Eliminating wage theft in Houston serves the public purpose by promoting economic security and dignity for those working in the city; by promoting business and economic development through the elimination of unfair economic competition by unscrupulous businesses that do not pay or that underpay their employees; and to relieve the burden on the public that subsidize unscrupulous employers whose employees are forced to rely on public assistance because of unpaid or underpaid wages. We believe our city has both the authority and responsibility to provide real solutions for the workers and responsible businesses that work day-to-day to make our city thrive, and turn Houston into a just and prosperous place to work.

Houston Wage Theft Ordinance

The City of Houston should adopt an ordinance that expedites the process to resolve wage theft claims, includes a viable enforcement mechanism, and aims to prevent future wage theft cases.

Claims Process

The ordinance should create and administrative hearing process through which Houston workers can report wage theft claims and also receive a judgment for their claims. This administrative hearing process should:

• Allow workers to report a claim of wage theft occurring in the City of Houston
• Provide a fair case hearing for the workers and employers involved
• Evaluate the case and provide a judgment based on the facts presented
• Allow for restitution, as well as administrative costs to the City, if a wage theft violation is found

 Enforcement

In order for this process to be effective, the ordinance should also include real consequences for unscrupulous employers to ensure proper enforcement after a wage theft claim judgment has been issued:

• Employers who fail to provide compensation and restitution will lose existing city business licenses and certifications and/or will become ineligible for future issue or renewal of such
• Repeat offenders will lose or become ineligible for Houston city contracts, and based on the severity of the case, may be eligible for debarment
• Employers who do not do business with the City may also face civil or criminal charges if they fail to provide compensation or restitution

 Prevention:

Houston must send the message that we will not tolerate unscrupulous employers to take advantage of hard-working Houstonians. The city of Houston can take the following steps to prevent wage theft from occurring and ensure that responsible Houston businesses have a fair playing-field:

• Adopting responsible contracting practices that ensure that city contractors are abiding by state and federal labor laws and paying their workers
• Ensuring that city money does not go towards funding employers who have committed wage theft and other labor abuses
• Affirming a zero-tolerance policy for wage theft in the City of Houston

Texas Wage Theft Law

The Texas Wage Theft Law empowers local law enforcement to investigate wage theft cases as Theft of Services and press charges on criminal employers. It also amends the Texas Penal Code to remove the “intent to pay” loophole and increases penalties for wage theft. Although this law is already in effect, our city can ensure its effective implementation and enforcement by:

• Educating HPD officers on the new law and the department’s policies on handling wage theft cases as Theft of Services
• Urging the Harris County District Attorney’s office to prosecute employers who have broken the law and stolen from their workers