If an employer decides that an employee seems unhappy in a job position, can the employer transfer the employee to a different job or location even if the employee wants to keep her present position, under Texas law?
If an employer decides that an employee seems unhappy in a job position, can the employer transfer the employee to a different job or location even if the employee wants to keep her present position, under Texas law?
Texas is an at-will employment state, so absent a contractual prohibition on the transfer or, if this is a government job, a civil service law that would prevent involuntary transfer, the employer is free to reassign the employee to a new position, or even to fire the employee for seeming unhappy.
If there is a significant change in commuting distance or wages, the employee may be able to treat the job change as a termination and seek unemployment -- but the employee should investigate that possibility thoroughly before assuming that she would qualify for unemployment benefits, and even if it looks like the employee might qualify should consider how much lower the benefits would be than continued earned wages, as well as the fact that it's generally much easier to find a new job when you're employed than when you're unemployed.