policies and procedures

[FARMERT]

I know in TX there are basically no laws protecting employees as far as termination, breaks, work hours etc, but what if an employer has policies and procedures in place. What if there is an employee handbook which states employees are entitled to xxx?

Is the employer not bound to follow their own written polices? Is an employee handbook (which you have to sign to acknowledge acceptance) not some form of employment contract?

In my situation I know no laws have been broken, but things have taken place which directly violate the employers own written policies. Is there any recourse?

[Beth3]

Is the employer not bound to follow their own written polices? No. Employers get to make company policy and they get to change or deviate from them as they see fit, as long as they do not violate any laws in doing so.

Is an employee handbook (which you have to sign to acknowledge acceptance) not some form of employment contract? Not unless it's written in a manner that results in a contract being created. In the vast majority of cases, you will find language in every employer's Employee Handbooks that specifically states it does NOT constitute an employment contract, the policies contained therein are not binding on the employer, and that the employer reserves the right to change, amend, disregard, or discontinue any policy or practice at any time with or without advance notice.

[cbg]

In the very large majority of cases, an employee handbook is not a contract and an employer is not legally bound to follow it. Most handbooks also have a clause in them which specifies that the handbook and the policies therein can be changed, amended, or ignored at the discretion of the employer.

This does not mean that the employer should not make every attempt to follow the handbook or that they can indiscriminately ignore it. But no law says that they have to follow the handbook blindly either. There can be instances where FOLLOWING the handbook can be unfair to the employee.

Whether you have any legal recourse due to the employer's failing to follow the handbook will depend entirely on the specifics of the situation.

[FARMERT]

Thanks for the quick replies. We are still waiting for information at this point. We still do not even know if this is a layoff or a termination, it depends on who you ask. We aren't even sure what the last day of work is, Friday when the 'meeting' happened and then told to go home and consider our options, or Monday when came back to work (like told to) and were locked out of the building, had to sign in as a guest.

There is supposed to be a 'package' in the mail but we have not as of yet received it. According to Corp HR they were 'working up the severence package and would have it out is a day or so'. Though that is the first time the work severence was used. Other employees who have been laid off have received severence so hopefully there is something there. Friday is the regualry scheduled payday so we will see what if anything happens then.