Amend CSHB 1082 by striking all below the enacting clause and
substituting the following:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 24 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 24. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION REGARDING COMPENSATION
Sec. 24.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Employ" means to suffer or permit to work.
(2) "Employee" means a person employed by an employer.
The term includes all of an employer's permanent employees, whether
working full-time or part-time, and any temporary employee employed
by an employer for a period of at least three months. The term
does not include a person employed by the person's parents, spouse,
or child.
(3) "Employer" means a person who employs 50 or more
employees. The term includes the state and a political subdivision
of the state.
(4) "Equivalent job" means a job or occupation, the
performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and
responsibility and which is performed under similar working
conditions.
(5) "Labor organization" has the meaning assigned by
Section 21.002.
(6) "Market rate" means the rate that employers within
a prescribed geographic area actually pay, or are reported to pay,
for specific jobs, as determined by formal or informal surveys,
wage studies, or other means.
(7) "Wages" has the meaning assigned by Section
61.001.
Sec. 24.002. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN WAGES.
(a) It is an unlawful employment practice in violation of this
chapter and Chapter 21 for an employer to discriminate among
employees on the basis of race, color, disability, religion, sex,
national origin, or age by paying wages to an employee at a rate
less than the rate paid to an employee who is not a member of a
protected class described by this subsection for work in an
equivalent job.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), it is not an unlawful
employment practice for an employer to pay different wage rates to
employees if the difference is based on:
(1) a bona fide seniority or merit system;
(2) a system that measures earnings by quantity or
quality of production; or
(3) a bona fide factor other than race, color,
disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age.
(c) For purposes of Subsection (b)(3), a wage differential
based on varying market rates for equivalent jobs or the differing
economic benefits to the employer of equivalent jobs is considered
a differential based on a bona fide factor other than race, color,
disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age.
(d) An employer who is paying wages in violation of this
section may not, in order to comply with this section, reduce the
wage of an employee.
(e) A labor organization or its agents representing
employees of an employer who has employees subject to this chapter
may not cause or attempt to cause the employer to discriminate
against an employee in violation of Subsection (a).
(f) The Commission on Human Rights by rule shall adopt
guidelines specifying the criteria for determining whether a job is
dominated by employees of a particular race, color, disability,
religion, sex, national origin, or age. The criteria must include:
(1) whether the job has ever been formally classified
as a "male" or "female" job or a "white" or "minority" job;
(2) whether there is a history of discrimination
against persons in a protected class with regard to wages,
assignment, access to jobs, or other terms and conditions of
employment; and
(3) the demographic composition of the workforce in
equivalent jobs.
(g) The guidelines adopted under Subsection (f) may include
a list of jobs.
Sec. 24.003. OTHER PROHIBITED ACTS. It is an unlawful
employment practice in violation of this chapter and Chapter 21
for an employer to:
(1) take an adverse action or otherwise discriminate
against a person because the person has:
(A) opposed an act or practice made unlawful by
this chapter;
(B) sought to enforce rights protected under
this chapter; or
(C) testified, assisted, or participated in any
manner in an investigation, hearing, or other proceeding to enforce
this chapter; or
(2) discharge or in any other manner discriminate
against, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with an
employee or other person because the person:
(A) inquired about, disclosed, compared, or
otherwise discussed an employee's wages; or
(B) exercised or enjoyed, or aided or encouraged
another person to exercise or enjoy, any right granted or protected
by this chapter.
Sec. 24.004. WAGE DISCLOSURE, RECORDKEEPING, AND REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS. (a) On the request of an employee, and not more
than once annually thereafter, each employer subject to this
chapter shall provide to each employee a written statement
sufficient to inform the employee of the employee's job title and
wage rate and the method used to compute the employee's wage. On
the employee's request, the employer shall supplement the notice
when the employee is promoted, receives a raise, or is reassigned
to a different position with the employer. The employer is not
required to issue supplemental notices for a temporary reassignment
for a term that does not exceed three months.
(b) The Texas Workforce Commission shall submit the
information contained in quarterly unemployment insurance records
on an annual basis to the Commission on Human Rights. The
Commission on Human Rights shall maintain the records on file for a
period not to exceed five years. The Commission on Human Rights
shall adopt rules that protect the confidentiality of employees and
shall expressly require that the reports not include names or other
identifying information from which a person could discern the
identity of an employee. The rules may also specify circumstances
that warrant a prohibition on disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code, of the report or of information identifying the
employer.
(c) The Commission on Human Rights may use the information
collected under Subsection (b) for statistical and research
purposes and may compile and publish studies, analyses, reports,
and surveys based on that information as considered appropriate by
that commission.
(d) The Commission on Human Rights shall issue a report to
the legislature before the start of each regular legislative
session on the extent and nature of wage discrimination from
information gathered under this section and from complaints
received by the commission.
Sec. 24.005. COMPLAINT; ENFORCEMENT. (a) A person aggrieved
by an unlawful employment practice under this chapter may file a
complaint with the Commission on Human Rights. A complaint filed
under this section is subject to Subchapters E and F, Chapter 21.
(b) The Commission on Human Rights shall enforce this
chapter in accordance with Chapter 21.
(c) The Commission on Human Rights may request any employer
subject to a complaint under this chapter to compile records that
contain:
(1) the wage paid to each employee; and
(2) the method, system, computations, and other
factors used to establish, adjust, and determine the wage rates
paid to the employee.
SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
(b) Section 24.005, Labor Code, as added by this Act, takes
effect January 1, 2003.