Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB284 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R242 KKR-F
2	2	By: Collier H.B. No. 284
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to requiring certain employers to provide paid leave to
8	8	employees; providing civil and administrative penalties.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subtitle D, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by
11	11	adding Chapter 83 to read as follows:
12	12	CHAPTER 83. EARNED PAID LEAVE
13	13	Sec. 83.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
14	14	(1) "Commission" means the Texas Workforce
15	15	Commission.
16	16	(2) "Employee" means a person employed by an employer.
17	17	The term does not include a person who is:
18	18	(A) an unpaid volunteer;
19	19	(B) an independent contractor; or
20	20	(C) a participant in a work-study program that
21	21	provides employment opportunities for compensation or vocational
22	22	training to students attending a secondary or post-secondary
23	23	educational institution.
24	24	(3) "Employer" means a person who is engaged in an
25	25	industry affecting commerce and who has 50 or more employees for
26	26	each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current
27	27	or preceding calendar year.
28	28	Sec. 83.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
29	29	not apply to:
30	30	(1) an employee who is:
31	31	(A) entitled to unemployment benefits or
32	32	allowances under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C.
33	33	Section 351 et seq.);
34	34	(B) covered under the Railway Labor Act (45
35	35	U.S.C. Section 151 et seq.); or
36	36	(C) employed by the employee's parent, spouse, or
37	37	child; or
38	38	(2) an employer who is:
39	39	(A) a state agency or political subdivision, as
40	40	those terms are defined by Section 21.002;
41	41	(B) an agency of the federal government; or
42	42	(C) a charitable or religious organization
43	43	exempt from taxation under Section 501(c), Internal Revenue Code of
44	44	1986.
45	45	Sec. 83.003. PAID LEAVE REQUIRED. (a) Each employer shall
46	46	provide paid leave annually to each employee in this state under the
47	47	terms of this chapter.
48	48	(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an employer with not
49	49	more than 75 employees is not required to provide paid leave under
50	50	this chapter before the second anniversary of the date the employer
51	51	hires the employer's first employee.
52	52	Sec. 83.004. PAID LEAVE ACCRUAL AND CARRYOVER. (a) Paid
53	53	leave under this chapter accrues beginning on the date of hire:
54	54	(1) at a rate of one hour of paid leave for each 30
55	55	hours worked by an employee; and
56	56	(2) up to a maximum of 40 hours per calendar year.
57	57	(b) Each employee is entitled to carry over not more than 40
58	58	unused accrued hours of paid leave from the current calendar year to
59	59	the following calendar year unless the employer elects to:
60	60	(1) pay the employee for any unused paid leave at the
61	61	end of the year at the rate described by Section 83.007; or
62	62	(2) make available to the employee at the beginning of
63	63	the year the entire amount of paid leave that the employee is
64	64	expected to accrue during the year as provided by Section
65	65	83.005(d).
66	66	(c) Leave hours carried over from a previous calendar year
67	67	must be immediately available to the employee in the following
68	68	calendar year.
69	69	Sec. 83.005. ENTITLEMENT TO USE PAID LEAVE; LIMITATIONS.
70	70	(a) An employee is entitled to use accrued paid leave under this
71	71	chapter 90 calendar days after the date of hire, unless the employer
72	72	agrees to an earlier date.
73	73	(b) An employee is not entitled to use accrued paid leave
74	74	under this chapter if the employee did not work an average of 18 or
75	75	more hours a week for the employer in the most recent complete
76	76	calendar year.
77	77	(c) An employee is not entitled to use more than 40 hours of
78	78	accrued paid leave under this chapter in any calendar year.
79	79	(d) An employer may make immediately available to an
80	80	employee at the beginning of a year, quarter, or other period the
81	81	entire amount of paid leave that the employee is expected to accrue
82	82	during the year, quarter, or other period.
83	83	(e) At the employer's discretion, an employer may loan paid
84	84	leave time to an employee in advance of accrual by the employee.
85	85	(f) On the mutual consent of the employee and employer, an
86	86	employee who chooses to work additional hours or shifts during the
87	87	same or following pay period, instead of hours or shifts missed,
88	88	does not use accrued paid leave.
89	89	(g) Unless an employee policy or collective bargaining
90	90	agreement provides for the payment of accrued fringe benefits on
91	91	termination, an employee is not entitled to payment of unused
92	92	accrued paid leave under this chapter on termination of employment.
