Bill Text: TX HB1151 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to sexual harassment protection for unpaid interns.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2015-06-19 - Effective on 9/1/15 [HB1151 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB1151-Enrolled.html
| H.B. No. 1151 | ||
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| relating to sexual harassment protection for unpaid interns. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Section 21.1065 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 21.1065. SEXUAL HARASSMENT PROTECTIONS FOR UNPAID | ||
| INTERNS. (a) In this section, "sexual harassment" means an | ||
| unwelcome sexual advance, a request for a sexual favor, or any other | ||
| verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature if: | ||
| (1) submission to the advance, request, or conduct is | ||
| made a term or condition of an individual's internship, either | ||
| explicitly or implicitly; | ||
| (2) submission to or rejection of the advance, | ||
| request, or conduct by an individual is used as the basis for a | ||
| decision affecting the individual's internship; | ||
| (3) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose | ||
| or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work | ||
| performance at the individual's internship; or | ||
| (4) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose | ||
| or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive | ||
| working environment. | ||
| (b) An employer commits an unlawful employment practice if | ||
| sexual harassment of an unpaid intern occurs and the employer or the | ||
| employer's agents or supervisors: | ||
| (1) know or should have known that the conduct | ||
| constituting sexual harassment was occurring; and | ||
| (2) fail to take immediate and appropriate corrective | ||
| action. | ||
| (c) In this section, an individual is considered to be an | ||
| unpaid intern of an employer if: | ||
| (1) the individual's internship, even though it | ||
| includes engagement in the employer's operations or the performance | ||
| of productive work for the employer, is similar to training that | ||
| would be given in an educational environment; | ||
| (2) the individual's internship experience is for the | ||
| individual's benefit; | ||
| (3) the individual does not displace the employer's | ||
| regular employees but works under close supervision of the | ||
| employer's existing staff; | ||
| (4) the employer does not derive any immediate | ||
| advantage from the individual's internship activities and on | ||
| occasion the employer's operations may be impeded by those | ||
| activities; | ||
| (5) the individual is not entitled to a job at the | ||
| conclusion of the internship; and | ||
| (6) the individual is not entitled to wages for the | ||
| time spent in the internship. | ||
| SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only | ||
| to a claim of discrimination based on conduct that occurs on or | ||
| after the effective date of this Act. A claim of discrimination | ||
| that is based on conduct that occurs before the effective date of | ||
| this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct | ||
| occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that | ||
| purpose. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.B. No. 1151 was passed by the House on April | ||
| 16, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 2 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.B. No. 1151 was passed by the Senate on May | ||
| 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: _____________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| _____________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
