82R27505 RWG-F
By: Duncan S.B. No. 1714
(Chisum)
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1714: No.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain actions against an employer by an employee who
is not covered by workers' compensation insurance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 406.033(a) and (d), Labor Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) In an action against an employer by or on behalf of an
employee who is not covered by [who does not have] workers'
compensation insurance obtained in the manner authorized by Section
406.003 [coverage] to recover damages for personal injuries or
death sustained by an employee in the course and scope of the
employment, it is not a defense that:
(1) the employee was guilty of contributory
negligence;
(2) the employee assumed the risk of injury or death;
or
(3) the injury or death was caused by the negligence of
a fellow employee.
(d) In an action described by Subsection (a) [against an
employer who does not have workers' compensation insurance
coverage], the plaintiff must prove negligence of the employer or
of an agent or servant of the employer acting within the general
scope of the agent's or servant's employment.
SECTION 2. Section 406.034(d), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) An employee who elects to retain the right of action or a
legal beneficiary of that employee may bring a cause of action for
damages for injuries sustained in the course and scope of the
employment under common law or under a statute of this state.
Notwithstanding Section 406.033, the cause of action is subject to
all defenses available under common law and the statutes of this
state unless the employee has waived coverage under an agreement
with the employer.
SECTION 3. (a) Sections 406.033 and 406.034, Labor Code, as
amended by this Act, do not apply to a cause of action by an employee
if:
(1) the employee is subject to a valid and enforceable
contract with the employee's employer relating to benefits for
occupational injury or death; and
(2) the employer, since January 1, 2011, has
continuously:
(A) had workers' compensation insurance
coverage; and
(B) offered its employees a program providing
benefits for occupational injury or death that is not governed by
Subtitle A, Title 5, Labor Code.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a) of this section,
Sections 406.033 and 406.034, Labor Code, as amended by this Act,
apply only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues before
that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the action is
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.