Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1834 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R174 JSC-D
2	2	By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 1834
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a database of employers penalized for failure to pay
8	8	wages or convicted of certain criminal offenses involving wage
9	9	theft.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Section 301.0705 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 301.0705. DATABASE REGARDING WAGE THEFT. (a) In this
14	14	section:
15	15	(1) "Attorney representing the state" means a district
16	16	attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney
17	17	performing the duties of a district attorney.
18	18	(2) "Employee" and "employer" have the meanings
19	19	assigned by Section 61.001.
20	20	(b) The commission shall make available on its Internet
21	21	website a publicly accessible list of all employers in this state
22	22	that have been:
23	23	(1) assessed an administrative penalty under Section
24	24	61.053;
25	25	(2) ordered to pay wages by a final order of the
26	26	commission and have failed to comply with Section 61.063; or
27	27	(3) convicted of an offense under:
28	28	(A) Section 61.019; or
29	29	(B) Section 31.04, Penal Code, if the offense
30	30	involved the theft of a service that was rendered by an employee of
31	31	the employer.
32	32	(c) For an employer that is a business entity, the database
33	33	must include the name under which the entity operates and the name
34	34	of each individual who is an owner of the entity and actively
35	35	involved in the management of the entity.
36	36	(d) The commission must provide notice to an employer not
37	37	later than the 180th day before the date the employer is listed in
38	38	the database.
39	39	(e) The commission by rule shall establish a process by
40	40	which an employer may, at any time after receiving notice under
41	41	Subsection (d), dispute the employer's inclusion in the database.
42	42	The process must require the commission to investigate and make a
43	43	final determination regarding an employer dispute under this
44	44	subsection not later than the 21st day after the date the dispute is
45	45	filed.
46	46	(f) The commission shall list an employer in the database
47	47	until the third anniversary of the date the penalty is assessed or
48	48	the employer is convicted.
49	49	(g) An attorney representing the state shall report to the
50	50	commission the name of each employer that is prosecuted and
51	51	convicted in the attorney's jurisdiction of an offense described by
52	52	Subsection (b)(3).
53	53	(h) For purposes of this section, a person has been
54	54	convicted of an offense if the person was adjudged guilty of the
55	55	offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for
56	56	a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless
57	57	of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether
58	58	the sentence was probated and the person was subsequently
59	59	discharged from community supervision.
60	60	(i) This section does not impose any additional requirement
61	61	on a contractor performing work under a contract that is subject to:
62	62	(1) Chapter 2258, Government Code; or
63	63	(2) the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 3141 et
64	64	seq.) or another federal law that makes the Davis-Bacon Act
65	65	applicable to the contract.
66	66	SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
67	67	only to an administrative penalty assessed on or after the
68	68	effective date of this Act. An administrative penalty assessed
69	69	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
70	70	effect on the date the penalty was assessed, and the former law is
71	71	continued in effect for that purpose.
72	72	(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
73	73	criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective date
74	74	of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commences before the
75	75	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
76	76	date the proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in
77	77	effect for that purpose.
78	78	(c) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
79	79	final order of the Texas Workforce Commission entered on or after
80	80	the effective date of this Act. A final order entered before the
81	81	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
82	82	date the order was entered, and the former law is continued in
83	83	effect for that purpose.
84	84	SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2021, the Texas
85	85	Workforce Commission shall establish the database required by
86	86	Section 301.0705, Labor Code, as added by this Act.
87	87	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.