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Summary of differences between federal and state regulations
Employer defined
“Employer” means:
- a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce and who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, or any agent of such a person;
- an individual elected to public office in the state or a political subdivision of the state; or
- a county, municipality, state agency, or state instrumentality, regardless of the number of individuals employed.
Unlawful employment practices
Texas law prohibits discrimination in pay or compensation. The unlawful employment practices essentially follow those under the federal Equal Pay Act. The exemptions below are given for pay differentials, provided the differential is not discriminatory:
- a bona fide seniority system, merit system, or an employee benefit plan, such as a retirement, pension, or insurance plan, that is not a subterfuge to evade the law; or
- a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production.
A political subdivision may adopt and enforce an order or ordinance that prohibits a practice that is unlawful under this chapter, another state law, or federal law.
Each state agency must provide employment discrimination training to its employees. The training program must provide information regarding the agency’s policies and procedures relating to employment discrimination, including employment discrimination involving sexual harassment. Each employee of a state agency must attend the training program not later than the 30th day after the date the employee is hired and must attend supplemental training every two years. Each employee who attends a training program must sign a statement verifying the employee’s attendance at the training program. The agency must file the statement in the employee’s personnel file.
Recordkeeping
A person under investigation in connection with a charge filed must:
- make and keep records relevant to the determination of whether unlawful employment practices have been or are being committed;
- preserve the records for the period required by commission rule or court order; and
- make reports from the records as prescribed by commission rule or court order as reasonable, necessary, or appropriate.
A covered person who controls an apprenticeship, on-the-job training, or other training or retraining program must:
- keep all records reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of the law, including a list of applicants for participation in the program and a record of the chronological order in which applications for the program were received; and
- furnish to the commission on request a detailed description of the manner in which individuals are selected to participate in the program.
Posting
The “Texas Commission on Civil Rights Employment Rights Poster” must be displayed in the workplace.
State
Contact
Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Commission
Regulations
Texas Labor Code, Title 2, Subtitle A, Chapter 21 Employment Discrimination
Texas Administrative Code, Title 40, Part 20, Chapter 819 Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division
Federal
Contact
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Regulations
29 CFR Part 1620, The Equal Pay Act
29 CFR 1621, Procedures — The Equal Pay Act