Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB48 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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	1	+	86R928 JSC-D
1	2		By: González of El Paso, Leach, Romero, Jr., H.B. No. 48
2	3		Metcalf
3	4
4	5
5	6		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	7		AN ACT
7	8		relating to a database of employers penalized for failure to pay
8	9		wages or convicted of certain offenses involving wage theft.
9	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	11		SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is
11	12		amended by adding Section 301.0705 to read as follows:
12	13		Sec. 301.0705. DATABASE REGARDING WAGE THEFT. (a) In this
13	14		section:
14	15		(1) "Attorney representing the state" means a district
15	16		attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney
16	17		performing the duties of a district attorney.
17	18		(2) "Employee" and "employer" have the meanings
18	19		assigned by Section 61.001.
19	20		(b) The commission shall make available on its Internet
20	21		website a publicly accessible list of all employers in this state
21	22		that have been:
22	23		(1) assessed an administrative penalty under Section
23	24		61.053;
24	25		(2) ordered to pay wages by a final order of the
25	26		commission and have failed to comply with Section 61.063; or
26	27		(3) convicted of an offense under:
27	28		(A) Section 61.019; or
28	29		(B) Section 31.04, Penal Code, if the offense
29	30		involved the theft of a service that was rendered by an employee of
30	31		the employer.
31	32		(c) For an employer that is a business entity, the database
32	33		must include the name under which the entity operates and the name
33	34		of each individual who is an owner of the entity and actively
34	35		involved in the management of the entity.
35	36		(d) The commission must provide notice to an employer not
36	37		later than the 180th day before the date the employer is listed in
37	38		the database.
38	39		(e) The commission by rule shall establish a process by
39		-	which an employer may, at any time after
40		-	receiving notice under
41		-	Subsection (d), dispute the employer's initial inclusion or
42		-	continued inclusion in the database, as applicable. The process
43		-	must require the commission to investigate and make a final
44		-	determination regarding an employer dispute under this subsection
45		-	not later than the 21st day after the date the dispute is filed.
46		-	(f) In a dispute regarding an employer's continued
47		-	inclusion in the database under Subsection (e), the commission
48		-	shall consider any material changes to the employer's management or
49		-	ownership following the incident for which the employer was
50		-	initially included in the database.
51		-	(g) The commission shall list an employer in the database
	40	+	which an employer may, at any time after receiving notice under
	41	+	Subsection (d), dispute the employer's inclusion in the database.
	42	+	The process must require the commission to investigate and make a
	43	+	final determination regarding an employer dispute under this
	44	+	subsection not later than the 21st day after the date the dispute is
	45	+	filed.
	46	+	(f) The commission shall list an employer in the database
52	47		until the third anniversary of the date the penalty is assessed or
53		-	the employer is convicted, unless the employer is removed from the
54		-	database as a result of the commission's determination following a
55		-	dispute under Subsection (e).
56		-	(h) An attorney representing the state shall report to the
	48	+	the employer is convicted.
	49	+	(g) An attorney representing the state shall report to the
57	50		commission the name of each employer that is prosecuted and
58	51		convicted in the attorney's jurisdiction of an offense described by
59	52		Subsection (b)(3).
60		-	(i) For purposes of this section, a person has been
	53	+	(h) For purposes of this section, a person has been
61	54		convicted of an offense if the person was adjudged guilty of the
62	55		offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for
63	56		a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless
64	57		of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether
65	58		the sentence was probated and the person was subsequently
66	59		discharged from community supervision.
67		-	(j) This section does not impose any additional requirement
	60	+	(i) This section does not impose any additional requirement
68	61		on a contractor performing work under a contract that is subject to:
69	62		(1) Chapter 2258, Government Code; or
70	63		(2) the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 3141 et
71	64		seq.) or another federal law that makes the Davis-Bacon Act
72	65		applicable to the contract.
73	66		SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
74	67		to an employer:
75	68		(1) for whom an administrative penalty is assessed on
76	69		or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
77	70		conduct giving rise to the penalty occurred before, on, or after
78	71		that date;
79	72		(2) who is subject to a final order of the Texas
80	73		Workforce Commission entered on or after the effective date of this
81	74		Act, regardless of whether the conduct giving rise to the order
82	75		occurred before, on, or after that date; or
83	76		(3) for whom a judgment of conviction is entered, or
84	77		who is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision, on or
85	78		after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
86	79		offense for which the employer was convicted, or for which the
87	80		employer was placed on deferred adjudication community
88	81		supervision, was committed before, on, or after that date.
89	82		SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2019, the Texas
90	83		Workforce Commission shall establish the database required by
91	84		Section 301.0705, Labor Code, as added by this Act.
92	85		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.