• Texas labor and wage laws govern how employees are treated by business owners.mobile contruction worker image by Tracy Martinez from Fotolia.com
  
  The state of Texas has only a few laws that impact the areas of wages and labor. These laws are primarily concerned with preventing child labor and the enactment of a minimum wage. However, Texas has also passed a law known as the Texas Payday Law, which regulates how and when employees are paid.
  
  

Texas Payday Law

• The state of Texas mandates that employers must pay employees who are exempt from the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act at least once per month. All other employees must be paid at least twice month so that the pay periods are as equal in length as possible. The state of Texas also requires employers to pay recently discharged employees in full within six days of the date of their discharge or by the next scheduled payday. The payday law also dictates that employers pay with an acceptable form of American currency, and it defines acceptable methods for delivering payment.
  
  

Child Labor Laws

• For the purposes of its child labor laws, the state of Texas defines a child as anyone under the age of 18. Generally, it is illegal for employers to employ children under the age of 14 in any job other than the specifically listed exceptions to the rule. These exceptions encompass several aspects of farming and nonhazardous work such as delivering newspapers. Texas also allows for children under the age of 14 to be employed as performers. This law also limits the number of hours that children may work depending on their age and school schedule. In addition to the hours that children may work, the law also denotes what kinds of work children over the age of 14 may legally be employed in.
  
  

Penalties

• The Texas Payday Law also explains the penalties for employers who fail to pay employees or fail to pay in a timely manner. It lays out the procedures that employees may use to force their employers to pay them and the rules that govern those procedures. These rules require employers that are multiple offenders to pay for a bond that will secure the timely payout of their payroll.
  
  In addition, the payday law lays out the circumstances under which failure to pay an employee may be considered a criminal offense. The law also includes additional penalties for nonpaying employers and the circumstances under which they apply.