For employers · Leander · North Austin
Workplace counsel for Texas employers.
Investigations, handbooks, job descriptions, and leave and accommodations, handled by a lawyer who has done this work inside the company. The point is a careful written record and a decision you can stand behind.
Workplace investigations
A complaint about harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or a supervisor is a fact-finding job before it is a legal theory. The work is interviews, documents, and a written account of what the investigation did and did not find. Union and non-union workplaces are both familiar ground.
Employee handbooks and policies
A handbook is useful when people can follow it. The firm drafts and revises handbooks and stand-alone policies for Texas employers, so that the written rules match the way the workplace actually runs.
Job descriptions
A job description is the document people later argue about: what the job requires, which functions are essential, and what an accommodation would change. Getting it down clearly is part of the work.
Leave and accommodations
Disability, pregnancy, religion, and military leave each have their own rules. The firm helps employers sort the request, the medical paperwork they are allowed to ask for, and the response. Please do not send medical records through the website.
Workers’ compensation
Workers’ compensation questions come up alongside leave and return-to-work decisions, and the firm handles them as part of the workplace practice.
Where this comes from
Before Crawford Law PLLC, Andrew M. Crawford did this work inside the company. At Deere & Company he handled employee relations at factories and, later, labor relations across union and non-union parts warehouses, including discipline and grievance investigations. At The Boring Company he was the HR manager for its Texas sites. From 2023 to 2026 he was an HR manager at Activision, a division of Microsoft. More about Andrew.
Questions employers ask
When should an employer bring in an outside investigator?
Common reasons are a complaint against a manager or owner, a complaint that HR is too close to, an allegation of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation that could end up in front of an agency or a court, or a workplace too small to have anyone neutral. An outside investigator gives the company a written record prepared by someone outside the chain of command.
What does a workplace investigation produce?
Interviews, a review of the documents, and a written account of what the investigation did and did not find. The point is a record the employer can make a decision on and stand behind later.
Does Texas require employers to have an employee handbook?
No Texas statute requires a handbook. Most employers still benefit from written policies, because federal and state law require certain notices and practices, and because a clear handbook is the first thing people point to when a dispute starts. A handbook only helps if it matches how the workplace actually runs.
Do employers have to accommodate pregnancy-related limitations?
Under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, employers with 15 or more employees generally must provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation would cause an undue hardship. The firm helps employers work through the request, the documentation they may ask for, and the response.
Does the firm represent employees?
The workplace practice is built for employers. If you are an employee with a problem at work, call anyway. If the firm cannot take the matter, Andrew will tell you so directly.
How are fees set?
The first 15-minute call is free. After that, work is quoted in fixed blocks of time at $400 an hour and put in a written engagement letter before it starts. If the work needs more time, you approve a new block first.
Already need to tell the whole story? , or read how the confidential part works first.
Talk with Andrew.
Start with a free 15-minute call to see whether the firm is a fit. Work is quoted up front in fixed blocks of time. Meetings are by appointment in Leander and North Austin.