Austin's pioneering 2018 paid-sick-leave ordinance was struck down in Texas Ass'n of Business v. City of Austin, 565 S.W.3d 425 (Tex. App.-Austin 2018), as unconstitutional and preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act. The Texas Supreme Court denied review in 2020. The ordinance is unenforceable. Austin workers have no city-mandated paid sick leave — only federal FMLA (unpaid, 12 weeks).
Austin City Council passed Ordinance No. 20180215-049 in February 2018, requiring most employers to provide accrued paid sick leave (1 hour per 30 worked, up to 64 hours/year). In November 2018, the Texas Third Court of Appeals held the ordinance facially unconstitutional under Tex. Const. Art. XVI, § 28 (because paid sick leave is a 'wage' regulation preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act, Tex. Lab. Code Ch. 62). The Texas Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in June 2020, leaving the ruling in place. Austin has not enforced the ordinance since the preliminary injunction issued in 2018. Texas has no state-level paid sick or paid family leave program. Federal FMLA (29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.) provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave at employers with 50+ employees. Austin offers paid leave to its own municipal workforce under City Personnel Policies, but cannot extend that to private employers.
The Austin paid-sick-leave ordinance is permanently enjoined and not enforced. FMLA violations are pursued by the U.S. DOL Wage & Hour Division under 29 U.S.C. § 2617, with remedies including back pay, reinstatement, and liquidated damages. Written employer PTO policies are enforceable as contracts under Texas law (Tex. Lab. Code Ch. 61, Payday Law).
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