88R3248 KKR-F
 
  By: Collier H.B. No. 404
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to requiring certain employers to provide paid leave to
  employees; providing civil and administrative penalties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle D, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by
  adding Chapter 83 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 83. EARNED PAID LEAVE
         Sec. 83.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Commission" means the Texas Workforce
  Commission.
               (2)  "Employee" means a person employed by an employer.
  The term does not include a person who is:
                     (A)  an unpaid volunteer;
                     (B)  an independent contractor; or
                     (C)  a participant in a work-study program that
  provides employment opportunities for compensation or vocational
  training to students attending a secondary or post-secondary
  educational institution.
               (3)  "Employer" means a person who is engaged in an
  industry affecting commerce and who has 50 or more employees for
  each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current
  or preceding calendar year.
         Sec. 83.002.  APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
  not apply to:
               (1)  an employee who is:
                     (A)  entitled to unemployment benefits or
  allowances under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C.
  Section 351 et seq.);
                     (B)  covered under the Railway Labor Act (45
  U.S.C. Section 151 et seq.); or
                     (C)  employed by the employee's parent, spouse, or
  child; or
               (2)  an employer who is:
                     (A)  a state agency or political subdivision, as
  those terms are defined by Section 21.002;
                     (B)  an agency of the federal government; or
                     (C)  a charitable or religious organization
  exempt from taxation under Section 501(c), Internal Revenue Code of
  1986.
         Sec. 83.003.  PAID LEAVE REQUIRED. (a) Each employer shall
  provide paid leave annually to each employee in this state under the
  terms of this chapter.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an employer with not
  more than 75 employees is not required to provide paid leave under
  this chapter before the second anniversary of the date the employer
  hires the employer's first employee.
         Sec. 83.004.  PAID LEAVE ACCRUAL AND CARRYOVER. (a) Paid
  leave under this chapter accrues beginning on the date of hire:
               (1)  at a rate of one hour of paid leave for each 30
  hours worked by an employee; and
               (2)  up to a maximum of 40 hours per calendar year.
         (b)  Each employee is entitled to carry over not more than 40
  unused accrued hours of paid leave from the current calendar year to
  the following calendar year unless the employer elects to:
               (1)  pay the employee for any unused paid leave at the
  end of the year at the rate described by Section 83.007; or
               (2)  make available to the employee at the beginning of
  the year the entire amount of paid leave that the employee is
  expected to accrue during the year as provided by Section
  83.005(d).
         (c)  Leave hours carried over from a previous calendar year
  must be immediately available to the employee in the following
  calendar year.
         Sec. 83.005.  ENTITLEMENT TO USE PAID LEAVE; LIMITATIONS.
  (a) An employee is entitled to use accrued paid leave under this
  chapter 90 calendar days after the date of hire, unless the employer
  agrees to an earlier date.
         (b)  An employee is not entitled to use accrued paid leave
  under this chapter if the employee did not work an average of 18 or
  more hours a week for the employer in the most recent complete
  calendar year.
         (c)  An employee is not entitled to use more than 40 hours of
  accrued paid leave under this chapter in any calendar year.
         (d)  An employer may make immediately available to an
  employee at the beginning of a year, quarter, or other period the
  entire amount of paid leave that the employee is expected to accrue
  during the year, quarter, or other period.
         (e)  At the employer's discretion, an employer may loan paid
  leave time to an employee in advance of accrual by the employee.
         (f)  On the mutual consent of the employee and employer, an
  employee who chooses to work additional hours or shifts during the
  same or following pay period, instead of hours or shifts missed,
  does not use accrued paid leave.
         (g)  Unless an employee policy or collective bargaining
  agreement provides for the payment of accrued fringe benefits on
  termination, an employee is not entitled to payment of unused
  accrued paid leave under this chapter on termination of employment.
         Sec. 83.006.  EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE. (a) An employer is
  considered to be in compliance with this chapter if the employer
  offers one or more other types of paid leave that:
               (1)  may be used for any purpose; and
               (2)  accrues at a rate equal to or greater than the rate
  described by Section 83.004.
         (b)  For the purposes of this section, other types of paid
  leave include paid vacation, personal days, and paid time off.
         Sec. 83.007.  PAY RATE FOR LEAVE. (a) Each employer shall
  pay each employee for paid leave time taken at a pay rate equal to
  the normal hourly wage for that employee.
         (b)  For any employee whose hourly wage varies depending on
  the work performed by the employee, the normal hourly wage is
  considered to be the average hourly wage of the employee in the pay
  period preceding the pay period in which the employee uses paid
  leave.
         (c)  If an employee receives gratuity in the course of
  employment to the extent that the gratuity is considered wages in
  the computation of taxes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (26
  U.S.C. Section 3301 et seq.), the employee's normal hourly wage may
  not be less than the amount required by Section 62.051.
         (d)  If the employee's normal hourly wage cannot be
  determined, the employer shall pay the employee for leave under
  this chapter at an hourly wage that may not be less than the amount
  required by Section 62.051.
         Sec. 83.008.  USE OF PAID LEAVE. An employee may use paid
  leave accrued under this chapter for any purpose and is not required
  to disclose to the employer the reason for taking leave.
         Sec. 83.009.  NOTICE TO EMPLOYER. (a) If an employee's need
  to use paid leave under this chapter is foreseeable, an employer may
  require advance notice of the intention to use paid leave under this
  chapter but may not require the employee to give notice more than
  seven days before the date the leave is to begin.
         (b)  If an employee's need for paid leave is not foreseeable,
  an employer may require the employee to give notice of the
  employee's intention to use paid leave under this chapter as soon as
  practicable.
