to the attention of the new employer.
The meaning of the word, insubordination may surprise those of you who live outside of Texas. For example, here in Texas we have a law that is known as the Texas Payday Law. This law appears on its surface to provide a remedy to those who may have been short changed in their paychecks. This law says that it is unlawful for an employer to
