Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2787 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R11398 LED-D
2	2	By: White H.B. No. 2787
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the prohibition of employment discrimination based on
8	8	an individual's political beliefs.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended
11	11	by adding Section 21.0023 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 21.0023. POLITICAL BELIEFS. For purposes of this
13	13	chapter, the term "political beliefs" includes only an individual's
14	14	political beliefs that are expressed outside the workplace and
15	15	outside the course and scope of the individual's employment.
16	16	SECTION 2. Section 21.051, Labor Code, is amended to read as
17	17	follows:
18	18	Sec. 21.051. DISCRIMINATION BY EMPLOYER. An employer
19	19	commits an unlawful employment practice if because of race, color,
20	20	disability, religion, sex, national origin, [or] age, or political
21	21	beliefs the employer:
22	22	(1) fails or refuses to hire an individual, discharges
23	23	an individual, or discriminates in any other manner against an
24	24	individual in connection with compensation or the terms,
25	25	conditions, or privileges of employment; or
26	26	(2) limits, segregates, or classifies an employee or
27	27	applicant for employment in a manner that would deprive or tend to
28	28	deprive an individual of any employment opportunity or adversely
29	29	affect in any other manner the status of an employee.
30	30	SECTION 3. Section 21.052, Labor Code, is amended to read as
31	31	follows:
32	32	Sec. 21.052. DISCRIMINATION BY EMPLOYMENT AGENCY. An
33	33	employment agency commits an unlawful employment practice if the
34	34	employment agency:
35	35	(1) fails or refuses to refer for employment or
36	36	discriminates in any other manner against an individual because of
37	37	race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, [or] age,
38	38	or political beliefs; or
39	39	(2) classifies or refers an individual for employment
40	40	on the basis of race, color, disability, religion, sex, national
41	41	origin, [or] age, or political beliefs.
42	42	SECTION 4. Section 21.053, Labor Code, is amended to read as
43	43	follows:
44	44	Sec. 21.053. DISCRIMINATION BY LABOR ORGANIZATION. A labor
45	45	organization commits an unlawful employment practice if because of
46	46	race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, [or] age,
47	47	or political beliefs the labor organization:
48	48	(1) excludes or expels from membership or
49	49	discriminates in any other manner against an individual; or
50	50	(2) limits, segregates, or classifies a member or an
51	51	applicant for membership or classifies or fails or refuses to refer
52	52	for employment an individual in a manner that would:
53	53	(A) deprive or tend to deprive an individual of
54	54	any employment opportunity;
55	55	(B) limit an employment opportunity or adversely
56	56	affect in any other manner the status of an employee or of an
57	57	applicant for employment; or
58	58	(C) cause or attempt to cause an employer to
59	59	violate this subchapter.
60	60	SECTION 5. Section 21.054(a), Labor Code, is amended to
61	61	read as follows:
62	62	(a) Unless a training or retraining opportunity or program
63	63	is provided under an affirmative action plan approved under a
64	64	federal law, rule, or order, an employer, labor organization, or
65	65	joint labor-management committee controlling an apprenticeship,
66	66	on-the-job training, or other training or retraining program
67	67	commits an unlawful employment practice if the employer, labor
68	68	organization, or committee discriminates against an individual
69	69	because of race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin,
70	70	[or] age, or political beliefs in admission to or participation in
71	71	the program.
72	72	SECTION 6. Section 21.059(a), Labor Code, is amended to
73	73	read as follows:
74	74	(a) An employer, labor organization, employment agency, or
75	75	joint labor-management committee controlling an apprenticeship,
76	76	on-the-job training, or other training or retraining program
77	77	commits an unlawful employment practice if the employer, labor
78	78	organization, employment agency, or committee prints or publishes
79	79	or causes to be printed or published a notice or advertisement
80	80	relating to employment that:
81	81	(1) indicates a preference, limitation,
82	82	specification, or discrimination based on race, color, disability,
83	83	religion, sex, national origin, [or] age, or political beliefs; and
84	84	(2) concerns an employee's status, employment, or
85	85	admission to or membership or participation in a labor union or
86	86	training or retraining program.
87	87	SECTION 7. Section 21.102(c), Labor Code, is amended to
88	88	read as follows:
89	89	(c) This section does not apply to standards of compensation
90	90	or terms, conditions, or privileges of employment that are
91	91	discriminatory on the basis of race, color, disability, religion,
92	92	sex, national origin, [or] age, or political beliefs.
93	93	SECTION 8. Section 21.112, Labor Code, is amended to read as
94	94	follows:
95	95	Sec. 21.112. EMPLOYEES AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. An employer
96	96	does not commit an unlawful employment practice by applying to
97	97	employees who work in different locations different standards of
98	98	compensation or different terms, conditions, or privileges of
99	99	employment that are not discriminatory on the basis of race, color,
100	100	disability, religion, sex, national origin, [or] age, or political
101	101	beliefs.
