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. 1-54 * * * * *