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Tex. Labor Code § 61.019

This is the official text of Tex. Labor Code § 61.019, part of Texas’s Labor Code — governs wages, workplace safety, and workers' compensation.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ 61.019. FAILURE TO PAY WAGES; CRIMINAL PENALTY.

Official statutory text

(a) An employer commits an offense if:

(1) at the time of hiring an employee, the employer intends to avoid payment of wages owed to the employee; and

(2) the employer fails after demand to pay those wages.

(b) An employer commits an offense if the employer:

(1) intends to avoid payment of wages owed to an employee;

(2) intends to continue to employ the employee; and

(3) fails after demand to pay those wages.

(c) An employer commits a separate offense under Subsection (b) for each pay period during which the employee earns wages that the employer fails to pay.

(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.