| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to a database of employers penalized for failure to pay |
|
|
wages or convicted of certain criminal offenses involving wage |
|
|
theft. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 301.0705 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 301.0705. DATABASE REGARDING WAGE THEFT. (a) In this |
|
|
section: |
|
|
(1) "Attorney representing the state" means a district |
|
|
attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney |
|
|
performing the duties of a district attorney. |
|
|
(2) "Employee" and "employer" have the meanings |
|
|
assigned by Section 61.001. |
|
|
(b) The commission shall make available on its Internet |
|
|
website a publicly accessible list of all employers in this state |
|
|
that have been: |
|
|
(1) assessed an administrative penalty under Section |
|
|
61.053; |
|
|
(2) ordered to pay wages by a final order of the |
|
|
commission and have failed to comply with Section 61.063; or |
|
|
(3) convicted of an offense under: |
|
|
(A) Section 61.019; or |
|
|
(B) Section 31.04, Penal Code, if the offense |
|
|
involved the theft of a service that was rendered by an employee of |
|
|
the employer. |
|
|
(c) For an employer that is a business entity, the database |
|
|
must include the name under which the entity operates and the name |
|
|
of each individual who is an owner of the entity and actively |
|
|
involved in the management of the entity. |
|
|
(d) The commission must provide notice to an employer not |
|
|
later than the 180th day before the date the employer is listed in |
|
|
the database. |
|
|
(e) The commission by rule shall establish a process by |
|
|
which an employer may, at any time after receiving notice under |
|
|
Subsection (d), dispute the employer's inclusion in the database. |
|
|
The process must require the commission to investigate and make a |
|
|
final determination regarding an employer dispute under this |
|
|
subsection not later than the 21st day after the date the dispute is |
|
|
filed. |
|
|
(f) The commission shall list an employer in the database |
|
|
until the third anniversary of the date the penalty is assessed or |
|
|
the employer is convicted. |
|
|
(g) An attorney representing the state shall report to the |
|
|
commission the name of each employer that is prosecuted and |
|
|
convicted in the attorney's jurisdiction of an offense described by |
|
|
Subsection (b)(3). |
|
|
(h) For purposes of this section, a person has been |
|
|
convicted of an offense if the person was adjudged guilty of the |
|
|
offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for |
|
|
a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless |
|
|
of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether |
|
|
the sentence was probated and the person was subsequently |
|
|
discharged from community supervision. |
|
|
(i) This section does not impose any additional requirement |
|
|
on a contractor performing work under a contract that is subject to: |
|
|
(1) Chapter 2258, Government Code; or |
|
|
(2) the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 3141 et |
|
|
seq.) or another federal law that makes the Davis-Bacon Act |
|
|
applicable to the contract. |
|
|
SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies |
|
|
only to an administrative penalty assessed on or after the |
|
|
effective date of this Act. An administrative penalty assessed |
|
|
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in |
|
|
effect on the date the penalty was assessed, and the former law is |
|
|
continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a |
|
|
criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective date |
|
|
of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commences before the |
|
|
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the |
|
|
date the proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in |
|
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
|
(c) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a |
|
|
final order of the Texas Workforce Commission entered on or after |
|
|
the effective date of this Act. A final order entered before the |
|
|
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the |
|
|
date the order was entered, and the former law is continued in |
|
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2021, the Texas |
|
|
Workforce Commission shall establish the database required by |
|
|
Section 301.0705, Labor Code, as added by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |