Texas Offer Letter
Texas presumes that employment is at will, and general assurances in an offer letter do not change that. The Texas rules that most affect the letter are in the Payday Law: how often each class of employee must be paid, when final pay is due, and when an employer may deduct from wages. Texas uses the federal minimum wage and bars cities and counties from adding their own rules on hiring practices or benefits for private employers.
What Texas law does to this document
At-will employment is the default
Absent a specific agreement to the contrary, either side may end employment in Texas for good cause, bad cause or no cause. To change that, the employer must unequivocally indicate a definite intent to be bound not to terminate except under clearly specified circumstances. General statements that an employee will be kept as long as the work is satisfactory do not meet that standard.
Montgomery Cnty. Hosp. Dist. v. Brown, 965 S.W.2d 501 (Tex. 1998)The limits on at-will termination
Texas courts recognize one narrow common-law exception: an employer may not discharge an employee for the sole reason that the employee refused to perform an illegal act. Statutes add others. Chapter 21 of the Labor Code bars discrimination by employers with 15 or more employees, and its sexual harassment provisions reach an employer with one or more employees. Another statute bars firing an employee for filing a workers' compensation claim in good faith.
Sabine Pilot Serv., Inc. v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733 (Tex. 1985); Tex. Lab. Code §§ 21.002(8), 21.051, 21.141, 451.001Pay frequency depends on exempt status
An employee who is exempt from federal overtime rules must be paid at least once a month. Every other employee must be paid at least twice a month, in pay periods of as nearly equal length as possible. If the employer does not designate paydays, they are the first and 15th of each month. A monthly pay schedule in an offer letter is therefore lawful only for an exempt employee.
Tex. Lab. Code §§ 61.011, 61.012Final pay and unused vacation
A discharged employee must be paid in full not later than the sixth day after discharge. An employee who leaves for any other reason must be paid by the next regularly scheduled payday. Accrued vacation or paid time off is owed on separation only if a written agreement or written policy of the employer specifically provides for that payment.
Tex. Lab. Code § 61.014; 40 Tex. Admin. Code § 821.25Deductions and bonus repayment
An employer may not withhold or divert any part of an employee's wages unless a court orders it, a state or federal law authorizes it, or the employee has given written authorization for a lawful purpose. A term that recovers a signing bonus from a later paycheck therefore depends on a signed authorization. Under the Workforce Commission's rule, the authorization must be specific about the lawful purpose, give the employee a reasonable expectation of the amount to be withheld, and clearly indicate that the deduction comes from wages.
Tex. Lab. Code § 61.018; 40 Tex. Admin. Code § 821.28(b)Minimum wage and local rules
Texas adopts the federal minimum wage, and the state minimum wage supersedes a local wage ordinance governing private employment. Since September 1, 2023, the Labor Code has also provided that a city or county may not regulate hiring practices, employment benefits or scheduling practices for private employers unless another statute expressly allows it. A local ordinance, order or rule that violates that section is void and unenforceable.
Tex. Lab. Code §§ 62.051, 62.0515, 1.005Where people go wrong in Texas
- Adding language that limits termination to stated grounds, which can displace at-will status if it shows a definite intent to be bound.
- Selecting a monthly pay schedule in the generator for a non-exempt employee: the draft accepts that choice without checking it, and Tex. Lab. Code § 61.011(b) requires pay at least twice a month for an employee who is not exempt from federal overtime rules.
- Planning to recover a signing bonus from a paycheck without a written authorization that states the lawful purpose, gives the employee a reasonable expectation of the amount, and makes clear the deduction comes from wages (Tex. Lab. Code § 61.018; 40 Tex. Admin. Code § 821.28(b)).
How the generator works
A clean, at-will employment offer letter that sets pay, role, start date, exempt/non-exempt status, equity, and contingencies without over-promising. Answer a short interview and the draft assembles as you go, with Texas already set as the governing state. Download it as PDF or Word. No fee. No account.