87R2710 SGM-F
By: Hernandez H.B. No. 401
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirement that certain employers provide advance
notice of employee work schedules.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 3, Labor Code, is amended by adding Chapter
106 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 106. NOTICE OF EMPLOYEE WORK SCHEDULE
Sec. 106.001. DEFINITION; APPLICABILITY. (a) In this
chapter, "food and general retail establishment" means a retail
sales establishment that has a physical location with in-person
food or merchandise sales to ultimate consumers for personal,
family, or household purposes, including a restaurant, food retail
store, grocery store, general merchandise store, department
store, and health and personal care store.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), this chapter
applies only to a food and general retail establishment that:
(1) employs at least 500 employees in this state;
(2) has at least 10 other retail sales establishments
in states other than this state; and
(3) maintains at least two of the following:
(A) a standardized array of merchandise;
(B) a standardized facade;
(C) a standardized decor and color scheme;
(D) uniform apparel;
(E) standardized signage; or
(F) a trademark or a service mark.
(c) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a retail establishment at which the primary
activity is providing customer service and the sale of merchandise
is secondary or incidental to that service;
(2) an online retailer that does not have a physical
location with in-person sales in this state; or
(3) a new motor vehicle dealer.
Sec. 106.002. NOTICE REQUIRED. Except as provided by
Section 106.004, a food and general retail establishment shall
notify each hourly employee of the employee's scheduled work shift
at least two weeks before the time the shift is scheduled to begin.
Sec. 106.003. REMEDY FOR VIOLATION OF NOTICE REQUIREMENT.
(a) A food and general retail establishment that violates Section
106.002 by canceling or moving an employee's work shift to another
date or time shall pay the employee the following compensation for
each previously scheduled shift that is canceled or moved:
(1) one hour of pay at the employee's regular hourly
rate if the establishment notifies the employee less than seven
days but more than 24 hours before the time of the scheduled shift;
(2) two hours of pay at the employee's regular hourly
rate for each shift of four hours or less if the establishment
notifies the employee less than 24 hours before the time of the
scheduled shift; and
(3) four hours of pay at the employee's regular hourly
rate for each shift of more than four hours if the establishment
notifies the employee less than 24 hours before the time of the
scheduled shift.
(b) A food and general retail establishment that violates
Section 106.002 by requiring an employee to work an unscheduled
shift shall pay the employee the following compensation for each
previously unscheduled shift that the establishment requires the
employee to work, in addition to the employee's regular pay for that
shift:
(1) one hour of pay at the employee's regular hourly
rate if the establishment notifies the employee less than seven
days but more than 24 hours before the time of the shift;
(2) two hours of pay at the employee's regular hourly
rate for each shift of four hours or less if the establishment
notifies the employee less than 24 hours before the time of the
shift; and
(3) four hours of pay at the employee's regular hourly
rate for each shift of more than four hours if the establishment
notifies the employee less than 24 hours before the time of the
shift.
Sec. 106.004. EXCEPTIONS TO NOTICE REQUIREMENT. A food and
general retail establishment is not required to provide the notice
under Section 106.002 if:
(1) the establishment's operations cannot begin or
continue due to threats to employees or property, or because civil
authorities recommend that work not begin or continue;
(2) the establishment's operations cannot begin or
continue because public utilities fail to supply electricity,
water, or gas to the establishment, or there is a failure in the
public utility or sewer system at the establishment;
(3) the establishment's operations cannot begin or
continue due to an act of God or another cause not within the
establishment's control, including a state of emergency declared by
a local government or the governor;
(4) another employee who was previously scheduled to
work the previously unscheduled shift is unable to work and the
establishment did not receive at least seven days' notice of the
other employee's absence;
(5) another employee who was previously scheduled to
work the previously unscheduled shift does not report to work on
time or is fired, sent home, or told to stay home as a disciplinary
action;
(6) the establishment requires the employee to work
overtime, including mandatory overtime; or
(7) the employee works a previously unscheduled shift
because the employee traded shifts with another employee or
requested a change in shift, hours, or work schedule.
SECTION 2. Chapter 106, Labor Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to an employee's work shift that is scheduled by an
employer on or after the effective date of this Act. An employee's
work shift that is scheduled by an employer before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.