Wrongful termination in Texas: what employers can and cannot do

“Exceptions: other than statutes and express agreements, the only significant exception to employment at will is the ‘public policy’ exception, i.e., no termination or adverse job action against an employee in retaliation for the employee having refused to commit a criminal act on the employer’s behalf.”

Before you fire someone: the step-by-step checklist

What it means for Texas employers

Texas keeps its common-law carve-out tight. The Fifth Circuit, discussing Sabine Pilot, called it a very narrow exception, and TWC's guidebook describes the whole picture in three parts: statutes, express agreements such as an employment contract, and the refusal-to-commit-a-crime rule. There is no general good cause requirement, no broad public policy tort, and no handbook-based implied contract rule verified for Texas on the Desk. (Garcia v. Sunbelt, No. 02-50542 (5th Cir.), on Sabine Pilot; Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024))

So the real work for a Texas employer is knowing which statutes override at-will status. TWC's Texas Guidebook for Employers, published by the office of the Commissioner Representing Employers, names several; it says its views are the author's and not an official TWC position. Texas Labor Code Chapter 21 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age and disability for employers with at least 15 employees, while its sexual harassment coverage starts at a single employee. The guidebook describes Chapter 451 of the workers' compensation law as prohibiting discrimination or retaliation against employees who have filed a workers' compensation claim or are in the process of doing so, and notes that the antidiscrimination provisions of the workers' compensation law cover all employers. The guidebook warns that stray remarks by anyone at the company describing a claim as a problem can hurt the employer's position in a Chapter 451 lawsuit. (Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024))

Civic duties are protected too. The guidebook points to sections 122.001 and 122.0022 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code (the Juror's Right to Reemployment Act) for protection against termination or other adverse action for jury service, and advises leaving jury, witness, military and voting leave out of any absence point system. Texas is also a right to work state: under Labor Code sections 101.052 to 101.053, as the guidebook summarizes them, employment may not be conditioned on union membership or nonmembership. (Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024))

Contract risk in Texas usually starts with words spoken at hiring. The guidebook notes that the Texas Supreme Court ruled that assurances like a promise of a job for as long as the person works hard do not on their own destroy the at-will presumption, but warns that the wrong combination of circumstances can. It also cautions that annual salary offers have in some cases been read as a promise of a year of employment, and suggests stating pay per weekly or biweekly period instead. (Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024))

Exceptions and special cases

• Federal law sits on top of the Texas statutes. Per the EEOC's coverage page, a business is covered if it has 15 or more employees for at least twenty calendar weeks in this year or last, or 20 or more for age discrimination, and the EEOC says an employer may not take race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age 40 or older, disability or genetic information into account in decisions about discipline or discharge. The Department of Labor's fact sheet on FLSA section 15(a)(3) adds that a worker who complained about wages, orally or in writing, is protected from retaliation. (EEOC, Coverage of Business/Private Employers; EEOC, Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices; U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 77A)
• No explanation is owed at the exit. The TWC employer guidebook states that a Texas employer does not have to give a departing employee a termination letter, a letter of recommendation, or the reasons for a discharge; a 1907 statute requiring a termination letter on request was held unconstitutional in St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co. of Texas v. Griffin (1914). What is required is a notice of the right to file an unemployment claim, and an official sample is included at the bottom of the required TWC poster on unemployment insurance and the Payday Law. (TWC, Exit Interviews / Notice of Discharge)
• Final pay runs on its own clock under Labor Code section 61.014: a discharged employee is paid in full no later than the sixth day after discharge, and the TWC employer guidebook treats layoffs and other involuntary separations the same way. Accrued vacation is owed only if a written policy or agreement promised it, and then on that policy's terms (TWC employer guidebook, Accrued Leave Payouts). (Texas Labor Code Chapter 61; TWC, Final Pay; TWC, Accrued Leave Payouts)

Worked examples

Six-day deadline

A Houston contractor discharges a crew lead on Friday, October 2, 2026. Section 61.014 sets the outside date for the full final pay at Thursday, October 8, 2026, the sixth calendar day. The employer also gives the crew lead the required notice of the right to file an unemployment claim. (Texas Labor Code Chapter 61; Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024); TWC, Exit Interviews / Notice of Discharge)

A juror's absence

An Austin office manager wants to count an assistant's two days of jury service toward the attendance point total that triggers dismissal. TWC's guidebook describes jury leave as job-protected under the Juror's Right to Reemployment Act, so those days are removed from the count before any decision is made. (Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024))

How to act on it

Wrongful termination: Texas and neighboring states

Each state links to its rulebook. Only rules we verified are shown.

Questions about Texas wrongful termination rules

The verified rules behind this page (5)

• Public policy: Texas recognizes only a very narrow public-policy exception (Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck): an employer may not fire an employee for refusing to perform an illegal act. (Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024), Outline of Employment Law Issues; Garcia v. Sunbelt (5th Cir., No. 02-50542), discussing Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733 (Tex. 1985); verified Sep 24, 2026)
• No state requirement: Texas employers do not have to give a departing employee a termination or service letter or an explanation of the reasons for discharge, based on a 1914 Texas Supreme Court ruling that struck down the old service letter statute. (Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024), Exit Interviews / Notice of Discharge; Texas Workforce Commission, Exit Interviews / Notice of Discharge; verified Sep 24, 2026)
• Texas does not require a general separation notice or 'pink slip', but an employer must give a departing employee a notice of their right to file an unemployment claim; an official sample is included in the required TWC poster for unemployment insurance and the Texas Payday Law. (Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Business Today: Exit Interviews - Notice of Discharge; Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024); verified Sep 24, 2026)
• An employee who is discharged must be paid in full not later than the sixth calendar day after discharge. (Texas Labor Code § 61.014(a); Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers: Final Pay; verified Sep 24, 2026)
• Texas requires a payout of accrued leave only if the employer promised it in a written policy or agreement, and the payout is controlled by the wording of that policy. Vacation pay owed under a written agreement or written policy counts as wages under the Texas Payday Law. With no such policy, no payout is owed. (Texas Workforce Commission, Accrued Leave Payouts; Tex. Labor Code § 61.001(7)(B); verified Sep 24, 2026)

Sources (9)

• Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Guidebook for Employers (2024)
• Garcia v. Sunbelt, No. 02-50542 (5th Cir.), on Sabine Pilot
• TWC, Exit Interviews / Notice of Discharge
• Texas Labor Code Chapter 61
• TWC, Final Pay
• TWC, Accrued Leave Payouts
• EEOC, Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices
• EEOC, Coverage of Business/Private Employers
• U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 77A

Checked Sep 24, 2026 · How we verify every rule · Report an error

Where this goes next

StateTexas employer rulebookAll 51 statesAt-will employment by stateAlso in TexasTexas final paycheck rulesStep by stepHow to fire an employee in your state