1-1     By:  Lucio                                             S.B. No. 755

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 25, 1997; February 27, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;

 1-4     April 4, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee

 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 3; April 4, 1997,

 1-6     sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 755                   By:  Carona

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to the number of hours that certain employers may require

1-11     an employee to work; providing a penalty.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by

1-14     adding Chapter 53 to read as follows:

1-15                   CHAPTER 53.  LIMIT ON REQUIRED OVERTIME

1-16           Sec. 53.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:

1-17                 (1)  "Employee" means an individual who is employed by

1-18     an employer for compensation.

1-19                 (2)  "Employer" means a person, other than the United

1-20     States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state, who:

1-21                       (A)  employs one or more employees; or

1-22                       (B)  acts directly or indirectly in the interest

1-23     of an employer in relation to an employee.

1-24           Sec. 53.002.  LIMIT ON REQUIRED OVERTIME.  (a)  An employer

1-25     may not require, as a condition of employment, that an employee

1-26     work more than 60 hours in a workweek.

1-27           (b)  An employer may only employ an employee for more than 60

1-28     hours in a workweek if the employee agrees to work the excess hours

1-29     as provided by Subsection (c).

1-30           (c)  An employee may agree with the employee's employer to

1-31     work hours that exceed 60 hours in a workweek by signing a written

1-32     statement stating that the employee volunteers to perform the work.

1-33     The statement must also contain a provision, signed by the employer

1-34     or the employer's agent, that the employer does not require the

1-35     employee to work the excess hours.

1-36           Sec. 53.003.  EXCEPTIONS.  This chapter does not apply to an

1-37     employee who is:

1-38                 (1)  subject to a collective bargaining agreement;

1-39                 (2)  employed in agriculture, as that term is defined

1-40     by Section 13(a)(6), Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.

1-41     Section 213(a)(6)); or

1-42                 (3)  exempt from the overtime pay provisions of the

1-43     Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.).

1-44           Sec. 53.004.  OFFENSE; PENALTY.  (a)  An employer commits an

1-45     offense if the employer requires an employee to work more than 60

1-46     hours in a workweek in violation of this chapter.

1-47           (b)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

1-48           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-49           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-50     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-51     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-52     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-53     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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