Texas employment law is a mix of state statutes in the Texas Labor Code, federal laws that fill in where the state stays silent, and a few court decisions that shape the edges. The Texas Workforce Commission handles most state-level enforcement, from unpaid wage claims to discrimination charges. The rules below cover the questions workers in Texas run into most often: when you can be fired, how and when you must be paid, what overtime and leave you’re entitled to, and the protections that apply once you file a complaint.
At-Will Employment Is the Default
Every job in Texas is at-will unless a written contract says otherwise. Either you or your employer can end the relationship at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice.1Texas Workforce Commission. Pay and Policies – General The same rule lets an employer change your pay rate, schedule, or duties going forward.
There is one recognized common-law exception, from the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck: an employer cannot fire you solely because you refused to perform an act that carries criminal penalties.2Justia. Sabine Pilot Service Inc v Hauck The exception is narrow. You must prove the refusal to break the law was the only reason for the firing. Everything else sits inside the at-will rule.
Right-to-Work Is a Different Rule
Texas is also a right-to-work state, which gets confused with at-will constantly. Right-to-work means no employer can require you to join a union or pay union dues to get or keep a job; any contract that tries to is void under the Labor Code.3State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 101.053 – Contract Requiring or Prohibiting Labor Union Membership Void At-will controls whether you can be fired without cause. Right-to-work controls whether union membership can be forced on you. Both apply here, but they do different things.
Wages, Paydays, and Final Paychecks
Texas adopts the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour rather than setting a higher state floor.4U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws Tipped workers can be paid as little as $2.13 per hour, so long as tips bring the total to at least $7.25. When tips fall short, the employer makes up the difference.
How often you must be paid is governed by the Texas Payday Law in Chapter 61 of the Labor Code. If you’re nonexempt (overtime-eligible), your employer must pay you at least twice a month in roughly equal pay periods. If you’re exempt, once a month is enough.5State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Chapter 61 – Payment of Wages
When the job ends, the timeline for your last check depends on who ended it. Fired employees must be paid everything owed within six calendar days. If you quit, the employer has until the next regularly scheduled payday.6State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 61.014 – Payment After Termination of Employment If the deadline passes or the amount is wrong, you can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission, but only within 180 days of when the wages were originally due.7Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Law – Wage Claim Miss that window and the claim is gone.
Deductions from your paycheck are tightly restricted. An employer can only withhold wages when a court orders it, a law requires it (such as taxes or child support), or you have given written authorization for a specific lawful deduction.8State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 61.018 – Deduction From Wages Charging you for uniforms or cash register shortages in a way that pushes your pay below the federal minimum violates federal law, even with your written consent.
Overtime Follows Federal Rules
Texas has no state overtime law, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act controls. Nonexempt employees get at least one and a half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a single workweek.9U.S. Department of Labor. Overtime Pay A workweek is any fixed, recurring 168-hour period, and employers cannot average hours across weeks to avoid overtime. Weekend or holiday shifts don’t trigger overtime on their own; the trigger is total weekly hours above 40.
Exempt status depends on both your duties and your pay. Workers in executive, administrative, professional, computer, or outside sales roles may be classified exempt if they earn at least $684 per week, or $35,568 per year. A federal district court in Texas struck down a 2024 rule that would have raised this threshold, so the $684 figure from the 2019 rule still applies.10U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions Your job title doesn’t settle the question. The actual work does.
Independent Contractor or Employee
Being labeled an independent contractor when you’re really working as an employee cuts you off from overtime, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. The IRS looks at three categories to decide which you are: behavioral control (whether the business directs how you do the work), financial control (whether the business controls how you’re paid and whether you can profit or lose on the job), and the type of relationship (benefits, written contracts, permanence).11Internal Revenue Service. Employee (Common-Law Employee) A contract calling you a contractor doesn’t change the answer if the substance says otherwise. You can file IRS Form SS-8 to ask for a formal determination.
Discrimination and Harassment
Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code prohibits workplace discrimination based on race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, and age (40 and older). For private employers, it generally applies to those with 15 or more employees on each working day in at least 20 calendar weeks of the current or prior year.12State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Chapter 21 – Employment Discrimination Government employers are covered regardless of size.
Before you can sue, you have to file a charge with the TWC Civil Rights Division. For most discrimination claims, the deadline is 180 days from the discriminatory act.13U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge Filing with the federal EEOC instead gives you 300 days, because Texas has a state agency handling the same claims. If TWC can’t resolve the matter, it issues a right-to-sue letter so you can proceed in court.
