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LABOR CODE

TITLE 2. PROTECTION OF LABORERS

SUBTITLE C. WAGES

CHAPTER 62. MINIMUM WAGE

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 62.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the

Texas Minimum Wage Act.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter, unless the context

requires a different definition:

(1) Repealed by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 506, Sec.

5.35(10), eff. September 1, 2009.

(2) "Agriculture" includes:

(A) farming in all its branches;

(B) cultivating and tilling the soil;

(D) producing, cultivating, growing, and harvesting an

agricultural or horticultural commodity, including a commodity

defined as an agricultural commodity by Section 15(g),

Agricultural Marketing Act (12 U.S.C. Section 1141j(g));

(E) raising livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry;

and

(F) any practice performed by a farmer or on a farm as an

incident to or in conjunction with farming operations, including:

(i) forestry or lumber operations;

(ii) preparation for market; and

(iii) delivery to storage, market, or a carrier for

transportation to market.

(3) "Commission" means the Texas Employment Commission.

(4) "Employ" includes to permit to work.

(5) "Employee" includes any individual employed by an employer.

(6) "Employer" includes a person acting directly or indirectly

in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.

(7) "Person" means an individual, partnership, association,

corporation, business trust, legal representative, or any

organized group of persons.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

506, Sec. 5.35(10), eff. September 1, 2009.

Sec. 62.003. EARNINGS STATEMENT. (a) At the end of each pay

period, an employer shall give each employee a written earnings

statement covering the pay period.

(b) An earnings statement must be signed by the employer or the

employer's agent and must show:

(1) the name of the employee;

(2) the rate of pay;

(3) the total amount of pay earned by the employee during the

pay period;

(4) any deduction made from the employee's pay and the purpose

of the deduction;

(5) the amount of pay after all deductions are made; and

(6) the total number of:

(A) hours worked by the employee if the employee's pay is

computed by the hour; or

(B) units produced by the employee during the pay period if the

employee's pay is computed on a piece rate

employer. The information required by Subsection (b) may be

stated on a check voucher or bank draft given to an employee for

the employee's wages.

(d) In this section, "pay period" means the period that an

employee works for which salary or wages are regularly paid under

the employee's employment agreement.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 461, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Sec. 62.004. PROVISION OF INFORMATION. The commission shall

provide information to the public about this chapter to ensure

that both employers and employees in this state are fully aware

of:

(1) their respective rights and responsibilities;

(2) the specified exemptions; and

(3) the penalties and liabilities that may be incurred for a

violation of this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.005. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING NOT IMPAIRED. This chapter

does not interfere with or in any way diminish the right of

employees to bargain collectively with their employer through

representatives chosen by the employees to establish wages that

exceed the applicable minimum wage under this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

SUBCHAPTER B. MINIMUM WAGE

Sec. 62.051. MINIMUM WAGE. Except as provided by Section

62.057, an employer shall pay to each employee the federal

minimum wage under Section 6, Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

(29 U.S.C. Section 206).

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 386, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 461, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Sec. 62.0515. APPLICATION OF MINIMUM WAGE TO CERTAIN

GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES; CERTAIN AGREEMENTS WITH GOVERNMENTAL

ENTITIES. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the

minimum wage provided by this chapter supersedes a wage

established in an ordinance, order, or charter provision

governing wages in private employment, other than wages under a

public contract.

(b) This section does not apply to any state or federal job

training or workforce development program.

a governmental entity that applies to a contract or agreement,

including a non-annexation agreement, entered into by a

governmental entity and a private entity. A private entity that

enters into a contract or agreement, including a non-annexation

agreement, with a governmental entity, under the terms of which

the private entity agrees to comply with a minimum wage

established by the governmental entity, is subject to the terms

of that contract or agreement, and those terms apply to and may

be enforced against a general contractor, subcontractor,

developer, and other person with which the private entity

contracts in order to comply with the provisions of the original

contract or agreement.

(d) For purposes of this section, "governmental entity" includes

a municipality, a county, a special district or authority, a

junior college district, or another political subdivision of this

state.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 461, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Sec. 62.052. TIPPED EMPLOYEES. (a) In determining the wage of

a tipped employee, the amount paid the employee by the employer

is the amount described as paid to a tipped employee under

Section 3(m), Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section

203(m)).

