Late on Friday, June 5^th, the Texas Supreme Court issued its decision not to hear the city of Austin’s paid sick leave case (PSL), meaning the Austin ordinance is unconstitutional and voided. The city’s ordinance was struck down as unconstitutional by Texas’ Third Court of Appeals in 2019. Therefore, because the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the Third Court’s ruling stands. 

Texas retailers are pleased the Texas Supreme Court has confirmed the Third Court of Appeals’ ruling on the Austin PSL ordinance. We continue to believe that one size fits all local employment ordinances are unconstitutional, as ruled by the Third Court of Appeals. These mandated employment ordinances are burdensome and hurt job growth. Most retailers in Texas provide quality wage and benefit packages including paid time off. 

Despite all we are all going through with the fight against and response to the COVID-19 crisis, this morning we received some good news from another battle TRA has been waging on your behalf. TRA and its fellow members of the Alliance for Securing and Strengthening the Economy in Texas (ASSET) coalition have secured an injunction by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas of the city of Dallas’ paid sick leave ordinance (PSL), which was set to begin enforcement on April 1 (tomorrow).

As we have maintained all along, it is our belief that retailers are committed to the well being of their employees, whether that’s implementing policies to protect employee health and safety, providing benefits or working to ensure they can make payroll so employees can take care of themselves and their families. One-size-fits-all policies of these regulations across Texas does nothing but create uncertainty in our economy, which is the last thing employees, employers and job seekers need in the wake of this unprecedented national crisis. Therefore, Texas retailers welcome the federal court’s ruling today on the Dallas PSL ordinance, and look to the Texas Supreme Court to rule in our favor on the Austin PSL ordinance, so that these local PSL can be ruled unconstitutional statewide.

Fisher Phillips has assembled a cross-disciplinary taskforce of attorneys across the country to address the many employment-related issues facing employers in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus – especially now that the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak as a pandemic. The COVID-19 Taskforce has created a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, which has been continually updated since first published on March 3 and will continue to be updated as events warrant. It has been completely updated to address the many additional workplace law rights and responsibilities given the pandemic designation. You can contact your Fisher Phillips attorney or any member of the Taskforce with specific questions, and a full listing of the Taskforce members and their practice areas is at the end of this publication.

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Earlier today, State District Judge Sakai in San Antonio, granted our motion for temporary injunction regarding San Antonio’s “Safe and Sick Leave” Ordinance (PSL ordinance). This is great news because the ordinance was set to go into effect on Dec. 1. The Texas Retailers Association (TRA) is pleased Judge Sakai sided with the rule of law in today’s ruling.  By enjoining substantially, the same ordinance declared unconstitutional by the 3rd Court of Appeals, the Court preserves the status quo for employers during this critical time of year. 

Employers of all sizes can now focus on serving their customers instead of shouldering the burden of an unconstitutional ordinance.  Represented by Attorney Roland F. Gonzales, TRA alleges the San Antonio ordinance, not only violates The Texas Minimum Wage Act, but violates provisions of the Texas Labor Code, FLMA, and ADA.