When you’re hiring in Texas, you need to comply with both state and federal laws. Creating an employee handbook allows you to enumerate all your company policies, provide structure for employees, and notify workers of certain rights and obligations. Whether you’re hiring remotely or all your workers are located in Texas, you’ll need a state-specific employee handbook.
“A Texas employee handbook might not seem like it would need to be that different from those in other states, but there are some key policies that are unique to Texas,” said Connor Christensen, Legal Product Counsel at SixFifty. “One example is that Texas has strong Lactation Accommodation protections that allow employees to breastfeed in any location where they are allowed to be; another example is that Texas employees at retail establishments must be scheduled for at least one 24-hour rest period every seven-day period they work.”
Employee handbooks aren’t just helpful guides: they ensure that your employees are notified of their rights under the law, as well as important company policies and guidelines. If employment conflicts arise, you’ll have documentation of your compliance.
Texas has relatively few required state policies. However, there are over 50 optional state policies that you might choose to include in your handbook. Researching laws, creating your handbook, and keeping it updated is a monumental task. If you’re hiring remotely, you’ll need to stay on top of employment laws and policies in each individual state. That’s a time consuming—and expensive—proposition.
SixFifty makes it easy to create and update employee handbooks in all 50 states. Read on to learn about required and optional Texas employee handbook policies.
Why Every Texas Employer Should Have an Employee Handbook
Texas does not require employee handbooks—but most employers should have one
Texas is one of the lighter-touch states when it comes to employment mandates: there’s no state requirement to have a written handbook, and Texas has no state-mandated paid sick leave. In fact, when Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio each passed their own paid sick leave ordinances, Texas courts struck down Austin’s as unconstitutional and enjoined Dallas’s and San Antonio’s, ruling that the Texas Minimum Wage Act preempts local paid-leave mandates. That leaves federal law and a comparatively short list of state-specific requirements as the baseline for a Texas handbook, rather than the dense layering seen in states like California or New York.
Even without a legal mandate, most Texas employers still benefit from having one. A handbook centralizes the federal notices you do have to provide, documents your at-will relationship with employees, and gives HR and managers a consistent reference point if a dispute ever arises.
Protecting at-will employment
Texas follows the common-law at-will employment doctrine: absent a contract or a specific statutory exception, either the employer or the employee can end the relationship at any time, for any lawful reason, or no reason at all. A clear at-will disclaimer in the handbook reinforces this relationship in writing and helps prevent stray language elsewhere in the handbook—like a detailed disciplinary process described as mandatory—from being read as an implied contract that limits it.
Creating consistent workplace policies
Because Texas doesn’t mandate much beyond the federal floor, a handbook is largely how a Texas employer chooses to define its own workplace standards: PTO and attendance expectations, dress code, code of conduct, and similar policies are almost entirely discretionary in Texas. Writing them down consistently protects against the appearance of favoritism or inconsistent enforcement, which can itself become the basis of a discrimination claim even where the underlying policy was legal.
Reducing legal and HR risk
A handbook that documents required federal notices, the at-will relationship, and how the company actually enforces its policies gives HR something concrete to point to during a dispute, audit, or termination. Employers without one still have to meet the same underlying legal requirements—they just end up doing it inconsistently and without a paper trail to show for it.
Required Federal Employee Handbook Policies
Federal employee handbook policies are required in all 50 states. Because federal law supersedes state law, these policies should be included no matter where you’re doing business. These policies cover critical worker rights, including anti-discrimination policies, certain types of leave, and the company’s sexual harassment policies.
The good news is that because these policies are the same across all 50 states, you’ll automatically include them in your employee handbook. However, whenever there’s a change to the law, each state handbook needs to be updated appropriately.
Each of the following policies must be included in your employee handbook:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (15+ Employees)
- Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (50 Employees)
- Jury Duty Leave
- Military Service Leave
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Lactation Accommodation Policy
- Religious Accommodations Policy
Required Texas Employee Handbook Policies
While some states have over 20 required additional employee handbook policies, Texas only has six. Note that Texas specifically provides their own jury duty leave laws. While federal law supersedes state law, states are allowed to create additional rules, requirements, rights, and obligations on behalf of their citizens.