Sexual Harassment Has Broader Coverage
Since September 2021, Texas law has treated sexual harassment separately from other discrimination. Senate Bill 45 created a cause of action that applies to every employer with at least one employee, not just those with 15 or more. The employer is liable if it knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take immediate corrective action. House Bill 21 extended the filing deadline for sexual harassment charges from 180 days to 300 days.12State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Chapter 21 – Employment Discrimination If you work at a small Texas company, you still have a state-law sexual harassment claim available.
Disability Accommodations
Texas law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act both require covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for disabilities, unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Once you ask, the employer should engage in what the law calls an interactive process to find a workable fix. You don’t have to use any particular legal language or name the ADA. If the employer knows you have a disability, knows it’s affecting your work, and knows you can’t ask for help on your own, the employer should start that conversation without a formal request.
Workers’ Compensation Is Optional for Employers
Texas is the only state that doesn’t require private employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Under the Labor Code, coverage is elective.14State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 406.002 An employer that opts out, called a non-subscriber, must notify workers in writing that it carries no coverage.
If your employer subscribes, workers’ comp benefits are generally your exclusive remedy for a work-related injury. You collect benefits but usually can’t sue the employer for personal injury on top of that.15State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 408.001 – Exclusive Remedy and Exemplary Damages There is a narrow exception: if an employee dies because of the employer’s intentional conduct or gross negligence, surviving family members can still pursue additional damages.
If your employer is a non-subscriber and you sue over an injury, the employer loses three defenses it would otherwise have: that your own negligence contributed, that you assumed the risk, or that a coworker’s negligence caused the accident.16State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 406.033 – Common-Law Defenses; Burden of Proof That shifts injury litigation sharply toward the worker, which is why many larger Texas employers subscribe even though they aren’t required to.
Workplace Safety and Retaliation
Texas doesn’t run its own occupational safety program, so federal OSHA rules apply. Every employer must keep the workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
If you report a safety violation or file an OSHA complaint, your employer cannot retaliate. The window to file a retaliation complaint with OSHA is just 30 days from the retaliatory action.17Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Filing of Retaliation Complaint Complaints can be oral or written, in any language, and don’t require a specific form. Waiting to see whether the retaliation blows over can run out the clock.
Family and Medical Leave
Texas has no state-level paid family or medical leave law. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act is the only option, and it provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for qualifying reasons: the birth or adoption of a child, your own serious health condition, caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, and certain situations tied to a family member’s military deployment.18U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28F – Reasons that Workers May Take Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act A separate provision allows up to 26 weeks in a single year to care for a military servicemember with a serious injury or illness.
Eligibility narrows the pool. You must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours of actual work during those 12 months (about 24 hours a week), and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles.19U.S. Department of Labor. Employers Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act The 12 months don’t have to be consecutive, but only hours actually worked count toward 1,250. Paid time off, holidays, and sick leave don’t count. Many Texas workers at smaller companies fall outside FMLA entirely.
Non-Compete Agreements
Non-competes are enforceable in Texas, within limits. The covenant must be part of an otherwise enforceable agreement at the time it’s made, and the restrictions on time, geographic area, and scope of activity must be reasonable and no broader than necessary to protect the employer’s legitimate business interests.20State of Texas. Texas Code Business and Commerce Code 15.50 A non-compete tied to an at-will job with nothing extra behind it tends to run into enforceability problems. Courts look for something more, like access to confidential information, specialized training, or stock options.
If an agreement is overly broad, a Texas court can reform it rather than throw it out. The judge can shorten the time period, shrink the geographic area, or narrow the scope until the restrictions are reasonable.
Time Off for Jury Duty and Voting
Texas law does not require employers to offer paid vacation, sick leave, or holiday pay. Those benefits are a matter of employer policy or contract. The state does protect your right to meet two civic obligations without losing your job.
An employer cannot fire, threaten, or coerce a permanent employee for serving on a jury or attending court for jury service.21State of Texas. Texas Code Civil Practice and Remedies Code 122.001 – Protection of Jurors Employment Your job is protected; your pay is not. Some employers cover jury duty voluntarily, but no law requires it.
For voting, if your schedule doesn’t leave you two consecutive hours to vote outside working hours on election day, your employer must give you paid time off to vote, and the same rule applies during early voting. Refusing to allow voting time or penalizing a worker for taking it is a Class C misdemeanor.22State of Texas. Texas Election Code 276.004 – Unlawfully Prohibiting Employee From Voting If you already have two free hours before or after your shift, no additional time off is required.