(b) In this section, "tipped employee" means an employee engaged

in an occupation in which the employee customarily and regularly

receives more than $20 a month in tips.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 386, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,

2001.

Sec. 62.053. COST OF MEALS OR LODGING. In computing the wage

paid to an employee, an employer may include the reasonable cost

to the employer of furnishing meals, lodging, or both to the

employee if:

(1) meals or lodging customarily are furnished by the employer

to employees; and

(2) the cost of the meals and lodging are separately stated and

identified in the earnings statement furnished to the employee

under Section 62.003.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.054. CERTAIN EMPLOYEES SUBJECT TO CALL. An employer may

not be required to pay an employee who lives on the premises of a

business and who is assigned certain working hours plus

additional hours when the employee is subject to call for more

than the number of hours the employee actually works or is on

duty because of assigned working hours.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.057. PATIENTS AND CLIENTS OF TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL

HEALTH AND MENTAL RETARDATION. (a) A person may be compensated

for services rendered to the Texas Department of Mental Health

and Mental Retardation or a department facility at a percentage

of the base wage adopted under this section if:

(1) the person is a patient or client of a department facility;

(2) the person's productive capacity is impaired;

(3) the person:

(A) assists in the operation of the facility as part of the

person's therapy; or

(B) receives occupational training in a sheltered workshop or

other program operated by the department; and

(4) the facility or department derives an economic benefit from

the person's services.

(b) The percentage of the base wage paid to a person under

Subsection (a) must correspond to the percentage of the person's

productive capacity compared with the capacity of an employee who

performs the same or similar tasks and who is not similarly

impaired.

and the percentage of productive capacity of the patients and

clients and other rules necessary to implement this section.

(d) Services rendered and payment provided under this section

may not be construed as creating an employer-employee

relationship between the department and the patient or client

engaged in occupational training or therapeutic or rehabilitative

services.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

SUBCHAPTER D. EXEMPTIONS

Sec. 62.151. PERSON COVERED BY FEDERAL ACT. This chapter and a

municipal ordinance or charter provision governing wages in

private employment, other than wages under a public contract, do

not apply to a person covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act of

1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.).

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 461, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Sec. 62.152. EMPLOYMENT BY RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL, CHARITABLE,

OR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. An employer is exempt from this

chapter with respect to the employment of a person who is:

(1) a member of a religious order while the person is performing

a service for or at the direction of the order;

(2) a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister, priest,

rabbi, sexton, or Christian Science reader while the person is

performing services in that capacity for a church, synagogue, or

religious organization;

(3) engaged in the activities of a religious, educational,

charitable, or nonprofit organization in which:

(A) the employer-employee relationship does not in fact exist;

(B) the services are rendered to the organization gratuitously;

(4) employed by the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of

America, or a local organization affiliated with those

organizations;

(5) employed by a camp of a religious, educational, charitable,

or nonprofit organization; or

(6) employed with the person's spouse by a nonprofit educational

institution to serve as the parents of a child:

(A) who is an orphan;

(B) one of whose natural parents is deceased; or

the institution, if the employee and the employee's spouse:

(i) reside in residential facilities of the institution; and

(ii) receive, without cost, board and lodging from the

institution.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.153. EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN PROFESSIONALS, SALESPERSONS,

AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS. An employer is exempt from this chapter

with respect to the employment of a person:

(1) employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or

professional capacity;

(2) employed as an outside salesperson or collector and paid a

commission; or

(3) who performs services for a political subdivision as an

elected official or as a member of a legislative body.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.154. DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENT. An employer is exempt from

this chapter with respect to the employment of a person who:

(1) performs domestic services in or about a private home,

including a person who performs the duties of baby-sitting in or

out of the employer's home; or

(2) lives in or about a private home and furnishes personal care

for a resident of the home.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.155. EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN YOUTHS AND STUDENTS. An

employer is exempt from this chapter with respect to the

employment of a person who:

(1) is less than 18 years of age and is not a high school

graduate or a graduate of a vocational training program, other

than a person who is employed in agriculture and whose pay is

computed on a piece rate;

