LABOR CODE
CHAPTER 52. MISCELLANEOUS RESTRICTIONS
SUBCHAPTER A. RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN CONSECUTIVE PERIODS OF
EMPLOYMENT
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
§ 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Civil Statutes), before that Act was repealed effective September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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER B. RESTRICTION ON WORK BY FOREIGN CREW
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER C. RESTRICTIONS ON LENGTH OF HOES
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER D. RESTRICTIONS ON BLACKLISTING
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER E. RESTRICTIONS ON COERCION OF EMPLOYEE TRADE
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
SUBCHAPTER F. RESTRICTIONS ON PENALIZING EMPLOYEE FOR COMPLIANCE
WITH SUBPOENA
§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
