Texas Employment Law

The Fair Labor Standards Act defines the workweek as a fixed and recurring period of 168 hours comprised of seven consecutive 24-hour periods that do not need to coincide with the calendar week. It is adjustable only if the change is designed to be permanent. Each week is considered on its own for purposes of calculating overtime. The hours of two or more weeks may not be averaged.

Under state law, an employer may not require any employee to work seven consecutive days in a retail establishment and may not deny an employee at least 24 consecutive hours off for rest or worship in each seven-day period. The time off must be in addition to any regular periods of rest allowed during each work day.

State law also requires that an employer must accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and practices unless the employer can show that to do so would constitute an undue business hardship. An employer also may not require an employee to work during a period the employee requests to be off to attend one regular worship service a week of the employee’s religion. This does not apply to employees who are part-time, working less than 30 hours or less in a calendar week.

Recording Requirement – Every covered employer under state and federal law must maintain records for each employee. An employer is required to record the hours worked each day and the total hours worked each workweek. There’s no law about a specific time-tracking method that employers have to use to track employee work hours.

Every employer must keep payroll records, collective bargaining agreements, sales, and purchase records for a minimum of 3 years. Records used for calculating wages, such as time cards, piecework tickets, wage rate tables, work schedules, time schedules, and wage adjustments, should be retained for at least 2 years. The employer must maintain the following records of an employee – 

• • • employee’s full name and social security number,
    • address, including zip code.
    • time and day of the week when the employee’s workweek begins,
    • hours worked each day,
    • total hours worked each workweek.
    • basis on which employee’s wages are paid,
    • regular hourly pay rate,
    • total daily or weekly straight-time earnings,
    • total overtime earnings for the workweek,
    • all additions to or deductions from the employee’s wages,
    • total wages paid each pay period,
    • date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment.

Time Clock Rounding

Many employers do not pay employees according to the exact number of hours and minutes they work, but rather utilize some sort of “rounding” or “roundoff” system whereby a certain interval is set that serves as the minimum block of time that will be recognized as a unit of time worked or not worked. Time missed or worked within that interval will not be deducted from or added to the time worked, whereas time missed or worked outside that interval will result in that interval being deducted from or added to the time worked.

Long Punching of Hours

Where time records show elapsed time greater than the hours actually worked because of reasons such as employees choosing to enter their workplaces before actual starting time or to remain after their actual quitting time, the Compliance Officer shall determine whether any time is actually worked in these intervals. If an employee came in early for personal convenience and did not work prior to the scheduled beginning time, a recording of the fact that the employee worked, for example, 8 hours that day is all that is required.

Sleeping Time

If an employee is on a shift lasting less than 24 hours and is required to be on duty during such a shift, she will be considered as working during the entire time, even if permitted to sleep during such time or engage in personal activities, such as eating meals, when not busy.

If an employee is on duty for a shift of 24 hours or more, the employer and employee may agree to exclude from hours worked the time spent in meal breaks and in “bona fide regularly scheduled sleeping periods”, but there is a limit of eight hours on the amount of time that can be excluded as sleeping time.

Texas has no general provision governing overtime pay, but most employees would be subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

In accordance with FLSA, any work performed beyond 40 hours in a work week is considered overtime work. An employee who works more than 40 hours in their work week except if the employee is otherwise exempted will be entitled to receive overtime pay.

Pay – An employee is entitled to premium pay at the rate of 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked excess in a workweek.

Rest and Coffee Breaks: An employee is usually entitled to receive breaks lasting 20 minutes or less are considered compensable hours worked because they benefit both the employer and the employee. Regardless of how many breaks an employee takes, even if they exceed the allowed limit, they must be compensated. However, ordinary coffee or rest breaks that are not for the mutual benefit of both parties do not require compensation. In such cases, the company may implement a policy that requires employees to clock out and then back in for these breaks.

Meal Breaks: Meal breaks of at least 30 minutes in duration, during which employees are entirely relieved from duty to eat a regular meal, are not compensable. Shorter meal breaks may be valid under special circumstances, subject to company policy. Employers have the option to allow or disallow meal breaks and may impose conditions, including timing, duration, location, and restrictions on consumables like alcoholic beverages.

State Law Regarding Employee Workdays: Under state law, employers cannot require employees in retail establishments to work for 7 consecutive days, and they must provide at least 24 consecutive hours off for rest or worship within each 7-day period. This time off is in addition to any regular rest periods allowed during workdays.

Religious Accommodation: State law mandates that employers must accommodate their employee’s religious beliefs and practices unless doing so would create an undue business hardship. Employers are also prohibited from requiring employees to work during a period requested off for attendance at one regular worship service per week as part of the employee’s religion. This exemption does not apply to part-time employees working fewer than 30 hours per week.

Breastfeeding Break: The federal statute mandates that nursing mothers must be provided with a reasonable amount of break time to express milk as often as they require. Employers bear the responsibility of accommodating these needs without questioning the duration or frequency of the breaks, which may vary. Nursing mothers have the right to a private, disturbance-free space, which is not a restroom, for expressing milk.

Employees who utilize their regular paid rest breaks for nursing or breast milk expression should receive compensation for these breaks on par with other employees. To meet the required work hours for their shift, the employee may need to adjust their schedule by arriving earlier or staying later, or they might experience a slight reduction in pay due to unpaid nursing breaks if they are unable to make up the time through schedule adjustments.