Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1686 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R26948 JSC-D
2	2	By: Farney, Simmons, Oliveira, et al. H.B. No. 1686
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1686:
4	4	By: Oliveira C.S.H.B. No. 1686
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to excluding a franchisor as an employer of a franchisee or
10	10	a franchisee's employees.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended
13	13	by adding Section 21.0022 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 21.0022. FRANCHISORS EXCLUDED. (a) In this section,
15	15	"franchisee" and "franchisor" have the meanings assigned by 16
16	16	C.F.R. Section 436.1.
17	17	(b) For purposes of this chapter, a franchisor is not
18	18	considered to be an employer of:
19	19	(1) a franchisee; or
20	20	(2) a franchisee's employees.
21	21	(c) With respect to a specific claim for relief under this
22	22	chapter made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee, this
23	23	section does not apply to a franchisor who has been found by a court
24	24	of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of
25	25	control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not
26	26	customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting
27	27	the franchisor's trademarks and brand.
28	28	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 61, Labor Code, is amended
29	29	by adding Section 61.0031 to read as follows:
30	30	Sec. 61.0031. FRANCHISORS EXCLUDED. (a) In this section,
31	31	"franchisee" and "franchisor" have the meanings assigned by 16
32	32	C.F.R. Section 436.1.
33	33	(b) For purposes of this chapter, a franchisor is not
34	34	considered to be an employer of:
35	35	(1) a franchisee; or
36	36	(2) a franchisee's employees.
37	37	(c) With respect to a specific claim for relief under this
38	38	chapter made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee, this
39	39	section does not apply to a franchisor who has been found by a court
40	40	of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of
41	41	control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not
42	42	customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting
43	43	the franchisor's trademarks and brand.
44	44	SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Labor Code, is amended
45	45	by adding Section 62.006 to read as follows:
46	46	Sec. 62.006. FRANCHISORS EXCLUDED. (a) In this section,
47	47	"franchisee" and "franchisor" have the meanings assigned by 16
48	48	C.F.R. Section 436.1.
49	49	(b) For purposes of this chapter, a franchisor is not
50	50	considered to be an employer of:
51	51	(1) a franchisee; or
52	52	(2) a franchisee's employees.
53	53	(c) With respect to a specific claim for relief under this
54	54	chapter made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee, this
55	55	section does not apply to a franchisor who has been found by a court
56	56	of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of
57	57	control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not
58	58	customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting
59	59	the franchisor's trademarks and brand.
60	60	SECTION 4. Chapter 91, Labor Code, is amended by adding
61	61	Section 91.0013 to read as follows:
62	62	Sec. 91.0013. FRANCHISORS EXCLUDED. (a) In this section,
63	63	"franchisee" and "franchisor" have the meanings assigned by 16
64	64	C.F.R. Section 436.1.
65	65	(b) For purposes of this chapter, a franchisor is not
66	66	considered to be in a coemployment relationship with:
67	67	(1) a franchisee; or
68	68	(2) a franchisee's employees.
69	69	(c) With respect to a specific claim for relief under this
70	70	chapter made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee, this
71	71	section does not apply to a franchisor who has been found by a court
72	72	of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of
73	73	control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not
74	74	customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting
75	75	the franchisor's trademarks and brand.
76	76	SECTION 5. Section 201.021, Labor Code, is amended by
77	77	adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
78	78	(d) In this subsection, "franchisee" and "franchisor" have
79	79	the meanings assigned by 16 C.F.R. Section 436.1. The definition of
80	80	employer provided by this section does not apply to a franchisor
81	81	with respect to:
82	82	(1) a franchisee; or
83	83	(2) a franchisee's employees.
84	84	(e) With respect to a specific claim for relief under this
85	85	subtitle made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee,
86	86	Subsection (d) does not apply to a franchisor who has been found by
87	87	a court of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree
88	88	of control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not
89	89	customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting
90	90	the franchisor's trademarks and brand.
91	91	SECTION 6. Subchapter B, Chapter 401, Labor Code, is
92	92	amended by adding Section 401.014 to read as follows:
93	93	Sec. 401.014. FRANCHISORS EXCLUDED. (a) In this section,
94	94	"franchisee" and "franchisor" have the meanings assigned by 16
95	95	C.F.R. Section 436.1.
96	96	(b) For purposes of this subtitle, a franchisor is not
97	97	considered to be an employer of:
98	98	(1) a franchisee; or
99	99	(2) a franchisee's employees.
100	100	(c) With respect to a specific claim for relief under this
101	101	subtitle made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee, this
102	102	section does not apply to a franchisor who has been found by a court
103	103	of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of
104	104	control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not
105	105	customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting
106	106	the franchisor's trademarks and brand.
107	107	SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 411, Labor Code, is
108	108	amended by adding Section 411.005 to read as follows:
109	109	Sec. 411.005. FRANCHISORS EXCLUDED. (a) In this section,
110	110	"franchisee" and "franchisor" have the meanings assigned by 16
111	111	C.F.R. Section 436.1.
112	112	(b) For purposes of this chapter, a franchisor is not
113	113	considered to be an employer of:
114	114	(1) a franchisee; or
115	115	(2) a franchisee's employees.
116	116	(c) With respect to a specific claim for relief under this
117	117	chapter made by a franchisee or a franchisee's employee, this
118	118	section does not apply to a franchisor who has been found by a court
119	119	of competent jurisdiction to have exercised a type or degree of
120	120	control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees not
121	121	customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting
122	122	the franchisor's trademarks and brand.
123	123	SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act applies only
124	124	to the liability of a franchisor based on conduct occurring on or
125	125	after the effective date of this Act. Conduct by a franchisor
126	126	occurring before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
127	127	law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law
128	128	is continued in effect for that purpose.
129	129	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.