Source: https://twc.texas.gov/news/efte/thresholds_for_coverage.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 22:42:03+00:00

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Note: Many of the definitions of "employee" and "employer" in the above laws have minor exceptions that are relevant only to extremely narrow segments of the workforce. Such exceptions are not discussed here, but may be found by following the links to the statutes involved.
* Unless the statute that creates the employee limit also expressly states that the limit is jurisdictional, an employer with an employee count under the limit could still face liability in a claim or lawsuit unless it affirmatively shows that the limit precludes coverage in that situation - see the discussion of the Arbaugh v. Y & H Corporation case in "Other Types of Employment-Related Litigation" in the outline of employment law issues in part IV of this book. The test for whether an employer "has" an employee on a certain day is whether the employee is on the payroll, rather than whether the employee works on or is paid for that day. That test is called the "payroll method", as explained in Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Inc., 519 U.S. 202, 117 S.Ct. 660 (1997).
** Regarding health benefit continuation rights for public employees, state and local government health plans maintained by public employers with 20 or more employees are covered under the Public Health Safety Act - see 42 U.S.C.A. § 300bb-1 et seq.. In Texas, state and local government health plans maintained by public employers with 2 to 19 employees would be covered by the Texas COBRA law.
"All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts ..." This law applies to all contracts made within the jurisdiction of the United States, including contracts for personal services, and thus applies even to independent contractors. There is no minimum number of employees or contractors involved for the law to apply, so even one worker of any kind makes the employer liable under this statute.
"(5) The term 'employer' means any person acting directly as an employer, or indirectly in the interest of an employer, in relation to an employee benefit plan; and includes a group or association of employers acting for an employer in such capacity. (6) The term 'employee' means any individual employed by an employer." Under 29 U.S.C. § 1052(a)(3)(A), the retirement benefit rights apply to any employee who works at least 1,000 hours in a 12-month period.
"'Employer' includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee ..." This broad definition includes managers and anyone else directly involved with pay decisions, since they act "in the interest of an employer" toward the employees under their charge. Under § 203(e), "the term 'employee' means any individual employed by an employer." The common law test used for determining employment status in FLSA cases is called the "economic realities test".
29 U.S.C. § 652(5) provides that "'employer' means a person engaged in a business affecting commerce who has employees, but does not include the United States (not including the United States Postal Service) or any State or political subdivision of a State ..." Texas has not submitted a state plan to DOL for approval under 29 U.S.C. § 667. Thus, OSHA applies only to private-sector employers in Texas; it does not apply to state or local governments or government agencies. Under § 652(6), "the term 'employee' means an employee of an employer who is employed in a business of his employer which affects commerce." The common law test used for determining employment status in FLSA cases is applicable to OSHA as well. One employee is sufficient for coverage, since 29 U.S.C. § 654(a) provides that "[e]ach employer - (1) shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards ..." and "(2) shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this chapter."
Under the federal law, "each employer" must report "each newly-hired employee" to the state directory of new hires. Both the state and federal new hire reporting laws have the same basic definitions: "The term 'employer' has the meaning given such term in section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and includes any governmental entity and any labor organization." "The term 'employee' -- (i) means an individual who is an employee within the meaning of chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; ... ." Thus, the IRS test for determining a worker's employment status would apply.
The definitions here are almost identical to those in the Texas unemployment compensation statutes. In § 3306(a)(1), "[t]he term 'employer' means, with respect to any calendar year, any person who -- (A) during any calendar quarter in the calendar year or the preceding calendar year paid wages of $1,500 or more, or (B) on each of some 20 days during the calendar year or during the preceding calendar year, each day being in a different calendar week, employed at least one individual in employment for some portion of the day." In subsection (a)(3), an employer of a domestic service employee is liable if it pays $1,000 or more in wages in a calendar quarter. In subsection (i), the FUTA statute actually gives the term "employee" the same meaning that it has for Social Security (FICA) tax purposes: "... the term 'employee' has the meaning assigned to such term by section 3121(d), ..." Section 3121(d) in turn provides that "... the term 'employee' means -- (1) any officer of a corporation; or (2) any individual who, under the usual common law rules applicable in determining the employer-employee relationship, has the status of an employee; ... ." Thus, it is apparent that both the FUTA and FICA tax statutes use the same common law test (commonly referred to in FICA and FLSA cases as the "economic realities test").
"The term 'employer' means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year ..." Thus, one would mark on a calendar for the current or preceding calendar year all days on which the company employed 15 or more employees, and then mark each week that had each working day so marked, and if the number of weeks so marked is at least 20, Title VII applies. "Employee" means "an individual employed by an employer". That would include owners and officers of corporations who perform work for pay for their corporations. Private-sector employers with 100 or more employees (50 or more if the employer has a federal contract, subcontract, or purchase order worth $50,000 or more) must file the EEO-1 report annually.
"The term 'employer' means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year ..." This test is the same as for Title VII. The definition of "employee" is the same as in Title VII.
§§ 201(2)(B)(i) and 201(2)(A)(i) of GINA state that the definitions of "employer" and "employee" are the same as found in Title VII. Thus, employers with 15 or more employees are covered by GINA.
"The term 'employer' means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has twenty or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year ..." This test is the same as for Title VII, except that the number of employees is 20, instead of 15. The definition of "employee" is basically the same as in Title VII.
