Texas HB 2127, the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act effective September 2023, broadly preempts local labor regulation including paid sick leave. Harris County cannot mandate paid leave for private employers, and Houston has not attempted to do so.
HB 2127, sometimes called the Death Star bill, preempts cities and counties from regulating in fields covered by state labor, business, and finance codes, including paid sick leave, scheduling, and benefits. Earlier paid-sick-leave ordinances passed in Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas were already blocked by Texas appellate courts before HB 2127, and the new law forecloses any future county or city mandate. Harris County has no countywide paid sick leave ordinance and may not adopt one. Texas does not provide a statewide paid sick leave law for private employers either. Harris County provides paid leave to its own roughly 17,000 employees as a personnel benefit, but that policy does not extend to private workers.
No local paid sick leave mandate exists to violate. Workers seeking leave rely on federal FMLA unpaid leave (50-plus employers, 12 months tenure), employer voluntary policy, or a union contract. No county enforcement mechanism applies to private employers.
See how La Porte's paid leave preemption rules stack up against other locations.
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