88R422 JSC-D
By: González of El Paso, Gamez, Plesa H.B. No. 2872
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a database of employers penalized for failure to pay
wages or convicted of certain criminal 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 301.0705 to read as follows:
Sec. 301.0705. 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 initial inclusion or
continued inclusion in the database, as applicable. 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) In a dispute regarding an employer's continued
inclusion in the database under Subsection (e), the commission
shall consider any material changes to the employer's management or
ownership following the incident for which the employer was
initially included in the database.
(g) 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, unless the employer is removed from the
database as a result of the commission's determination following a
dispute under Subsection (e).
(h) 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).
(i) 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.
(j) 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. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an employer:
(1) for whom an administrative penalty is assessed on
or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
conduct giving rise to the penalty occurred before, on, or after
that date;
(2) who is subject to a final order of the Texas
Workforce Commission entered on or after the effective date of this
Act, regardless of whether the conduct giving rise to the order
occurred before, on, or after that date; or
(3) for whom a judgment of conviction is entered, or
who is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision, on or
after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
offense for which the employer was convicted, or for which the
employer was placed on deferred adjudication community
supervision, was committed before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2023, the Texas
Workforce Commission shall establish the database required by
Section 301.0705, Labor Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.