The state also provides voting leave, crime victim leave and leave if an employee is required to make a court appearance. Include these policies to ensure you’re compliant and protected under Texas state law:
- Crime Victim Leave
- Day of Rest Law (see SixFifty’s Workweek and Work Schedules Policy)
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Jury Duty Leave
- Voting Leave
- Witness Duty and Court Appearance Leave
“Texas has interesting voting leave laws. Texas requires employers to let employees (who are eligible) attend precinct conventions. This leave is separate from the voting leave Texas employees are entitled to, if they do not have at least two consecutive hours off work while the polls are open,” said Christensen.
Optional Texas Employee Handbook Policies
The six policies above are required in every Texas employee handbook. However, you may wish to include additional policies, from non-disclosure agreements to how you’ll handle workplace violence.
Not all of these policies will fit every business—you should pick and choose the optional policies that make sense for your company model. For instance, most companies will include at-will employment policies, holiday policies, and wage policies. Other policies may be added as necessary: tech companies may want to include telecommuting, social media, and company property guidelines, while others might include background checks and dress code policies. There’s even an option to add a policy for pets at work.
Here are over 50 optional policies you can include in your Texas employee handbook:
- Affinity Group Policy
- Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
- Arbitration Policy
- At-Will Employment Policy
- Background Check Policy
- COBRA Policy
- Cell Phone Policy
- Code of Conduct Policy
- Business Expense Policy
- Company Property Policy
- Confidentiality and Trade Secrets Policy
- Desk Hoteling Policy
- Direct Deposit Policy
- Dress Code Policy
- Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy
- Electronic Devices While Driving Policy
- Employee Benefits Policy
- Employee Classification Policy
- Employee Dating Policy
- Employee References Policy
- Employment of Relatives Policy
- Exit Interview Policy
- Gifts Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Home Office Reimbursement Policy
- Job Duties Policy
- Key or Access Card Policy
- Holidays
- Immigration Law Compliance
- Leave Policies, including: Paid Sick Leave; Parental Leave; Bereavement Leave; Organ, Bone Marrow, and Blood Donor Leave; Domestic Violence Leave; Civil Service Leave; School Activity Leave
- Cannabis Policy
- Off-Duty Use of Facilities
- Outside Employment Policy
- Overtime Policy
- Payment of Wages Policy
- Payroll Deductions Policy
- Performance Review Policy
- Personnel Files Policy
- Pets in the Workplace Policy
- Progressive Discipline Policy
- Public Relations Policy
- Punctuality and Attendance Policy
- Record Retention Policy
- Remote Working Policy
- Salary Pay Policy
- Smoking Policy
- Social Media Policy
- Solicitation and Distribution of Literature Policy
- Technology Systems Policy
- Temporary Relocation Policy
- Timekeeping Policy
- Vacation/Paid Time Off
- Video Conferencing Policy
- Weapons in the Workplace
- Workers’ Compensation Policy
- Workplace Violence Policy
- Workplace Visitor Policy
A few additional policies worth considering
- Remote work policies: Clarify which employees are covered by Texas-specific policies based on physical work location, especially as remote hiring makes it easy to lose track of who’s actually working from Texas versus elsewhere.
- Attendance policies: Since Texas doesn’t mandate any specific leave or attendance protections beyond federal law (FMLA, USERRA for military leave, and similar), a clear attendance policy is almost entirely a matter of company discretion and worth spelling out explicitly.
- Workplace technology policies: Covering company email, device use, and monitoring practices, and, where relevant, addressing the firearm storage requirement under Labor Code §52.061 as part of a broader parking and facility-use policy.
- Social media policies: Covering personal social media use and its relationship to workplace conduct, drafted carefully so it doesn’t restrict employees’ protected right to discuss wages and working conditions.
- Confidentiality policies: Protecting trade secrets and confidential business information, which matters in Texas specifically given the state’s active use of the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act in employment disputes.
How to Create a Texas Employee Handbook
Start with required federal policies
Begin with the federal policies that apply regardless of state: EEO and anti-discrimination policies under Title VII and the ADA (employers with 15 or more employees), age discrimination protections under the ADEA (20 or more employees), and FMLA leave rights (50 or more employees, enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division). These thresholds are the same in Texas as anywhere else, since they come from federal, not state, law.
