Protect Your Rights | Texas Labor Laws

Last November, Houston City Council adopted a labor ordinance in order to protect workers and to discourage companies from attempting wage theft. Under this ordinance, any firm or person that is found guilty of committing wage theft will be banned from renewing 46 types of permits, licenses, and warrants issued by the city. Not only will they not be able to renew these authorizations, firms will appear on a public database that will allow potential employees to know which companies have been convicted. Up until recently, few complaints have been filed. Just this week, one of the first to file a complaint under the new ordinance was Erik Lopez and his 3 brothers who claim to have been victims of wage theft.

Erik and his brothers have worked 80-hour weeks doing manual construction labor throughout Texas without proper compensation by their employer: Bradley Demolition and Construction. According to Erik, the company did not follow proper Texas labor law protocols. They were denied tax forms, overtime pay, and unfortunately given cash or personal checks to stay off the company’s books. This is a major issue in the workforce due to the fact that most employees do not file complaints which means that companies will continue to take advantage of workers. Labor laws are in place to help deter employers from exploiting employees. It becomes an issue in the labor workforce when workers are so afraid that they are not even willing to file complaints. According to Executive Director of Faith and Justice Worker Center, Laura Perez-Boston, nearly 100 wage theft complaints are filed on a daily basis. This may seem like a lot; however she states that this is just a very small portion of the people who have been dealing with this problem.

Compliance with Texas labor laws has been a progressing issue within the last year. This past February, a lawsuit was launched against Wessam Aldeeb, who is a Principal of Franchise Operations with stores throughout Texas. Some stores under this franchise include Subway, Great American Cookies, and Marble Slab Creamery. Like Erik Lopez, employees of Wessam claim that they have been denied overtime pay on several occasions. Wessam debated these accusations stating that they care about their employees and would not violate any regulations. The lawsuit was backed by 125 current and former workers who are defending the claims. Hopefully with the new ordinance implemented, companies will be more compliant with all labor laws. For more information regarding Texas labor laws visit http://www.usalaborlawposters.com/