CHAPTER 52. MISCELLANEOUS RESTRICTIONS
LABOR CODE
TITLE 2. PROTECTION OF LABORERS
SUBTITLE B. RESTRICTIONS ON LABOR
CHAPTER 52. MISCELLANEOUS RESTRICTIONS
SUBCHAPTER A. RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN CONSECUTIVE PERIODS OF
EMPLOYMENT
Sec. 52.001. RETAIL EMPLOYER. (a) A person who is an employer
may not require an employee to work seven consecutive days in an
establishment, the business of which is selling merchandise at
retail.
(b) The person may not deny an employee at least one period of
24 consecutive hours of time off for rest or worship in each
seven-day period. The time off must be in addition to the regular
periods of rest allowed during each day worked.
(c) The person shall accommodate the religious beliefs and
practices of an employee unless the employer can demonstrate that
to do so would constitute an undue hardship on the conduct of the
employer's business. In addition, the person may not require an
employee to work during a period that the employee requests to be
off to attend one regular worship service a week of the
employee's religion.
(d) This section does not apply to employment of a part-time
employee whose total work hours for one employer during a
calendar week do not exceed 30 hours.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Sec. 52.002. EMPLOYER FORMERLY SUBJECT TO SATURDAY/SUNDAY
CLOSING LAW. An employer whose establishment was closed on
Saturday or Sunday to comply with Chapter 15, Acts of the 57th
Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1961 (Article 9001, Vernon's
Texas Civil Statutes), before that Act was repealed effective
September 1, 1985, may not require an employee who has been
continuously employed by that employer since August 31, 1985, to
work on whichever of those days the establishment was closed.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Sec. 52.003. OFFENSE; PENALTY; DEFENSE. (a) A person commits
an offense if the person violates this subchapter.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section that the employee volunteered for work on the seventh
consecutive day and that the employee signed a written statement
stating that the employee volunteered. The statement must also
contain a provision, signed by the employer or the employer's
agent, that the employer did not require the work.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER B. RESTRICTION ON WORK BY FOREIGN CREW
Sec. 52.011. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN WORK BY FOREIGN CREW;
PENALTY. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) is an officer or member of a crew of a foreign seagoing
vessel; and
(2) works on a wharf or levee of a port beyond the end of the
vessel's tackle.
(b) An offense under this section is punishable by:
(1) a fine of not less than $10 and not more than $100;
(2) confinement in jail for a term of not less than 10 days and
not more than 30 days; or
(3) both the fine and confinement.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER C. RESTRICTIONS ON LENGTH OF HOES
Sec. 52.021. MINIMUM LENGTH OF HOE HANDLES. (a) An employer of
agricultural laborers may not require an employee to use a hoe
that has a handle shorter than four feet while performing
agricultural labor in a commercial farming operation.
(b) This section does not apply to an employer engaged in the
operation of a greenhouse or nursery.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Sec. 52.022. OFFENSE; PENALTY. (a) A person commits an offense
if the person violates Section 52.021.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER D. RESTRICTIONS ON BLACKLISTING
Sec. 52.031. BLACKLISTING OFFENSE; PENALTY. (a) In this
section, "blacklist" means to place on a book or list or publish
the name of an employee of an individual, firm, company, or
corporation who was discharged or who voluntarily left that
employment, intending to prevent the employee from engaging in or
securing employment of any kind with any other person, in either
a public or a private capacity.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) blacklists or causes to be blacklisted an employee; or
(2) conspires or contrives by correspondence or any other manner
to prevent an employee discharged by a corporation, company, or
individual from procuring employment.
(c) An offense under this section is punishable by:
(1) a fine of not less than $50 or more than $250;
(2) imprisonment in jail for not less than 30 days or more than
90 days; or
(3) both the fine and imprisonment.
(d) This section may not be held to prohibit a corporation,
company, or individual from giving, on application from a
discharged employee or a person desiring to employ the employee,
a written truthful statement of the reason for the discharge. The
written statement may not be used as the cause for a civil or
criminal action for libel against the person who furnishes the
statement.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER E. RESTRICTIONS ON COERCION OF EMPLOYEE TRADE
Sec. 52.041. COERCION OF EMPLOYEE TRADE; PENALTY. (a) A
person, firm, or corporation commits an offense if the person,
firm, or corporation requires or attempts to require by coercion
an employee to:
(1) deal with a person, association, corporation, or company; or
(2) purchase an article of food, clothing, or other merchandise
at a place or store.
(b) A person, firm, or corporation commits an offense if the
person, firm, or corporation excludes from work, punishes, or
blacklists an employee for failure to:
(1) deal with the person, firm, or corporation; or
(2) purchase an article of food, clothing, or other merchandise
at a place or store.
(c) An offense under this section is punishable by a fine of not
less than $50 or more than $200.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER F. RESTRICTIONS ON PENALIZING EMPLOYEE FOR COMPLIANCE
WITH SUBPOENA
Sec. 52.051. PENALIZING EMPLOYEE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH SUBPOENA.
(a) An employer may not discharge, discipline, or penalize in
any manner an employee because the employee complies with a valid
subpoena to appear in a civil, criminal, legislative, or
administrative proceeding.
(b) If the subpoena to which a violation of Subsection (a)
applies is issued by a court, the employer violating Subsection
(a) may be found in contempt by the court issuing the subpoena.
(c) If the subpoena to which a violation of Subsection (a)
applies is issued by a legislative committee or a state agency,
the employer violating Subsection (a) is subject to the authority
of the committee or agency to impose a monetary penalty, not to
exceed $500, on a person who violates an order of the committee
or agency.
(d) An employee discharged in violation of this section is
entitled to return to the same employment that the employee had
at the time the employee was subpoenaed if the employee, as soon
as practical after release from compliance with the subpoena,
gives the employer actual notice that the employee intends to
return.
(e) An employee injured because of the violation of this section
by an employer may recover:
(1) damages in an amount that does not exceed six months'
compensation at the rate at which the employee was compensated
when the subpoena was issued; and
(2) reasonable attorney's fees.
(f) It is a defense to an action by an employee under this
section for reemployment that reemployment is impossible or
unreasonable because of a change in the employer's circumstances
while the employee complied with the subpoena.
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.