Implementation of the City of San Antonio’s paid sick leave ordinance has been delayed pending a legal challenge, less than two weeks before the ordinance’s scheduled effective date of August 1, 2019.

On July 15, 2019, the Texas Attorney General and about a dozen business groups filed suit against the City, alleging that the paid sick leave ordinance is unconstitutional because it is preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act.  In connection with the suit, the groups sought a temporary injunction to stop the ordinance from taking effect as scheduled.

In response, the parties entered into an order agreeing to stay the implementation of the law until December 1, 2019.  The order states that the stay is intended to allow the City’s Paid Sick Leave Commission to “confer with stakeholders, study the [paid sick leave] Ordinance, and recommend to the mayor and City Council revisions to the [paid sick leave] Ordinance.”

This is the second time that the Texas Attorney General has succeeded in delaying implementation of a local sick leave law in the state, having intervened in a similar lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the city of Austin’s paid sick leave ordinance.  As we previously reported, the Austin ordinance has been stayed since November 2018, pending a decision from the Texas Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the law.  As for the state’s third local paid sick leave law, as of now, the Dallas paid sick leave ordinance is not facing a similar legal challenge and is still slated to take effect on August 1, 2019 as scheduled.

We will continue to monitor and report on any further developments with regard to these ordinances.

UPDATE: On July 30, 2019, the Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the Dallas ordinance from taking effect until there is a ruling on whether the paid sick leave mandate violates state minimum wage law. We will report on further developments on the Dallas ordinance as they arise.

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Photo of Arielle E. Kobetz Arielle E. Kobetz

Arielle E. Kobetz is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employment Counseling & Training Group. Her practice focuses on providing clients with strategies and counseling related to a variety of workplace-related disputes, including employee terminations…

Arielle E. Kobetz is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employment Counseling & Training Group. Her practice focuses on providing clients with strategies and counseling related to a variety of workplace-related disputes, including employee terminations and discipline, leave and accommodation requests, and general employee relations matters. She also counsels clients on developing, implementing and enforcing personnel policies and procedures and reviewing and revising employee handbooks under federal, state and local law.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Arielle served as a law clerk at the New York City Human Resources Administration, Employment Law Unit, where she worked on a variety of employment discrimination and internal employee disciplinary issues.

Photo of Evandro Gigante Evandro Gigante

Evandro Gigante is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration group and the Hiring & Terminations group. He represents and counsels clients through a variety of labor and employment matters, including allegations of…

Evandro Gigante is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration group and the Hiring & Terminations group. He represents and counsels clients through a variety of labor and employment matters, including allegations of race, gender, national origin, disability and religious discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, defamation and breach of contract. Evandro also counsels employers through reductions-in-force and advises clients on restrictive covenant issues, such as confidentiality, non-compete and non-solicit agreements.

With a focus on discrimination and harassment matters, Evandro has extensive experience representing clients before federal and state courts. He has tried cases in court and before arbitrators and routinely represents clients before administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as state and local human rights commissions.

Photo of Laura Fant Laura Fant

Laura Fant is a special employment law counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-administrative leader of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Practice Group. Her practice is dedicated to providing clients with practical solutions to common (and uncommon) employment concerns…

Laura Fant is a special employment law counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-administrative leader of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Practice Group. Her practice is dedicated to providing clients with practical solutions to common (and uncommon) employment concerns, with a focus on legal compliance, risk management and mitigation strategies, and workplace culture considerations.

Laura regularly counsels clients across numerous industries on a wide variety of employment matters involving recruitment and hiring, employee leave and reasonable accommodation issues, performance management, and termination of employment . She also advises on preparing, implementing and enforcing employment and separation agreements, employee handbooks and company policies, as well as provides training on topics including discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Laura is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Law and the Workplace blog and The Proskauer Brief podcast.