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Texas Labor Code - Section 311.003. Certified Program Agreements

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Labor Code > Texas Labor Code - Section 311.003. Certified Program Agreements

§ 311.003. CERTIFIED PROGRAM AGREEMENTS.  (a) A certified 
program must be conducted under a signed written agreement between 
each participant and the employer.  The agreement may include the 
following:
		(1)  the name and signature of the participant, the 
sponsor, and the employer, and a parent or guardian of the 
participant if the participant is under 18 years of age;
		(2)  a description of the career field in which the 
participant is to be trained, the academic and technical skills to 
be attained, and the beginning date and duration of the broad-based 
training;  and
		(3)  the employer's agreement to provide paid 
employment, at a base wage not less than the minimum wage, for the 
participant during the participant's junior and senior years in 
high school and after the participant's first year of postsecondary 
education.
	(b)  A participant's time spent in a program under Subsection 
(a) may not exceed 15 hours a week, without regard to whether the 
participant is paid for the time.
	(c)  A participant may, but is not required to, enter into a 
postsecondary education agreement with the participant's employer.  
An agreement under this subsection must include:
		(1)  the participant's agreement to pay half of the 
participant's wages to be held in trust to be applied toward the 
participant's postsecondary education and the employer's agreement 
to pay into the trust an additional amount equal to the amount paid 
by the participant;
		(2)  the participant's agreement to work for the 
employer for at least two years following the date of completion of 
the participant's postsecondary education;
		(3)  the employer's agreement to pay the participant 
during the period described by Subdivision (2) at least the 
prevailing wage for employees having a similar education or license 
and performing similar work and to provide other employee benefits 
to which employees performing similar work are entitled;  and
		(4)  the participant's agreement to reimburse the 
employer if the participant fails to perform the two years of 
employment described by Subdivision (2) for the employer's 
contribution to the trust established under Subdivision (1), plus 
interest at the prime interest rate at the time the participant 
defaults on the agreement.
	(d)  If a participant decides not to continue in the program 
before beginning the participant's postsecondary education, the 
participant and employer each shall be refunded, not later than the 
30th day after the last date of participation in the program, their 
respective contributions to the trust established under Subsection 
(c)(1) and a pro rata share of the interest earned on the money in 
the trust.
	(e)  The money held in trust under Subsection (c)(1) must be 
held in trust for the benefit of the participant under rules adopted 
by the agency.  Payment into a trust approved under 29 U.S.C. 
Section 1103 for the benefit of the participant satisfies the 
requirement of this subsection.  The fund must be specified in the 
agreement.
	(f)  An employer who enters into an agreement under this 
section may not retain participants solely to replace the 
employer's current employees.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1422, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.          

Last modified: August 10, 2007