(2) is less than 20 years of age and is a student regularly

enrolled in a high school, college, university, or vocational

training program, other than a person who is employed in

agriculture and whose pay is computed on a piece rate; or

(3) has a disability and who is:

(A) not more than 21 years of age;

(B) a client of vocational rehabilitation; and

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.156. EMPLOYMENT OF INMATES. An employer is exempt from

this chapter with respect to the employment of a person who

performs services while imprisoned in the institutional division

of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or while confined in

a local jail.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.157. EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS. An employer

is exempt from this chapter with respect to employment of the

employer's brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, child,

spouse, parent, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, ward, or person in

loco parentis to the employee.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.158. CERTAIN AMUSEMENT AND RECREATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS.

An employer is exempt from this chapter with respect to

employment in an amusement or recreational establishment that:

(1) does not operate for more than seven months in a calendar

year; or

(2) had average receipts for any six months of the preceding

calendar year of not more than 33-1/3 percent of its average

receipts for the other six months of the year.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.159. CERTAIN EMPLOYERS NOT CONTRIBUTING TO UNEMPLOYMENT

COMPENSATION FUND; CERTIFICATE. (a) An employer that is not

liable for payment of contributions to the unemployment

compensation fund under Subtitle A, Title 4, is exempt from this

chapter, except with respect to employment of a person in

agriculture.

(b) The commission shall furnish a certificate stating whether a

specified employer is liable for the payment of contributions to

the unemployment compensation fund under Subtitle A, Title 4, to

a person making a written request for a certificate. The

commission may require payment of a fee not to exceed $5 for the

issuance of the certificate.

evidence in an action brought by an employee under Subchapter E.

In the absence of evidence to the contrary:

(1) it is presumed that the facts stated in the certificate are

true; and

(2) the certificate is conclusive as to whether the named

employer is exempt from this chapter under this section.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.16, eff. Sept. 1,

1995.

Sec. 62.160. AGRICULTURAL EXEMPTIONS. (a) An employer is

exempt from this chapter with respect to employment of a person

in dairy farming.

(b) Sections 62.051-62.054 do not apply to an agricultural

employer with respect to an employee engaged in the production of

livestock.

(1) any livestock operation, without regard to size or type of

location, in which the land produces forage or feedstuffs,

including naturally or artificially revegetated forage or

feedstuffs;

(2) breeding, feeding, watering, containing, maintaining, and

caring for livestock;

(3) production of livestock in feedlots; and

(4) all other activities necessary or useful to the raising of

livestock.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

506, Sec. 5.34, eff. September 1, 2009.

Sec. 62.161. SHELTERED WORKSHOPS. A nonprofit charitable

organization that is engaged in evaluating, training, and

employment services for clients with disabilities and that

complies with federal regulations covering those activities is

considered to have complied with this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

SUBCHAPTER E. CIVIL PENALTY

Sec. 62.201. CIVIL PENALTY. An employer who violates Section

62.051, 62.052, 62.053, or 62.054 or Subchapter C is liable to an

affected employee in the amount of the unpaid wages plus an

additional equal amount as liquidated damages.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 461, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Sec. 62.202. LIMITATIONS. An action to recover a liability

imposed by this subchapter must be brought not later than the

second anniversary of the date on which the unpaid wages are due

and payable.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.203. PLAINTIFFS. (a) An action to recover a liability

under this subchapter may be brought by an employee for that

employee and other similarly affected employees.

(b) An employee may not be a plaintiff to an action brought

under this subchapter unless:

(1) the employee consents in writing; and

(2) the consent is filed in the court in which the action is

brought.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.204. REQUIRED FINDINGS. At the trial of an action

brought under this subchapter, the plaintiff recovers if the jury

or the court finds from a preponderance of the evidence that:

(1) the plaintiff is or has been employed by the defendant at

any time during the two years preceding the institution of the

action;

(2) the original petition filed by or on behalf of the plaintiff

is verified; and

(3) the defendant failed to pay the plaintiff the minimum wage

under this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 62.205. ATTORNEY'S FEES; COSTS. In addition to a judgment

awarded to the plaintiff, the court shall allow reasonable

attorney's fees and costs of the action to be paid by the

defendant.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.