102	102	SECTION 9. Section 21.113, Labor Code, is amended to read as
103	103	follows:
104	104	Sec. 21.113. IMBALANCE PLAN NOT REQUIRED. This chapter
105	105	does not require a person subject to this chapter to grant
106	106	preferential treatment to an individual or a group on the basis of
107	107	race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, [or] age,
108	108	or political beliefs because of an imbalance between:
109	109	(1) the total number or percentage of persons of that
110	110	individual's or group's race, color, disability, religion, sex,
111	111	national origin, [or] age, or political beliefs:
112	112	(A) employed by an employer;
113	113	(B) referred or classified for employment by an
114	114	employment agency or labor organization;
115	115	(C) admitted to membership or classified by a
116	116	labor organization; or
117	117	(D) admitted to or employed in an apprenticeship,
118	118	on-the-job training, or other training or retraining program; and
119	119	(2) the total number or percentage of persons of that
120	120	race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age or
121	121	holding those political beliefs in:
122	122	(A) a community, this state, a region, or other
123	123	area; or
124	124	(B) the available work force in a community, this
125	125	state, a region, or other area.
126	126	SECTION 10. Section 21.120(b), Labor Code, is amended to
127	127	read as follows:
128	128	(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a policy adopted or
129	129	applied with the intent to discriminate because of race, color,
130	130	sex, national origin, religion, age, [or] disability, or political
131	131	beliefs.
132	132	SECTION 11. Section 21.122(a), Labor Code, is amended to
133	133	read as follows:
134	134	(a) An unlawful employment practice based on disparate
135	135	impact is established under this chapter only if:
136	136	(1) a complainant demonstrates that a respondent uses
137	137	a particular employment practice that causes a disparate impact on
138	138	the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, [or]
139	139	disability, or political beliefs and the respondent fails to
140	140	demonstrate that the challenged practice is job-related for the
141	141	position in question and consistent with business necessity; or
142	142	(2) the complainant makes the demonstration in
143	143	accordance with federal law as that law existed June 4, 1989, with
144	144	respect to the concept of alternative employment practices, and the
145	145	respondent refuses to adopt such an alternative employment
146	146	practice.
147	147	SECTION 12. Section 21.124, Labor Code, is amended to read
148	148	as follows:
149	149	Sec. 21.124. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATORY USE OF TEST
150	150	SCORES. It is an unlawful employment practice for a respondent, in
151	151	connection with the selection or referral of applicants for
152	152	employment or promotion, to adjust the scores of, use different
153	153	cutoff scores for, or otherwise alter the results of
154	154	employment-related tests on the basis of race, color, sex, national
155	155	origin, religion, age, [or] disability, or political beliefs.
156	156	SECTION 13. The heading to Section 21.125, Labor Code, is
157	157	amended to read as follows:
158	158	Sec. 21.125. CLARIFYING PROHIBITION AGAINST IMPERMISSIBLE
159	159	CONSIDERATION OF RACE, COLOR, SEX, NATIONAL ORIGIN, RELIGION, AGE,
160	160	[OR] DISABILITY, OR POLITICAL BELIEFS IN EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.
161	161	SECTION 14. Section 21.125(a), Labor Code, is amended to
162	162	read as follows:
163	163	(a) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, an
164	164	unlawful employment practice is established when the complainant
165	165	demonstrates that race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age,
166	166	[or] disability, or a political belief was a motivating factor for
167	167	an employment practice, even if other factors also motivated the
168	168	practice, unless race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age,
169	169	[or] disability, or a political belief is combined with objective
170	170	job-related factors to attain diversity in the employer's work
171	171	force.
172	172	SECTION 15. Section 21.126, Labor Code, is amended to read
173	173	as follows:
174	174	Sec. 21.126. COVERAGE OF PREVIOUSLY EXEMPT EMPLOYEES OF THE
175	175	STATE OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE. It is an unlawful
176	176	employment practice for a person elected to public office in this
177	177	state or a political subdivision of this state to discriminate
178	178	because of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, [or]
179	179	disability, or political beliefs against an individual who is an
180	180	employee or applicant for employment to:
181	181	(1) serve on the elected official's personal staff;
182	182	(2) serve the elected official on a policy-making
183	183	level; or
184	184	(3) serve the elected official as an immediate advisor
185	185	with respect to the exercise of the constitutional or legal powers
186	186	of the office.
187	187	SECTION 16. Section 21.152(a), Labor Code, is amended to
188	188	read as follows:
189	189	(a) A political subdivision or two or more political
190	190	subdivisions acting jointly may create a local commission to:
191	191	(1) promote the purposes of this chapter; and
192	192	(2) secure for all individuals in the jurisdiction of
193	193	each political subdivision freedom from discrimination because of
194	194	race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, [or] age,
195	195	or political beliefs.
196	196	SECTION 17. Section 21.155(a), Labor Code, is amended to
197	197	read as follows:
198	198	(a) The commission [Commission on Human Rights] shall refer
199	199	a complaint concerning discrimination in employment because of
200	200	race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, [or] age,
201	201	or political beliefs that is filed with the [that] commission to a
202	202	local commission with the necessary investigatory and conciliatory
203	203	powers if:
204	204	(1) the complaint has been referred to the commission
205	205	[Commission on Human Rights] by the federal government; or
206	206	(2) jurisdiction over the subject matter of the
207	207	complaint has been deferred to the commission [Commission on Human
208	208	Rights] by the federal government.
209	209	SECTION 18. This Act applies to conduct occurring on or
210	210	after the effective date of this Act. Conduct occurring before that
211	211	date is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct
212	212	occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
213	213	purpose.
214	214	SECTION 19. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.