By: Garcia, RodrÃguez S.B. No. 462
(In the Senate - Filed January 11, 2017; February 6, 2017,
read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources &
Economic Development; May 3, 2017, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 3; May 3, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a database of employers penalized for failure to pay
wages or convicted of certain offenses involving wage theft.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 301.070 to read as follows:
Sec. 301.070. DATABASE REGARDING WAGE THEFT. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Attorney representing the state" means a district
attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney
performing the duties of a district attorney.
(2) "Employee" and "employer" have the meanings
assigned by Section 61.001.
(b) The commission shall make available on its Internet
website a publicly accessible list of all employers in this state
that have been:
(1) assessed an administrative penalty under Section
61.053;
(2) ordered to pay wages by a final order of the
commission and have failed to comply with Section 61.063; or
(3) convicted of an offense under:
(A) Section 61.019; or
(B) Section 31.04, Penal Code, if the offense
involved the theft of a service that was rendered by an employee of
the employer.
(c) For an employer that is a business entity, the database
must include the name under which the entity operates and the name
of each individual who is an owner of the entity and actively
involved in the management of the entity.
(d) The commission must provide notice to an employer not
later than the 180th day before the date the employer is listed in
the database.
(e) The commission by rule shall establish a process by
which an employer may, at any time after receiving notice under
Subsection (d), dispute the employer's inclusion in the database.
The process must require the commission to investigate and make a
final determination regarding an employer dispute under this
subsection not later than the 21st day after the date the dispute is
filed.
(f) The commission shall list an employer in the database
until the third anniversary of the date the penalty is assessed or
the employer is convicted.
(g) An attorney representing the state shall report to the
commission the name of each employer that is prosecuted and
convicted in the attorney's jurisdiction of an offense described by
Subsection (b)(3).
(h) For purposes of this section, a person has been
convicted of an offense if the person was adjudged guilty of the
offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for
a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless
of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether
the sentence was probated and the person was subsequently
discharged from community supervision.
(i) This section does not impose any additional requirement
on a contractor performing work under a contract that is subject to:
(1) Chapter 2258, Government Code; or
(2) the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 3141 et
seq.) or another federal law that makes the Davis-Bacon Act
applicable to the contract.
SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
only to an administrative penalty assessed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An administrative penalty assessed
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the penalty was assessed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective date
of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commences before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
(c) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
final order of the Texas Workforce Commission entered on or after
the effective date of this Act. A final order entered before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the order was entered, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2017, the Texas
Workforce Commission shall establish the database required by
Section 301.070, Labor Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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