Dallas Austin

The numbers are at once astounding and depressing.  Over 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment between mid-March and mid-April 2020.  While the construction industry in Texas has been spared the worst largely due to being classified an Essential Service, it is not immune from the pandemic or rough economic times.  Layoffs in the COVID-19 era raises novel employment issues. Below are 3 employment considerations in the COVID-19 era. 1.     Don’t Forget the Alamo FFCRA FFCRA, a terrible acronym if one ever existed, stands for the newly enacted Families First Coronavirus Respon

With stay-at-home orders in effect in various cities and counties throughout Texas, what are reasonable precautions to keep workers safe from a coronavirus infection or to reduce the spread of the virus?   Although Governor Abbott clarified in Executive Order GA 14 that construction is an Essential Service in Texas and, therefore, exempt from stay-at-home orders, he did not set out a uniform set of requirements or recommendations for jobsite safety to reduce transmission of the novel coronavirus. To determine whether requirements exist and, if so, what they are for a specific project, the st

We could all use a few more Yogi Berra-isms to distract us from incessant drumbeat of miserable statistics reported in the news on a daily basis.  The COVID-19 pandemic raises employment issues that require careful attention even if the construction project is classified as an exempt or essential business.  Below are 4 employment considerations in the COVID-19 era. 1.     Review and Adhere to All Jobsite Health Rules and Guidance Federal, State and local governments have issued a crazy quiltwork of jobsite health rules and guidelines that impact construction sites in Texas. Aside from soc