| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to required rest and meal breaks for certain employees; |
|
|
authorizing an administrative assessment. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Chapter 53 to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 53. REQUIRED REST AND MEAL BREAKS |
|
|
Sec. 53.001. PAID REST BREAK REQUIRED. (a) An employer |
|
|
shall provide to each employee a paid rest break of at least 10 |
|
|
minutes for every 3.5 hours of work. |
|
|
(b) The employer may not require the paid rest break to be |
|
|
taken as part of a separate meal break. |
|
|
Sec. 53.002. MEAL BREAK REQUIRED. An employer shall |
|
|
provide to each employee a meal break of at least 30 minutes for |
|
|
every 7.5 hours of work. |
|
|
Sec. 53.003. EXCEPTION. This chapter does not apply to an |
|
|
employee who: |
|
|
(1) is the only employee on duty; or |
|
|
(2) is covered by a collective bargaining agreement. |
|
|
Sec. 53.004. NOTICE. (a) Each employer shall notify its |
|
|
employees of their rights under this chapter by posting an |
|
|
appropriately worded sign in a prominent place in the employer's |
|
|
workplace. |
|
|
(b) The Texas Workforce Commission by rule shall prescribe |
|
|
the design and content of the sign required under Subsection (a). |
|
|
Sec. 53.005. COMPLAINT; HEARING; COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT. |
|
|
(a) Any employee aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may file |
|
|
a claim with the commission in the manner prescribed by Subchapter |
|
|
D, Chapter 61. |
|
|
(b) On receipt of a complaint, the commission shall |
|
|
investigate and dispose of the complaint in the same manner as a |
|
|
wage claim under Subchapter D, Chapter 61. |
|
|
(c) An employer who is found by the commission, by a |
|
|
preponderance of the evidence, to have violated this chapter is |
|
|
liable to the commission for an assessment in an amount equal to the |
|
|
employee's hourly wage rate multiplied by the number of rest breaks |
|
|
or meal breaks to which the employee was entitled that were not |
|
|
provided by the employer. The commission shall remit an assessment |
|
|
collected under this subsection to the employee. |
|
|
(d) A complaint under this section must be brought not later |
|
|
than the 180th day after the date of the violation. |
|
|
Sec. 53.006. RULES. The commission shall adopt rules as |
|
|
necessary to implement this chapter. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 203.202(a), Labor Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Money in the special administration fund may be spent in |
|
|
accordance with this subtitle and may be used: |
|
|
(1) to pay the cost of reimbursing the benefit account |
|
|
in the compensation fund for benefits paid to former employees of |
|
|
this state that are based on service for this state, and the cost of |
|
|
construction and purchase of buildings and land necessary for that |
|
|
administration; |
|
|
(2) in the administration of Chapters 51, 61, [and] |
|
|
62, and 53; |
|
|
(3) for payment of interest on advances from the |
|
|
federal trust fund; |
|
|
(4) as a revolving fund to cover expenditures that are |
|
|
necessary and proper under this subtitle and for which federal |
|
|
funds have been requested but not received, subject to the charging |
|
|
of the expenditures against the federal funds when received; |
|
|
(5) to refund a penalty as provided by Section |
|
|
203.203; and |
|
|
(6) subject to the provisions of Chapter 2107, |
|
|
Government Code, to pay persons who contract with the commission to |
|
|
collect delinquent unemployment taxes, penalties, and interest |
|
|
owed under this subtitle. |
|
|
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than December 1, 2019, the Texas |
|
|
Workforce Commission shall: |
|
|
(1) prescribe the design and content of the sign |
|
|
required by Section 53.004(b), Labor Code, as added by this Act; and |
|
|
(2) adopt rules necessary to implement Chapter 53, |
|
|
Labor Code, as added by this Act. |
|
|
(b) This section takes effect September 1, 2019. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Except as provided by Section 3 of this Act, this |
|
|
Act takes effect January 1, 2020. |