93	93	Sec. 83.006. EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE. (a) An employer is
94	94	considered to be in compliance with this chapter if the employer
95	95	offers one or more other types of paid leave that:
96	96	(1) may be used for any purpose; and
97	97	(2) accrues at a rate equal to or greater than the rate
98	98	described by Section 83.004.
99	99	(b) For the purposes of this section, other types of paid
100	100	leave include paid vacation, personal days, and paid time off.
101	101	Sec. 83.007. PAY RATE FOR LEAVE. (a) Each employer shall
102	102	pay each employee for paid leave time taken at a pay rate equal to
103	103	the normal hourly wage for that employee.
104	104	(b) For any employee whose hourly wage varies depending on
105	105	the work performed by the employee, the normal hourly wage is
106	106	considered to be the average hourly wage of the employee in the pay
107	107	period preceding the pay period in which the employee uses paid
108	108	leave.
109	109	(c) If an employee receives gratuity in the course of
110	110	employment to the extent that the gratuity is considered wages in
111	111	the computation of taxes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (26
112	112	U.S.C. Section 3301 et seq.), the employee's normal hourly wage may
113	113	not be less than the amount required by Section 62.051.
114	114	(d) If the employee's normal hourly wage cannot be
115	115	determined, the employer shall pay the employee for leave under
116	116	this chapter at an hourly wage that may not be less than the amount
117	117	required by Section 62.051.
118	118	Sec. 83.008. USE OF PAID LEAVE. An employee may use paid
119	119	leave accrued under this chapter for any purpose and is not required
120	120	to disclose to the employer the reason for taking leave.
121	121	Sec. 83.009. NOTICE TO EMPLOYER. (a) If an employee's need
122	122	to use paid leave under this chapter is foreseeable, an employer may
123	123	require advance notice of the intention to use paid leave under this
124	124	chapter but may not require the employee to give notice more than
125	125	seven days before the date the leave is to begin.
126	126	(b) If an employee's need for paid leave is not foreseeable,
127	127	an employer may require the employee to give notice of the
128	128	employee's intention to use paid leave under this chapter as soon as
129	129	practicable.
130	130	Sec. 83.010. NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES. (a) Each employer
131	131	subject to this chapter shall, at the time of hiring, provide notice
132	132	in both English and Spanish to each employee:
133	133	(1) of the employee's entitlement to paid leave, the
134	134	amount of paid leave provided to employees, and the terms under
135	135	which paid leave may be used under this chapter;
136	136	(2) that retaliation by the employer against the
137	137	employee for requesting or using paid leave to which the employee is
138	138	entitled is prohibited; and
139	139	(3) that the employee has a right to file a complaint
140	140	with the commission or bring a civil action for damages for any
141	141	violation of this chapter.
142	142	(b) An employer may comply with this section by displaying a
143	143	poster in a conspicuous place, accessible to employees, at the
144	144	employer's place of business that contains in both English and
145	145	Spanish the information required by this section.
146	146	(c) The notice under this section must also be provided in a
147	147	language other than English or Spanish if that language is the first
148	148	language spoken by at least 30 percent of the employer's workforce.
149	149	(d) The commission may adopt rules to establish additional
150	150	requirements concerning the means by which employers provide notice
151	151	required under this section.
152	152	Sec. 83.011. BREAK IN SERVICE. (a) Termination of an
153	153	employee's employment by an employer, regardless of whether
154	154	voluntary or involuntary, is considered a break in service for
155	155	purposes of this chapter.
156	156	(b) An employee who is subsequently rehired by the employer
157	157	following a break in service:
158	158	(1) begins to accrue paid leave under this chapter;
159	159	and
160	160	(2) is not entitled to any unused hours of paid leave
161	161	that had accrued before the employee's break in service, unless the
162	162	employee is rehired within 30 days of separation or the employer
163	163	agrees to reinstate some or all of the employee's previously
164	164	accrued paid leave.
165	165	Sec. 83.012. TRANSFER OF EMPLOYEE. (a) The transfer of an
166	166	employee to a separate division, entity, or location of the same
167	167	employer is not considered to be a break in service for purposes of
168	168	this chapter.
169	169	(b) Following a transfer described by Subsection (a), the
170	170	transferred employee is entitled to:
171	171	(1) retain all accrued paid leave under this chapter;
172	172	and
173	173	(2) immediately access the retained paid leave time
174	174	without any waiting period, except that the employee remains
175	175	subject to any remaining period of the initial waiting period
176	176	described by Section 83.005(a), if applicable.
