Limousine Service Rules & Laws

Mr. Atwood, After reviewing your plans to open up a limousine service in Austin, Texas, there are four major points of compliance that you should focus on so as to keep your business operational and out of legal trouble with the state and/or local authorities. There is not a state-wide law in Texas that pertains to chauffeurs and limousine services (Texas DMV, 2015). However, the same is not true of Austin, Texas in particular. As part of applying for the permit, there are several questions that must be answered.

These include questions about citizenship or right to work in Austin, criminal history and so forth. Any applicants found to be lying on the application can find their license stripped without any warning by the City of Austin (City of Austin, 2015). Specific answers will be required for each application as they pertain to criminal history, other criminal offenses, indictments, traffic violations, suspension and/or revocation of driver's license and overall driving experience (City of Austin, 2015).

When it comes to hiring people for the job of chauffer or any other position in your charge, you will need to ensure that you are complying with the precepts and rules enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). One major part of the law that the EEOC is charged with enforcing is known as Title VII. This is the commonly cited but not always explicitly named legislation that requires that job applicants not be discriminated against based on factors such as race, ethnicity, religion and gender.

To be clear, as you are screening and hiring employees, you cannot make hiring (or non-hiring) decisions based on those factors. If a claim is made against you for discrimination and you can establish why you excluded a candidate and/or you clearly did so for discriminatory reasons, you will face a lawsuit from the EEOC and/or the affected party. Make sure to document all hiring decisions and make sure that the decisions you make are legal (EEOC, 2015).

Similar to the last point above, make sure that all state job skill requirements actually pertain to the job and that are predictors of future job performance. Having a requirement that is not linkable to the job yet excluded minorities et al. In a disproportionate fashion is what is known in the HR and EEOC "world" as disparate impact. Even if the exclusion of minorities and other protected classes is not willful and intentional, there can still be a problem.

An employer of your size will probably not get a lot of scrutiny but anything is possible (Guerin, 2015). Finally, you will want to make sure that the limousines in your fleet are in good shape and in good repair. This includes basic mechanical needs that keep the cars roadworthy as well as the amenities for the drivers and the passengers including air conditioning, the condition of the seats and so forth. You will need to make sure to have driver policies that are clear-cut and common sense.

For example, it would be wise to forbid your limousine drivers from smoking in the vehicles even there are no passengers inside. Another example is that your drivers should not be allowed to talk on a cell phone while driving unless they are using a hands-free device. Austin has a specific law against using handheld devices while driving and the fines for violating that law are up to $500 per offense (City of Austin, 2015).

The above is just a sample of the rules and laws that you should take seriously when it comes to operating and conducting your business. However, the ones above are indeed the major ones you need to consider. Note that your business will be subject to all applicable local (Austin), state (Texas) and federal.