The mere remuneration of the worker or contractor is not sufficient to fill the consideration; Beyond the worker`s normal remuneration for his daily work, some consideration is necessary. Downstairs, Texas courts have found that stock options can suffice. However, a safer way is to expressly provide staff or contractors with confidential information, trade secrets or specific training. In return, the worker should promise to keep this information confidential, to return it after the termination of the employment relationship and not to disclose it after the termination of the employment relationship for a specified period of time. The anti-harassment policy is one of the main guidelines to be included in the staff manual. Often, an employer`s liability for harassment (particularly harassment allegedly carried out by non-supervisors) depends on the employer acting on an effective policy and taking prompt and appropriately corrective measures to put an end to the alleged harassment that it knew or should have known about. A good anti-harassment policy can therefore help to avoid complete liability by showing the company`s efforts on the front line to prevent harassment. Texas is an „all-you-can-eat“ state. Employees can be dismissed at will for any reason or for no reason and can stop at any time. Most companies do not intend to change the employment system „as they see fit“ through policies and procedures. However, the inclusion of contractual agreements in the policy and procedure manual may encourage your employees to enter into contracts rather than „over-the-counter.“ This change in the „at-will“ employment relationship could impose unintended contractual obligations and obligations on your company and its employees. In the wake of Weiner and his descendants, it has become common to include in a staff manual a broad disclaimer language that makes it clear that the personnel manual should not be construed as a binding contract and that the manual is provided only for informational purposes.

Such a language of disclaimer was deemed sufficient to assert that an employer is liable for a breach of contract in the event of a breach of its personnel manual (cf.B. Lobosco/. New York Tel. Co./NYNEX, 96 NY2d 312 (2001); Martin v. Southern Container Corp., 92 AD3d 647 (2d Dept. 2012). It should be noted, however, that such a disclaimer language can also benefit the worker by negating the employer`s attempts to impose certain provisions of its own manual. The obvious advantages are the protection of important business information and the absence of the threat of competition. Beyond the difficulty of implementing these agreements, the downside is that competition bans can make an employer or employment opportunity less attractive to potential workers. Therefore, employers considering the creation of a non-compete agreement must consider whether they are actually trying to protect the company or whether the agreement could only help workers look for work elsewhere and move forward in their careers. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently fined blueLinx Holdings and Health Net, Inc.

for having, under severance agreements, a provision to remove a former employee`s right to recover whistleblower incentives to be part of severance agreements. In a provision generally considered a standard provision in severance agreements, agreements made by companies allowed former employees to participate in a state investigation, but required a waiver of the right to recover all incentive payments provided by law for whistleblowers. The SEC imposed heavy fines on these companies for this waiver.