Journal
Notes for Texas owners
Practical HR — employment law, hiring, handbooks, retention, and culture you want to keep.
2026-09-16
Salary vs Hourly in Texas: The $684 Test Owners Still Get Wrong
Calling someone a manager and paying them a salary does not skip overtime. In Texas the floor is still $684 a week, and the job has to actually be an exempt job. Here is the check I walk with owners.
2026-09-15
Meet CypressHR: A Calmer Home for Your People Work
I built CypressHR so the owners I sit with could have one kind, simple place for their people — and still have a person to call. It is live today for businesses anywhere in the United States.
2026-08-31
When Is Final Pay Due in Texas? Payday Rules Owners Miss
Texas does not make you pay someone the same day they walk out. It does make you pay on time, in full, and on a clock that changes if you fired them versus if they quit.
2026-08-21
You Don’t Need Another Department. You Need a Senior HR Confidant.
You cannot talk to your employees about your employees. That is the job. Here is what a senior HR confidant actually is.
2026-08-18
Employee vs Independent Contractor in Texas: Get the Label Right
Calling someone a contractor does not make them one. Texas owners use 1099s for speed. The test is how the work actually runs.
2026-08-16
When Two Employees Cannot Stand Each Other — Without Changing Your Culture
Two people at odds. One says retaliation. The other says the first is difficult. Your job is not to pick a favorite. It is to learn what is true — and keep the company itself.
2026-08-14
At-Will Employment in Texas: What It Means (and What It Does Not)
At-will is not a free pass. It is the starting rule in Texas — with exceptions, and with a reputation you still have to live with on Monday.
2026-08-12
Texas New-Hire Reporting: 20 Days, the AG, and Why Owners Miss It
If you hired a lot of people last year and nobody mentioned the state new-hire report, you are not the first. Here is the requirement in plain Texas English.
2026-08-08
Texas Employment Law for Small Business: The Map Owners Actually Need
Texas is not “no rules.” It is a different map. Here is the map owners actually need — in plain language, with a reminder this is not legal advice.
2026-08-06
Hiring in Dallas–Fort Worth: How to Attract People When Everyone Is Hiring
DFW does not have a shortage of job posts. It has a shortage of clear jobs, fair processes, and interviews that see the person, not only the license.
2026-08-04
How Texas Businesses Keep Good People (It Is Not Only the Hourly Rate)
Pay matters. It is not the whole job. Retention in Texas is about the whole offer — and about whether people still recognize the company they joined.
2026-07-30
Texas Employee Handbook: What Small Businesses Need (and What to Leave Out)
A handbook is not a stack of rules to hide behind. It is how you tell people how this company works — in Texas, in your voice, in language a supervisor can use on a Tuesday.
2026-07-28
Fractional HR vs Full-Time HR in Texas: Which Seat Do You Actually Need?
You do not have to choose between googling employment questions at midnight and funding a full HR department. Fractional senior HR sits in the middle — on purpose.
2026-07-23
5 HR Mistakes Texas Small Businesses Make (and How to Fix Them)
Most Texas owners are not careless. They are busy. These five gaps show up again and again — and they are fixable without building a department.
2026-07-23
Your People Are Your Greatest Competitive Advantage — If You Protect Them
Equipment does not walk onto a job. People do. Here is what protecting them looks like in a Texas business, office, or field crew — without turning the company into someone it is not.