Senator Rodríguez files bills to protect workers and support good employers

Senator José Rodríguez filed five bills to protect Texas workers from unfair employment practices and dangerous working conditions. This package of bills would specifically discourage wage theft and employer retaliation, as well as ensure safer working conditions and injury coverage in the construction industry. If passed, these new laws will protect employees and level the playing field so that good employers are not penalized by unfair competition from unscrupulous employers.

“Texas is one of the most dangerous places in the nation for workers in the construction industry, and unfortunately, too many of these workers have a hard time collecting owed wages,” Rodríguez said. “These bills go a long way toward ensuring better treatment for workers. In a state that values hard work as we do, this is something that all Texans should embrace.”

Said Maxie Gallardo, Senior Policy Analyst for the Workers Defense Project: “These bills will create a safe and sustainable industry so that we can all benefit as Texas prospers. We look forward to working with Senator Rodriguez, who has stood with Workers Defense Project in the past to ensure that working families can thrive in our growing economy.”

The bills filed by Senator Rodríguez are as follows:

 

S.B. 151 would provide workers protection from employer retaliation when they report theft of wages.

  • A study by Workers Defense Project (WDP) in collaboration with the University of Texas found that one out of every five construction workers has experienced wage theft, and 30 percent of Texas construction workers reported that they had suffered retaliation from their employers, including threats, dismissal, pay cuts, reduced hours, violence, or being assigned more difficult work tasks.
  • Texas law does not provide specific protections from retaliation for workers who have reported a wage theft, and the lack of consequences for employers who retaliate against their workers only serves to make workers who are most vulnerable to wage theft even more vulnerable.
  • Under S.B. 151, if an employee is subject to retaliation, he or she would have a cause of action in state court against the employer. The bill also provides that the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) may investigate allegations of wage theft and assess a penalty if it finds the employer engaged in prohibited retaliation.

 

S.B. 152 would provide clear consequence for employers who in bad faith violate the Texas Pay Day Act, which simply requires that workers be paid for their work.

  • Under current law, the TWC is charged with enforcing the Pay Day Act. The law provides that an administrative penalty “may” be administered by TWC when investigators determine that an employer has acted in bad faith in failing to pay workers. This penalty is the lesser of $1,000 or the amount of the wages in question.
  • However, the TWC rarely uses this bad faith penalty. In 2012, TWC assessed the bad faith penalty on less than 12 percent of cases where they awarded wages to the employee (a total of 1028 cases). In previous years, the bad faith penalty was used significantly less; for example, in 2009, it was applied in only 86 cases.
  • S.B. 152 will change the “may” to a “shall.”  TWC will still have discretion to determine when an employer has acted in bad faith, but the bill ensures that upon a bad faith finding, the employer will receive a penalty.

 

S.B. 153 would give workers more time to file a claim of wage theft against their employers.

  • Under current law, a wage claim must be filed with the TWC “no later than the 180th day the wages became due for payment.”
  • Workers often miss this 180-day filing deadline simply because they are not familiar with the TWC. In fact, according to WDP’s study, 77 percent of construction workers had not even heard of the TWC.
  • Extending the TWC filing deadline to two years would also bring Texas law in line with the U.S. Department of Labor’s rules, which also allow a worker two years to file.
  • S.B. 153 would require that a wage claim be filed within two years of when withheld wages were due, instead of 180 days after they were due.

 

S.B. 154 would require construction workers to be provided a 15-minute rest break in addition to lunch.

  • WDP found that 41 percent of construction workers do not receive rest breaks.
  • While neither federal nor Texas law requires breaks, laws in at least 12 other states do. Considering Texas’ tremendous heat during the summer months, denying regular breaks can be deadly. In fact, over the past decade, in Occupational Safety and Health Administration Region 6, which includes Texas, at least 33 workers died due to heat-related illness, and more than 3,000 workers suffered non-fatal heat-related illnesses.

 

S.B. 155 would require all construction contractors and subcontractors to provide workers’ compensation to their employees.

  • The construction industry is vital to the Texas economy, accounting for more than five percent of the state’s output and employing nearly one million construction workers. However, Texas has the most dangerous construction industry in the United States. Between 2007 and 2011, 585 Texas construction workers died from workplace injuries, compared with 299 in California, which had a larger construction workforce. Between 2003 and 2010, construction accounted for about six percent of the Texas workforce, but 26 percent of workplace fatalities.
  • At the same time, construction workers account for a disproportionate share of uncompensated care costs in Texas hospitals. While construction workers make up roughly six percent of the workforce, hospital data suggest that they account for nearly 20 percent of work-related uncompensated care costs in Texas emergency rooms.

***

José Rodríguez represents Texas Senate District 29, which includes the counties of El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Jeff Davis, and Presidio. He represents both urban and rural constituencies, and more than 350 miles of the Texas-Mexico border. Senator Rodríguez currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the Senate Jurisprudence Committee, and a member of the Senate Committees on Criminal Justice, Veteran Affairs and Military Installations, and Government Organization.

-30-

« »