177	177	Sec. 83.013. SUCCESSOR EMPLOYER. If an employer succeeds
178	178	or takes the place of an existing employer, each employee of the
179	179	former employer who is employed by the successor is entitled to:
180	180	(1) retain all accrued paid leave under this chapter;
181	181	and
182	182	(2) immediately access the retained paid leave time
183	183	without any waiting period, except that the employee remains
184	184	subject to any remaining period of the initial waiting period
185	185	described by Section 83.005(a), if applicable.
186	186	Sec. 83.014. LIMITATIONS OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
187	187	not:
188	188	(1) prevent an employer from providing more paid leave
189	189	than is required under this chapter;
190	190	(2) prohibit an employer that provides paid leave in
191	191	addition to the paid leave required under this chapter from
192	192	restricting the purposes for which an employee may take that
193	193	additional leave; or
194	194	(3) diminish any rights provided to any employee under
195	195	a collective bargaining agreement.
196	196	Sec. 83.015. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT. A collective
197	197	bargaining agreement may waive the requirements of this chapter by
198	198	clear and unambiguous language within the agreement.
199	199	Sec. 83.016. RETALIATION PROHIBITED. An employer may not
200	200	take retaliatory personnel action or otherwise discriminate
201	201	against an employee because the employee:
202	202	(1) requests or uses paid leave in accordance with
203	203	this chapter; or
204	204	(2) files a complaint with the commission alleging the
205	205	employer's violation of this chapter.
206	206	Sec. 83.017. COMPLAINT; HEARING; PENALTY. (a) Any
207	207	employee aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may file a claim
208	208	with the commission in the manner prescribed by Subchapter D,
209	209	Chapter 61.
210	210	(b) On receipt of a complaint, the commission shall
211	211	investigate and dispose of the complaint in the same manner as a
212	212	wage claim under Subchapter D, Chapter 61.
213	213	(c) An employer who is found by the commission, by a
214	214	preponderance of the evidence, to have violated Section 83.016 is
215	215	liable to the commission for an administrative penalty of $500 for
216	216	each violation.
217	217	(d) An employer who is found by the commission, by a
218	218	preponderance of the evidence, to have violated a provision under
219	219	this chapter other than Section 83.016 is liable to the commission
220	220	for an administrative penalty of not more than $100 for each
221	221	violation.
222	222	(e) The commission may award the employee all appropriate
223	223	relief, including payment for used paid leave, rehiring or
224	224	reinstatement to the employee's previous job, payment of back
225	225	wages, and reestablishment of employee benefits for which the
226	226	employee otherwise would have been eligible if the employee had not
227	227	been subject to retaliatory personnel action or other
228	228	discrimination.
229	229	(f) A party may appeal a final decision of the commission by
230	230	filing suit in district court.
231	231	Sec. 83.018. CIVIL ACTION BY EMPLOYEE. (a) An employee
232	232	aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action to
233	233	enforce rights protected by this chapter, including an action for
234	234	appropriate injunctive relief, in the district court in the county
235	235	in which the alleged violation occurred or in which the alleged
236	236	violator's residence or principal place of business is located.
237	237	(b) An action under this section must be brought not later
238	238	than the third anniversary of the date of the violation.
239	239	(c) The employer of an employee who prevails in a civil
240	240	action under this section is liable to the affected employee for
241	241	damages equal to the amount of any wages, salary, employment
242	242	benefits, or other compensation denied or lost to the employee by
243	243	reason of the violation or, if wages, salary, employment benefits,
244	244	or other compensation has not been denied or lost, any actual
245	245	monetary losses sustained by the employee as a direct result of the
246	246	violation.
247	247	(d) An employer described by Subsection (c) is also liable
248	248	for equitable relief as appropriate, including reinstatement and
249	249	promotion.
250	250	(e) In addition to any judgment awarded to an employee, the
251	251	court may require the employer to pay reasonable attorney's fees,
252	252	reasonable expert witness fees, and other costs.
253	253	SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies to
254	254	an employee hired on or after January 1, 2023. For an employee
255	255	hired before January 1, 2023, paid leave under Chapter 83, Labor
256	256	Code, as added by this Act, begins to accrue on that date, and the
257	257	employee may begin to use the paid leave 90 calendar days after that
258	258	date, unless the employer agrees to an earlier date.
259	259	(b) Chapter 83, Labor Code, as added by this Act, does not
260	260	preempt or override the terms of any collective bargaining
261	261	agreement effective before January 1, 2023.
262	262	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2023.