This article tries to put workers on notice that employers are increasingly trying to set up situations where they can fire employees at any time and for any reason, but the employees are not allowed to seek work elsewhere without their boss’s say-so. This could result in workers being essentially trapped in their jobs against their will.
Texas is an at-will employment state. What that is supposed to mean is that (barring some specific legal violation) employers can fire an employee or any reason or no reason, and an employee can quit for any reason or no reason. For all practical purposes, there is a presumption of at-will employment in Texas. And nominally the 13th Amendment, which bans slavery, also prevents employers from forcing (non-prisoner) employees to work for them. However, in the last several years there have been increasing instances of employers trying to make at-will employment a one-way street—namely, that they can fire employees for any reason or no reason, but employees can’t leave without their employers’ permission.