| 1 | 1 | | By: Frost H.B. No. 3605 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to certain personnel policies of the Texas Department of |
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| 7 | 7 | | Criminal Justice. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by |
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| 10 | 10 | | adding Section 493.026, to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | Sec. 493.026. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE. (a) In this section, |
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| 12 | 12 | | "employment-related grievance" means an employment-related issue, |
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| 13 | 13 | | in regard to which an employee wishes to express dissatisfaction, |
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| 14 | 14 | | and includes issues relating to: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) promotions; |
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| 16 | 16 | | (2) leave requests; |
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| 17 | 17 | | (3) performance evaluations; |
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| 18 | 18 | | (4) transfers; |
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| 19 | 19 | | (5) benefits; |
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| 20 | 20 | | (6) working environment; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (7) shift or duty assignments; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (8) harassment; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (9) retaliation; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (10) disciplinary actions, including discharge, |
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| 25 | 25 | | suspension, or demotion; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (11) relationships with supervisors or other |
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| 27 | 27 | | employees; and |
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| 28 | 28 | | (12) any other issue which the board determines may be |
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| 29 | 29 | | the subject of a grievance procedure. |
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| 30 | 30 | | (b) The board shall establish procedures and practices |
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| 31 | 31 | | through which the department will address employment-related |
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| 32 | 32 | | grievances. The board shall adopt: |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1) a form on which an employee may state an |
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| 34 | 34 | | employment-related grievance and request a specific corrective |
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| 35 | 35 | | action; |
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| 36 | 36 | | (2) reasonable time limits for an employee to submit |
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| 37 | 37 | | an employment-related grievance, and any subsequent appeals, and |
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| 38 | 38 | | for management to respond to a grievance or appeal; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (3) a three-step process by which an employee's |
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| 40 | 40 | | employment-related grievance is submitted to the district |
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| 41 | 41 | | supervisor, with a subsequent appeal submitted to a higher level in |
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| 42 | 42 | | the chain of command, on completion of which the employee may choose |
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| 43 | 43 | | to submit the grievance to binding arbitration with an impartial |
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| 44 | 44 | | third party; and |
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| 45 | 45 | | (4) a program to advertise and explain the grievance |
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| 46 | 46 | | procedure to all employees. |
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| 47 | 47 | | (c) If a party to the employment-related grievance fails to |
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| 48 | 48 | | comply with the time limits adopted under Subsection (b)(2), the |
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| 49 | 49 | | party may not prevail in the grievance action. |
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| 50 | 50 | | (d) An employee may be represented by a person selected by |
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| 51 | 51 | | the employee to participate in the employment-related grievance |
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| 52 | 52 | | process on behalf of the employee. Any grievance proceeding in |
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| 53 | 53 | | which a department employee serves as a representative shall be |
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| 54 | 54 | | held during the normal business hours of the department, unless the |
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| 55 | 55 | | employee and the department agree otherwise. Attending a grievance |
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| 56 | 56 | | proceeding as a party to the proceeding or as a representative of a |
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| 57 | 57 | | party is part of an employee's regular employment duties. |
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| 58 | 58 | | (e) Subject to the approval of the employee in the |
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| 59 | 59 | | employment-related grievance action, the department and the |
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| 60 | 60 | | employee may enter into binding arbitration on the action. To |
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| 61 | 61 | | facilitate arbitration, the department may: |
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| 62 | 62 | | (1) with the approval of the employee, appoint a |
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| 63 | 63 | | governmental officer or employee, or a private individual, to serve |
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| 64 | 64 | | as an impartial third party in a binding arbitration; or |
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| 65 | 65 | | (2) obtain the services of an impartial third party |
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| 66 | 66 | | through: |
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| 67 | 67 | | (A) an agreement with the Center for Public |
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| 68 | 68 | | Policy Dispute Resolution of The University of Texas School of Law; |
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| 69 | 69 | | (B) an alternative dispute resolution system |
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| 70 | 70 | | created under Chapter 152, Civil Practices and Remedies Code; |
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| 71 | 71 | | (C) another governmental body or a federal |
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| 72 | 72 | | agency; or |
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| 73 | 73 | | (D) an agreement with the State Office of |
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| 74 | 74 | | Administrative Hearings. |
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| 75 | 75 | | (f) The grievance action is confidential, except to the |
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| 76 | 76 | | extent that Chapter 552 applies. |
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| 77 | 77 | | (g) The department may not retaliate against an employee who |
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| 78 | 78 | | files an employment-related grievance. |
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| 79 | 79 | | (h) The department shall submit annually to the board a |
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| 80 | 80 | | report on the department's use of the employment-related grievance |
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| 81 | 81 | | process. The report shall include: |
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| 82 | 82 | | (1) the number of grievances filed; |
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| 83 | 83 | | (2) a brief description of each grievance filed; and |
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| 84 | 84 | | (3) the final disposition of each grievance. |
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| 85 | 85 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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