Add Texas-specific employment policies
Layer in the handful of policies Texas law adds on top of the federal floor. The Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (Labor Code Chapter 21) mirrors federal anti-discrimination law for employers with 15 or more employees, but its sexual harassment provisions apply to employers with even one employee, following a 2021 amendment (SB 45). The Texas Payday Law sets specific final-pay deadlines: within six calendar days for an involuntary termination, or by the next regularly scheduled payday for a voluntary resignation. Texas Labor Code §52.061 also restricts employers from prohibiting employees from storing a lawfully possessed firearm or ammunition in a locked personal vehicle in an employer-provided parking area—a policy that has no real equivalent in most other states and is worth addressing explicitly rather than leaving assumed.
Include company policies and expectations
With the required content in place, add the policies that reflect how your company actually operates—attendance expectations, PTO and vacation, code of conduct, technology and social media use, and confidentiality. None of these are legally mandated in Texas, which makes it easy to skip them, but they’re often what actually gets referenced day-to-day and what protects the company if a dispute turns on whether an expectation was ever communicated.
Distribute and acknowledge the handbook
Distribute the handbook to every employee—physical copy, HR portal, or e-signature software all work—and collect a signed acknowledgment confirming receipt and understanding. Keep those acknowledgments on file for the duration of employment and beyond, and route the handbook back out for re-acknowledgment whenever a policy materially changes.
When should you update a Texas employee handbook?
At minimum, review the handbook annually, independent of whether you’re aware of a specific change. Beyond that fixed cadence, revisit it whenever a new federal employment law takes effect, the Texas Legislature passes something relevant during its biennial session, you change a company policy, or you expand into a new state and need to think about the handbook as one piece of a larger multi-state document rather than a single standalone one.
Texas Employee Handbook Compliance Checklist
Federal policies included
EEO, ADA, ADEA, and FMLA policies are present and match your actual current headcount against each law’s employee-count threshold.
Texas-specific policies reviewed
TCHRA-compliant anti-harassment language, Texas Payday Law final-pay timelines, and the firearm storage policy under Labor Code §52.061 are all addressed.
At-will disclaimer included
A clear at-will statement is present, and the rest of the handbook has been checked for language that could be read as limiting it.
Employee acknowledgement process completed
Every current employee has a signed, dated acknowledgment on file, with a process in place to collect new ones after material policy changes.
Annual review scheduled
A recurring review is on the calendar at least once a year, with a plan to revisit sooner if the Legislature or Congress passes something relevant mid-cycle.
Texas Employee Handbook Builder vs. Manual Handbook Creation
As with any state, the remaining decision after mapping out required content is how to build and maintain the handbook itself.
Using free templates
Free templates can work for a very small, single-location Texas business, but most are written to apply across many states at once and don’t reflect Texas-specific items like the Payday Law’s final-pay deadlines or the firearm storage restriction. They also don’t update themselves if Texas or federal law changes after you’ve downloaded one.
Working with an employment attorney
An employment attorney can tailor a handbook to your specific business and risk profile, which is valuable for unusual situations, but each update is a new engagement with its own cost and turnaround time.
Using employee handbook software
Purpose-built employee handbook software builds Texas-specific requirements into the generation process and applies updates automatically as federal or state law changes, without requiring a new engagement each time. It’s still worth having an attorney review company-specific policies layered on top, but the baseline compliance work is handled for you.
Best option for growing and multi-state employers
A single-location Texas business may do fine with a template and a one-time attorney review. Once a company adds a second state, or hires remote employees outside Texas, manually tracking every applicable state’s requirements becomes the harder problem—see our guide to hiring out-of-state employees for more on what that shift involves. Most growing and multi-state employers land on a hybrid: an employee handbook builder or state-compliant employee handbook approach to handle the jurisdiction-specific logic, with attorney review reserved for higher-risk or company-specific policies.
SixFifty Helps Employers Meet Texas Employee Handbook Requirements
Researching, adding, and updating these Texas policies can be a full-time job—which is why SixFifty wants to make it easier for you. Our powerful employee handbook creator combines real human legal expertise surfaced lightning-fast with AI. This means you can automatically generate and update your Texas employee handbook with just a few clicks.
Save time and billable hours: Just answer a few questions about your company, and download the generated handbook. We’ll let you know when state or federal laws change, so your company stays protected.
Want to see how it works? Schedule a free demo with SixFifty today! Looking to create an employee handbook for a different state? View our interactive map for required employee handbook policies by state.
