2005 Texas Labor Code CHAPTER 52. MISCELLANEOUS RESTRICTIONS

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Civil Statutes), before that Act was repealed effective September 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.