COBRA applies to health insurance plans of non-governmental, non-church employers with 20 or more employees (governmental employer health insurance plans are covered by the PHSA, as noted above). Covered plans are defined in the Internal Revenue Code (Title 26) as follows: "This section shall not apply to (1) any failure of a group health plan to meet the requirements of subsection (f) with respect to any qualified beneficiary if the qualifying event with respect to such beneficiary occurred during the calendar year immediately following a calendar year during which all employers maintaining such plan normally employed fewer than 20 employees on a typical business day, (2) any governmental plan (within the meaning of section 414 (d)), or (3) any church plan (within the meaning of section 414 (e))." Similarly, 29 U.S.C. § 1161(b) provides that continuation coverage under the federal law "shall not apply to any group health plan for any calendar year if all employers maintaining such plan normally employed fewer than 20 employees on a typical business day during the preceding calendar year." "Employee" is defined in subsection (f)(7) of §4980B, which refers to the definition of "employee" in 26 U.S.C. § 401(c) for ERISA pension plan purposes - that definition includes self-employed individuals who perform personal services for their entities, such as owners of proprietorships, partners of partnerships, and owners of corporate entities. For more on federal COBRA requirements, click here.
"The term 'employer' ... means any person engaged in commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce who employs 50 or more employees for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year ... " This test is the same as for Title VII, except that the number of employees is 50, instead of 15. The definition of "employee" is the same as in the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, employees must be "eligible employees" in order to take FMLA-protected leave. "Eligible employee" is defined in § 2611(2) as anyone who has worked for at least twelve months for the employer, has worked at least 1,250 hours during the twelve-month period preceding the leave, works at a facility where at least 50 employees are located within a 75-mile radius, and has a qualifying family or medical leave event, including military exigencies, as defined in § 2612(a). Due to the 1,250-hour requirement, this is one of the few statutes that potentially screen out some part-time employees from eligibility (see also ERISA and the WARN Act).
"[T]he term 'employer' means any business enterprise that employs (A) 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees; or (B) 100 or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 4,000 hours per week (exclusive of hours of overtime);" Although the statute does not specifically define "employee", the term "employs" invokes the common-law direction and control test for employment. For more on the WARN Act, click here.
Under §234.102 of the Texas law, all employers must report "each newly-hired or rehired employee" to the state directory of new hires.As noted above, the new hire reporting laws on both the state and federal levels have the same basic definitions: "'Employer' has the meaning given that term by Section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 3401(d)) and includes a governmental entity and a labor organization, ..." "'Employee' means an individual who is an employee within the meaning of Chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 3401(d))." Thus, the IRS test for determining a worker's employment status would apply.
"'Employer' means a person who: (A) employs one or more employees; or (B) acts directly or indirectly in the interests of an employer in relation to an employee." However, § 61.003 excludes public employers from coverage under that statute. Thus, the Texas Payday Law applies to even the smallest employers in the private sector. "'Employee' means an individual who is employed by an employer for compensation." The test for employment status is the same as the one used for unemployment compensation liability - see Appendix E in the article "Independent Contractors / Contract Labor" for the twenty-factor test used by TWC.
The definitions here are almost identical to the definitions for the federal unemployment compensation statutes. "In this subtitle, 'employer' means an employing unit that: (1) paid wages of $1,500 or more during a calendar quarter in the current or preceding calendar year; or (2) employed at least one individual in employment for a portion of at least one day during 20 or more different calendar weeks of the current or preceding calendar year.", or that "is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization under Sections 501(a) and 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that employed at least four individuals in employment for a portion of at least one day during 20 or more different calendar weeks during the current year or during the preceding calendar year." In the case of a domestic service employee, the wage amount for liability is $1,000 paid in a calendar quarter (see § 201.027(a)). "Employing unit" is defined in § 201.011(11) as "a person who ... has employed an individual to perform services for the person in this state." "Employee" is not directly defined, but the term means anyone who is in "employment", which is defined in § 201.041 as "a service, including service in interstate commerce, performed by an individual for wages or under an express or implied contract of hire, unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the commission that the individual's performance of the service has been and will continue to be free from control or direction under the contract and in fact." The test for employment status is the same as the one used by TWC for payday law coverage - see Appendix E in the article "Independent Contractors / Contract Labor" for the twenty-factor test in question. Thus, a for-profit employer becomes liable for unemployment compensation with even one employee. A non-profit employer needs at least four employees for liability.
"'Small employer' means a person who employed an average of at least two employees, but not more than 50 eligible employees on business days during the preceding calendar year and who employs at least two employees on the first day of the plan year. The term includes a governmental entity ..." "'Employee' means an individual employed by an employer.", meaning that the common-law direction and control test for employment applies in this statute. For employers with 20 to 50 employees, the six months of state health benefit continuation coverage begins after the federal COBRA period ends; see 28 T.A.C. § 3.505(b). For more on Texas and federal COBRA requirements, click here.
"'Employer' means: (A) a person who is engaged in an industry affecting commerce and who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year ..." This test is the same as for Title VII on the federal side. The definition of "employee" is also the same as in Title VII.
Employers should pay close attention to changes in Texas and federal laws, because the Legislature and Congress sometimes lower the number of employees needed for coverage under certain laws.

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 § 300
 § 1052
 § 203
 § 652
 § 667
 § 652
 § 654
 § 3306
 § 1161
 §4980
 § 401
 § 2611
 § 2612
 §234
 § 61
 § 201
 § 201
 § 201
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