         Sec. 83.010.  NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES. (a) Each employer
  subject to this chapter shall, at the time of hiring, provide notice
  in both English and Spanish to each employee:
               (1)  of the employee's entitlement to paid leave, the
  amount of paid leave provided to employees, and the terms under
  which paid leave may be used under this chapter;
               (2)  that retaliation by the employer against the
  employee for requesting or using paid leave to which the employee is
  entitled is prohibited; and
               (3)  that the employee has a right to file a complaint
  with the commission or bring a civil action for damages for any
  violation of this chapter.
         (b)  An employer may comply with this section by displaying a
  poster in a conspicuous place, accessible to employees, at the
  employer's place of business that contains in both English and
  Spanish the information required by this section.
         (c)  The notice under this section must also be provided in a
  language other than English or Spanish if that language is the first
  language spoken by at least 30 percent of the employer's workforce.
         (d)  The commission may adopt rules to establish additional
  requirements concerning the means by which employers provide notice
  required under this section.
         Sec. 83.011.  BREAK IN SERVICE. (a) Termination of an
  employee's employment by an employer, regardless of whether
  voluntary or involuntary, is considered a break in service for
  purposes of this chapter.
         (b)  An employee who is subsequently rehired by the employer
  following a break in service:
               (1)  begins to accrue paid leave under this chapter;
  and
               (2)  is not entitled to any unused hours of paid leave
  that had accrued before the employee's break in service, unless the
  employee is rehired within 30 days of separation or the employer
  agrees to reinstate some or all of the employee's previously
  accrued paid leave.
         Sec. 83.012.  TRANSFER OF EMPLOYEE. (a) The transfer of an
  employee to a separate division, entity, or location of the same
  employer is not considered to be a break in service for purposes of
  this chapter.
         (b)  Following a transfer described by Subsection (a), the
  transferred employee is entitled to:
               (1)  retain all accrued paid leave under this chapter;
  and
               (2)  immediately access the retained paid leave time
  without any waiting period, except that the employee remains
  subject to any remaining period of the initial waiting period
  described by Section 83.005(a), if applicable.
         Sec. 83.013.  SUCCESSOR EMPLOYER. If an employer succeeds
  or takes the place of an existing employer, each employee of the
  former employer who is employed by the successor is entitled to:
               (1)  retain all accrued paid leave under this chapter;
  and
               (2)  immediately access the retained paid leave time
  without any waiting period, except that the employee remains
  subject to any remaining period of the initial waiting period
  described by Section 83.005(a), if applicable.
         Sec. 83.014.  LIMITATIONS OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
  not:
               (1)  prevent an employer from providing more paid leave
  than is required under this chapter;
               (2)  prohibit an employer that provides paid leave in
  addition to the paid leave required under this chapter from
  restricting the purposes for which an employee may take that
  additional leave; or
               (3)  diminish any rights provided to any employee under
  a collective bargaining agreement.
         Sec. 83.015.  COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT. A collective
  bargaining agreement may waive the requirements of this chapter by
  clear and unambiguous language within the agreement.
         Sec. 83.016.  RETALIATION PROHIBITED. An employer may not
  take retaliatory personnel action or otherwise discriminate
  against an employee because the employee:
               (1)  requests or uses paid leave in accordance with
  this chapter; or
               (2)  files a complaint with the commission alleging the
  employer's violation of this chapter.
         Sec. 83.017.  COMPLAINT; HEARING; PENALTY. (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 Section 83.016 is
  liable to the commission for an administrative penalty of $500 for
  each violation.
         (d)  An employer who is found by the commission, by a
  preponderance of the evidence, to have violated a provision under
  this chapter other than Section 83.016 is liable to the commission
  for an administrative penalty of not more than $100 for each
  violation.
         (e)  The commission may award the employee all appropriate
  relief, including payment for used paid leave, rehiring or
  reinstatement to the employee's previous job, payment of back
  wages, and reestablishment of employee benefits for which the
  employee otherwise would have been eligible if the employee had not
  been subject to retaliatory personnel action or other
  discrimination.
         (f)  A party may appeal a final decision of the commission by
  filing suit in district court.
         Sec. 83.018.  CIVIL ACTION BY EMPLOYEE. (a) An employee
  aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action to
  enforce rights protected by this chapter, including an action for
  appropriate injunctive relief, in the district court in the county
  in which the alleged violation occurred or in which the alleged
  violator's residence or principal place of business is located.
         (b)  An action under this section must be brought not later
  than the third anniversary of the date of the violation.
         (c)  The employer of an employee who prevails in a civil
  action under this section is liable to the affected employee for
  damages equal to the amount of any wages, salary, employment
  benefits, or other compensation denied or lost to the employee by
  reason of the violation or, if wages, salary, employment benefits,
  or other compensation has not been denied or lost, any actual
  monetary losses sustained by the employee as a direct result of the
  violation.
         (d)  An employer described by Subsection (c) is also liable
  for equitable relief as appropriate, including reinstatement and
  promotion.
         (e)  In addition to any judgment awarded to an employee, the
  court may require the employer to pay reasonable attorney's fees,
  reasonable expert witness fees, and other costs.
         SECTION 2.  (a) The change in law made by this Act applies to
  an employee hired on or after January 1, 2025. For an employee
  hired before January 1, 2025, paid leave under Chapter 83, Labor
  Code, as added by this Act, begins to accrue on that date, and the
  employee may begin to use the paid leave 90 calendar days after that
  date, unless the employer agrees to an earlier date.
         (b)  Chapter 83, Labor Code, as added by this Act, does not
  preempt or override the terms of any collective bargaining
  agreement effective before January 1, 2025.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2025.