Certified program agreements must be in writing, limit participant hours, set pay and trust terms, and bar employers from keeping participants just to replace current employees.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.