Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB2755 Compare Versions

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1	1	82R22505 KCR-D
2	2	By: Martinez Fischer, Sheets, Reynolds H.B. No. 2755
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2755:
4	4	By: Sheets C.S.H.B. No. 2755
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to unemployment compensation eligibility and chargebacks
10	10	regarding certain persons who are victims or whose immediate family
11	11	members are victims of sexual assault or family violence.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 204.022(a), Labor Code, is amended to
14	14	read as follows:
15	15	(a) Benefits computed on benefit wage credits of an employee
16	16	or former employee may not be charged to the account of an employer
17	17	if the employee's last separation from the employer's employment
18	18	before the employee's benefit year:
19	19	(1) was required by a federal statute;
20	20	(2) was required by a statute of this state or an
21	21	ordinance of a municipality of this state;
22	22	(3) would have disqualified the employee under Section
23	23	207.044, 207.045, 207.051, or 207.053 if the employment had been
24	24	the employee's last work;
25	25	(4) imposes a disqualification under Section 207.044,
26	26	207.045, 207.051, or 207.053;
27	27	(5) was caused by a medically verifiable illness of
28	28	the employee or the employee's minor child;
29	29	(6) was based on a natural disaster that results in a
30	30	disaster declaration by the president of the United States under
31	31	the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
32	32	(42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.), if the employee would have been
33	33	entitled to unemployment assistance benefits under Section 410 of
34	34	that act (42 U.S.C. Section 5177) had the employee not received
35	35	state unemployment compensation benefits;
36	36	(7) was caused by a natural disaster, fire, flood, or
37	37	explosion that causes employees to be separated from one employer's
38	38	employment;
39	39	(8) was based on a disaster that results in a disaster
40	40	declaration by the governor under Section 418.014, Government Code;
41	41	(9) resulted from the employee's resigning from
42	42	partial employment to accept other employment that the employee
43	43	reasonably believed would increase the employee's weekly wage;
44	44	(10) was caused by the employer being called to active
45	45	military service in any branch of the United States armed forces on
46	46	or after January 1, 2003;
47	47	(11) resulted from the employee leaving the employee's
48	48	workplace to protect the employee from family violence or stalking
49	49	or the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family from
50	50	violence related to a sexual assault as evidenced by:
51	51	(A) an active or recently issued protective order
52	52	documenting sexual assault of the employee or a member of the
53	53	employee's immediate family or family violence against, or the
54	54	stalking of, the employee or the potential for family violence
55	55	against, or the stalking of, the employee;
56	56	(B) a police record documenting sexual assault of
57	57	the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or
58	58	family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee; [or]
59	59	(C) a physician's statement or other medical
60	60	documentation that describes the sexual assault of the employee or
61	61	a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence
62	62	against the employee that:
63	63	(i) is recorded in any form or medium that
64	64	identifies the employee or member of the employee's immediate
65	65	family, as applicable, as the patient; and
66	66	(ii) relates to the history, diagnosis,
67	67	treatment, or prognosis of the patient; or
68	68	(D) written documentation from an employee of a
69	69	family violence center that describes the sexual assault of the
70	70	employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family
71	71	violence against the employee;
72	72	(12) resulted from a move from the area of the
73	73	employee's employment that:
74	74	(A) was made with the employee's spouse who is a
75	75	member of the armed forces of the United States; and
76	76	(B) resulted from the spouse's permanent change
77	77	of station of longer than 120 days or a tour of duty of longer than
78	78	one year;
79	79	(13) was caused by the employee being unable to
80	80	perform the work as a result of a disability for which the employee
81	81	is receiving disability insurance benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section
82	82	423; or
83	83	(14) resulted from the employee leaving the employee's
84	84	workplace to care for the employee's terminally ill spouse as
85	85	evidenced by a physician's statement or other medical
86	86	documentation, but only if no reasonable, alternative care was
87	87	available.
88	88	SECTION 2. Section 204.022(d), Labor Code, is amended by
89	89	adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) to read as follows:
90	90	(3) "Immediate family" means an individual's parent,
91	91	spouse, or child under the age of 18.
92	92	(4) "Sexual assault" means conduct described by
93	93	Section 22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code.
94	94	(5) "Family violence center" has the meaning assigned
95	95	by Section 51.002, Human Resources Code.
96	96	SECTION 3. Section 207.046(a), Labor Code, is amended to
97	97	read as follows:
98	98	(a) An individual is not disqualified for benefits under
99	99	this subchapter if:
100	100	(1) the work-related reason for the individual's
101	101	separation from employment was urgent, compelling, and necessary so
102	102	as to make the separation involuntary;
103	103	(2) the individual leaves the workplace to protect the
104	104	individual from family violence or stalking or the employee or a
105	105	member of the employee's immediate family from violence related to
106	106	a sexual assault as evidenced by:
107	107	(A) an active or recently issued protective order
108	108	documenting sexual assault of the employee or a member of the
109	109	employee's immediate family or family violence against, or the
110	110	stalking of, the employee or the potential for family violence
111	111	against, or the stalking of, the employee;
112	112	(B) a police record documenting sexual assault of
113	113	the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or
114	114	family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee; [or]
115	115	(C) a physician's statement or other medical
116	116	documentation that describes the sexual assault of the employee or
117	117	a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence
118	118	against the employee that:
119	119	(i) is recorded in any form or medium that
120	120	identifies the employee or member of the employee's immediate
121	121	family, as applicable, as the patient; and
122	122	(ii) relates to the history, diagnosis,
123	123	treatment, or prognosis of the patient; or
124	124	(D) written documentation from an employee of a
125	125	family violence center that describes the sexual assault of the
126	126	employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or family
127	127	violence against the employee; or
128	128	(3) the individual leaves the workplace to care for
129	129	the individual's terminally ill spouse as evidenced by a
130	130	physician's statement or other medical documentation, but only if
131	131	no reasonable, alternative care was available.
132	132	SECTION 4. Section 207.046(c), Labor Code, is amended by
133	133	adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) to read as follows:
134	134	(3) "Immediate family" means an individual's parent,
135	135	spouse, or child under the age of 18.
136	136	(4) "Sexual assault" means conduct described by
137	137	Section 22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code.
138	138	(5) "Family violence center" has the meaning assigned
139	139	by Section 51.002, Human Resources Code.
140	140	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
141	141	eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits based on an
142	142	unemployment compensation claim that is filed with the Texas
143	143	Workforce Commission on or after the effective date of this Act. A
144	144	claim filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
145	145	law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and the former law is
146	146	continued in effect for that purpose.
147	147	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
148	148	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
149	149	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
150	150	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
151	151	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.