The enforcement plan gives license holders notice of the specific ranges of penalties and license sanctions that apply to specific alleged violations of the statutes and rules enforced by the Department. The enforcement plan also presents the criteria that are considered by the Department's Enforcement staff in determining the amount of a proposed administrative penalty or the magnitude of a proposed sanction.
The enforcement plan describes in some detail the range of penalties that the Department may assess for various kinds of violations, and the factors that will be taken into account in setting the specific penalty in a particular case. The enforcement plan includes penalty matrices that are specific to each of the license programs administered by the TDLR.
The introduction and general description of the enforcement plan can be found here.
The penalty matrix that is specific to PEOs and Staff Leasing firms is here.
The revised enforcement plan was adopted by the TDLR at the Commission's regularly scheduled meeting held December 6, 2006. Notice of the revised enforcement plan was filed with the Texas Register on December 18, 2006, and will be published in the December 29, 2006, publication.
PEOs and staff leasing firms benefit from this, as it reduces the risk of the Department threatening penalties out of keeping with the seriousness of the offense. While the Department's enforcement efforts under the current Executive Director appear to have been reasonable, in prior years the Department often threatened to assert the statutory maximum fine or to revoke a license in a minor case as a method of "encouraging" a settlement.
There are only a few types of violations for which the TDLR will seek revocation of the license on the first offense:
- Giving materially false or forged evidence in connection with obtaining a license, or during disciplinary proceedings - 91.061(4), 72.70(d) and 60.63(b)
- Failure to comply with a previous order of the Commission or the Executive Director - 51.353(a) and 72.90
- Obtaining a license by fraud or false representation - 60.63(b)
- Failure to pay the Department for a dishonored check - 60.82
