78R832 JMM-D

By:  Dutton                                                       H.B. No. 371



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain restrictions on the arbitration of an 
employment dispute.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by 
adding Chapter 26 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 26.  MANDATORY ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS
	Sec. 26.001.  MANDATORY ARBITRATION PROHIBITED FOR NEW 
EMPLOYEES.  An employer may not require an at-will employee to agree 
to mandatory arbitration as a condition of employment before the 
91st day after the date on which the employee begins the employment.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                      
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to an 
employer requiring arbitration as a condition of employment for an 
employee who begins employment on or after the effective date of 
this Act.  An employer requiring arbitration as a condition of 
employment for an employee who began employment before that date is 
governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date 
of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that 
purpose.