The Texas Legislature ended its session last week without passing a bill that preempts municipalities from passing laws requiring private employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. Consequently, employers in Dallas and San Antonio must prepare for the implementation of the local paid sick leave laws that take effect August 1, 2019.
Dallas, San Antonio and Austin each passed local ordinances requiring private employers in the cities to provide paid sick leave for employees. The Austin ordinance is currently enjoined by court order and is on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. It was anticipated that the Texas legislature would pass a law prohibiting municipalities from passing these kinds of laws. However, the bills to do so never made it out of the House committees.
Barring court action in Dallas or Bexar County, or an order of the Texas Supreme Court striking down the Austin ordinance (The Dallas and San Antonio laws are modeled after the Austin ordinance), the Dallas and San Antonio’s laws take effect August 1, 2019. In the coming days I will summarize the requirements of the Dallas and San Antonio laws here.