Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB462 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

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1	1	By: Garcia, Rodríguez S.B. No. 462
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed January 11, 2017; February 6, 2017,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources &
4	4	Economic Development; May 3, 2017, reported favorably by the
5	5	following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 3; May 3, 2017, sent to printer.)
6	6	Click here to see the committee vote
7	7
8	8
9	9	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	10	AN ACT
11	11	relating to a database of employers penalized for failure to pay
12	12	wages or convicted of certain offenses involving wage theft.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is
15	15	amended by adding Section 301.070 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 301.070. DATABASE REGARDING WAGE THEFT. (a) In this
17	17	section:
18	18	(1) "Attorney representing the state" means a district
19	19	attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney
20	20	performing the duties of a district attorney.
21	21	(2) "Employee" and "employer" have the meanings
22	22	assigned by Section 61.001.
23	23	(b) The commission shall make available on its Internet
24	24	website a publicly accessible list of all employers in this state
25	25	that have been:
26	26	(1) assessed an administrative penalty under Section
27	27	61.053;
28	28	(2) ordered to pay wages by a final order of the
29	29	commission and have failed to comply with Section 61.063; or
30	30	(3) convicted of an offense under:
31	31	(A) Section 61.019; or
32	32	(B) Section 31.04, Penal Code, if the offense
33	33	involved the theft of a service that was rendered by an employee of
34	34	the employer.
35	35	(c) For an employer that is a business entity, the database
36	36	must include the name under which the entity operates and the name
37	37	of each individual who is an owner of the entity and actively
38	38	involved in the management of the entity.
39	39	(d) The commission must provide notice to an employer not
40	40	later than the 180th day before the date the employer is listed in
41	41	the database.
42	42	(e) The commission by rule shall establish a process by
43	43	which an employer may, at any time after receiving notice under
44	44	Subsection (d), dispute the employer's inclusion in the database.
45	45	The process must require the commission to investigate and make a
46	46	final determination regarding an employer dispute under this
47	47	subsection not later than the 21st day after the date the dispute is
48	48	filed.
49	49	(f) The commission shall list an employer in the database
50	50	until the third anniversary of the date the penalty is assessed or
51	51	the employer is convicted.
52	52	(g) An attorney representing the state shall report to the
53	53	commission the name of each employer that is prosecuted and
54	54	convicted in the attorney's jurisdiction of an offense described by
55	55	Subsection (b)(3).
56	56	(h) For purposes of this section, a person has been
57	57	convicted of an offense if the person was adjudged guilty of the
58	58	offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for
59	59	a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless
60	60	of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether
61	61	the sentence was probated and the person was subsequently
62	62	discharged from community supervision.
63	63	(i) This section does not impose any additional requirement
64	64	on a contractor performing work under a contract that is subject to:
65	65	(1) Chapter 2258, Government Code; or
66	66	(2) the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 3141 et
67	67	seq.) or another federal law that makes the Davis-Bacon Act
68	68	applicable to the contract.
69	69	SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
70	70	only to an administrative penalty assessed on or after the
71	71	effective date of this Act. An administrative penalty assessed
72	72	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
73	73	effect on the date the penalty was assessed, and the former law is
74	74	continued in effect for that purpose.
75	75	(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
76	76	criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective date
77	77	of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commences before the
78	78	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
79	79	date the proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in
80	80	effect for that purpose.
81	81	(c) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
82	82	final order of the Texas Workforce Commission entered on or after
83	83	the effective date of this Act. A final order entered before the
84	84	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
85	85	date the order was entered, and the former law is continued in
86	86	effect for that purpose.
87	87	SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2017, the Texas
88	88	Workforce Commission shall establish the database required by
89	89	Section 301.070, Labor Code, as added by this Act.
90	90	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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