Austin Startups
startup news in Austin TX
Not Finding Local Talent?
Maybe it’s time to relocate your office or offer relocation to job candidates. Sometimes it’s difficult to find employee candidates in the same geographic area as your company. You have a few options when this happens. You can have distributed teams where employees work remotely. You can move your company offices to a more populated
Explicit Employment Contracts in Texas
Employment relationships are presumed to be at-will in Texas. When employee turnover becomes costly, or a particular employee would create exceptional value in the company, a contract is often written to retain the employee. A contract, when dealing with low-level employee turnover, may consist of no more than a one-page form describing duties, expectations, and
Employees or Contractors? A Discussion on Worker Classification for Texas Startups
Many startups do not have employees. They have contractors. Benefits of hiring contractors over employees include saving time and paperwork. Another benefit is significantly lower operating costs. According to an evaluation report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor, State of Minnesota, “mandatory costs, including federal employment taxes, workers’ compensation insurance premiums, and state unemployment
Texas Employee Separation: Proceed With Caution
Employee separation is usually implemented by an employee resigning, or by the employer firing or laying off an employee. There are other separation situations such as constructive discharge and retaliatory discharge. In each setting, you want to proceed with caution. In this article, I will explain the differences in these terms and offer some tips
Interviewing: Methods and Avoiding Liability in Texas
interviewing is a primary step in the hiring process and should not be done carelessly. This article describes different methods for interviewing and offers information on avoiding liability. Before the Interview Before you hold an in-person interview, make sure you pre-screen the candidate to maximize hiring efficiency. Interviewing Methods There are a few types of
Creating a Texas Internship Program: Tips and Legal Regulations
Interns are a great way to test-drive talent, increase productivity, and build perspective. Offering an internship program is also a wonderful way to give back to the community by offering experience and new skills to the developing workforce. Unfortunately, some companies consider interns free or cheap labor, and that’s where we run into some problems.
Texas Employee Assistance Programs Can Help You Hire and Retain Talent
When your startup is growing and having difficulty finding or retaining talent, a good idea is to offer additional incentives beyond the normal benefits like health insurance and a 401k. Some companies offer Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to set themselves apart. EAPs include counseling on areas such as work-life balance, stress management techniques, and collaborative
Pre-Screen Texas Startup Job Candidates to Maximize Hiring Efficiency
Pre-screening takes place after you have identified a potential job candidate and before an in-person interview. Some people view pre-screening as an unnecessary extra step when in reality that extra step saves time. This article describes the pre-screening process, explains how it saves you time and offers tips on the phone-screening protocol. How does pre-screening
Navigating a Texas Workforce Shortage or Surplus
Workforce shortage is probably one of the biggest concerns for a new business. Having a shortage of labor can result in lost business, missed deadlines, and unhappy customers. A few internal methods to circumvent a shortage include: Offering overtime wages Authorizing job sharing Retraining employees Internal solutions are the most cost-effective because you utilize the
Initiating a Formal Compensation Structure for Texas Employees
When your company is a startup, employee compensation may be arbitrary or based on equity and other offerings. As you grow, however, you want to set up a company-wide compensation structure that supports fair wages and competitive offers. In this article, I will describe how to set up base pay structures. Analyze Your Startup Before
Calculating Turnover : Losing Texas Employees
Turnover is the rate at which a company loses and gains employees. Turnover is measured internally by examining the ratio of employees hired and employees separated from the business, whether voluntarily, or let go by management. You can analyze turnover by comparing your ratio to the industry turnover rate or even the national turnover rate,
Rejecting a Job Candidate and Avoiding Liability in Texas
A user on Quora asked: What should I avoid when writing a rejection letter? I’ve heard this question before from well-meaning employers who want to send their denied applicants a nice note. Some employers, like the Quora user, want to provide constructive criticism so the candidate can improve his or her interviewing skills. What should
HR for Texas Startups: Performing a Job Analysis
Creating efficient work systems starts with breaking down the tasks performed by each person in the work unit. This process is called job analysis. Job analyses optimize the hiring process by ensuring new personnel are absolutely necessary, trained correctly, and given appropriate career opportunities. In addition, job analyses can clear up organizational confusion by detailing
Running a Background Check on Texas Employees and Job Candidates
A background check is any written, oral, or other communication of any personal information by a consumer reporting agency which is used as a factor in establishing a candidate’s eligibility for employment purposes. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), governed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), outlines the scope and limitations for background checks. The
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in Texas
Today I am going to talk a little bit more about HIPAA, which is a regulation that affects to the physical, technical, and administrative safeguards put upon employee health information. The following types of information must not be included in an employee’s personnel file, and instead should be kept in the medical file. Information related
Checking References for Potential New Texas Employees
Professional references offer valuable insight into the character and quality of a job candidate. They also verify whether the potential employee is honest, works well with others, and maintains professional relationships. This article explains how to check a professional reference for a new candidate. Reference Checking Etiquette Require the candidate to provide you with a
Form I-9: Verifying a Texas Employee’s Eligibility to Work in the United States
Form I-9 is a mandatory federal form that you must have for each and every employee. First things first: the Department of Homeland Security distributes Form I-9. You can download and print one here. Completing Form I-9 I have audited many I-9 forms in my day, and let me tell you, nearly half are erroneous.
4 Real Perks of Working for a Texas Startup
Startups are full of nap pods, catered lunches, and beer on tap, right? Hollywood captured the inside of Google through the comedic duo of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in the movie The Internship, a story about two old-school salesmen looking for a career change. As they stumble through the internship program, the world is given a
5 Questions to Consider Before Working at a Texas Startup
We’ve all seen the movies and read about the awesome perks about working for a startup, but there are some questions you need to ask yourself before accepting that job offer or even before you start applying to a Texas startup. How much structure do you need? If your ideal work situation includes any amount
Health Care Reform: The Affordable Care Act and What it Means for Texas Employers
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) federal statute was signed into law in 2010. The Act calls for comprehensive health reforms that enhance the quality and access to health care. Starting in January 2014, PPACA affected some employers. This article describes which employers are impacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,