Today business groups led by the Associated Builders & Contractors of South Texas filed a lawsuit in state court to stop the “Earned Paid Sick Time” ordinance passed by the City Council of San Antonio on August 16, 2018. The groups asked for a temporary injunction to halt the implementation of the ordinance on August 1st, and, according to the news articles, a hearing on the request for an injunction is set for July 24th.
The City of Dallas followed San Antonio’s lead and passed a sick leave ordinance that is also supposed to take effect on August 1st. The City Council of Austin passed a mandatory sick leave ordinance in 2018, but the Austin court of appeals decided last November that the ordinance was pre-empted by the Texas minimum wage law. The City of Austin has asked the Texas Supreme Court to review the court of appeals’ decision, but as of last week the Supreme Court was still reviewing the request.
Bills were filed in the last session of the Texas Legislature to forbid cities from passing sick leave ordinances, but none of them made it to Governor Abbot’s desk.
Until the dust settles and the fate of the ordinance becomes clear, businesses in San Antonio may wish to familiarize themselves with the ordinance and, if they are covered by it, make plans to comply with it.