79R9108 KSD-D

By:  Pena                                                         H.B. No. 2277



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to an employment agreement that requires an employee to 
waive the right to demand a jury trial.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by 
adding Chapter 25 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 25. RESTRICTIONS ON EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
	Sec. 25.001.  WAIVER OF RIGHT TO DEMAND JURY TRIAL 
PROHIBITED.  Notwithstanding any other law, an employment agreement 
under which an employee is required to waive, as a condition of 
employment, the employee's right to demand a jury trial is void and 
against the public policy of this state unless the employment 
agreement provides for arbitration.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 25, Labor Code, as added by this Act, 
applies only to an employment agreement entered into on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  An employment agreement entered into 
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in 
effect on the date the agreement was entered into, and the former 
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.