Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB26 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Martinez Fischer (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 26
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2013;
3	3	May 9, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Economic
4	4	Development; May 16, 2013, reported favorably by the following
5	5	vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 16, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to unemployment compensation eligibility and chargebacks
11	11	regarding certain persons who are victims or whose immediate family
12	12	members are victims of sexual assault.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Section 204.022(a), Labor Code, is amended to
15	15	read as follows:
16	16	(a) Benefits computed on benefit wage credits of an employee
17	17	or former employee may not be charged to the account of an employer
18	18	if the employee's last separation from the employer's employment
19	19	before the employee's benefit year:
20	20	(1) was required by a federal statute;
21	21	(2) was required by a statute of this state or an
22	22	ordinance of a municipality of this state;
23	23	(3) would have disqualified the employee under Section
24	24	207.044, 207.045, 207.051, or 207.053 if the employment had been
25	25	the employee's last work;
26	26	(4) imposes a disqualification under Section 207.044,
27	27	207.045, 207.051, or 207.053;
28	28	(5) was caused by a medically verifiable illness of
29	29	the employee or the employee's minor child;
30	30	(6) was based on a natural disaster that results in a
31	31	disaster declaration by the president of the United States under
32	32	the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
33	33	(42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.), if the employee would have been
34	34	entitled to unemployment assistance benefits under Section 410 of
35	35	that act (42 U.S.C. Section 5177) had the employee not received
36	36	state unemployment compensation benefits;
37	37	(7) was caused by a natural disaster, fire, flood, or
38	38	explosion that causes employees to be separated from one employer's
39	39	employment;
40	40	(8) was based on a disaster that results in a disaster
41	41	declaration by the governor under Section 418.014, Government Code;
42	42	(9) resulted from the employee's resigning from
43	43	partial employment to accept other employment that the employee
44	44	reasonably believed would increase the employee's weekly wage;
45	45	(10) was caused by the employer being called to active
46	46	military service in any branch of the United States armed forces on
47	47	or after January 1, 2003;
48	48	(11) resulted from the employee leaving the employee's
49	49	workplace to protect the employee from family violence or stalking
50	50	or the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family from
51	51	violence related to a sexual assault as evidenced by:
52	52	(A) an active or recently issued protective order
53	53	documenting sexual assault of the employee or a member of the
54	54	employee's immediate family or family violence against, or the
55	55	stalking of, the employee or the potential for family violence
56	56	against, or the stalking of, the employee;
57	57	(B) a police record documenting sexual assault of
58	58	the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or
59	59	family violence against, or the stalking of, the employee; [or]
60	60	(C) a physician's statement or other medical
61	61	documentation that describes the sexual assault of the employee or
62	62	a member of the employee's immediate family or family violence
63	63	against the employee that:
64	64	(i) is recorded in any form or medium that
65	65	identifies the employee or member of the employee's immediate
66	66	family, as applicable, as the patient; and
67	67	(ii) relates to the history, diagnosis,
68	68	treatment, or prognosis of the patient; or
69	69	(D) written documentation from a family violence
70	70	center or rape crisis center that describes the sexual assault of
71	71	the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family or
72	72	family violence against the employee;
73	73	(12) resulted from a move from the area of the
74	74	employee's employment that:
75	75	(A) was made with the employee's spouse who is a
76	76	member of the armed forces of the United States; and
77	77	(B) resulted from the spouse's permanent change
78	78	of station of longer than 120 days or a tour of duty of longer than
79	79	one year;
80	80	(13) was caused by the employee being unable to
81	81	perform the work as a result of a disability for which the employee
82	82	is receiving disability insurance benefits under 42 U.S.C. Section
83	83	423;
84	84	(14) resulted from the employee leaving the employee's
85	85	workplace to care for the employee's terminally ill spouse as
86	86	evidenced by a physician's statement or other medical
87	87	documentation, but only if no reasonable, alternative care was
88	88	available; or
89	89	(15) was caused by the employer's reinstatement of a
90	90	qualified uniformed service member with reemployment rights and
91	91	benefits and other employment benefits in accordance with the
92	92	Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994
93	93	(38 U.S.C. Section 4301 et seq.).
94	94	SECTION 2. Section 204.022(d), Labor Code, is amended by
95	95	adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) to read as follows:
96	96	(3) "Immediate family" means an individual's parent,
97	97	spouse, or child under the age of 18.
98	98	(4) "Sexual assault" means conduct described by
99	99	Section 22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code.
100	100	(5) "Family violence center" has the meaning assigned
101	101	by Section 51.002, Human Resources Code.
102	102	SECTION 3. Section 207.046(a), Labor Code, is amended to
103	103	read as follows:
104	104	(a) An individual is not disqualified for benefits under
105	105	this subchapter if:
106	106	(1) the work-related reason for the individual's
107	107	separation from employment was urgent, compelling, and necessary so
108	108	as to make the separation involuntary;
109	109	(2) the individual leaves the workplace to protect the
110	110	individual from family violence or stalking or the individual or a
111	111	member of the individual's immediate family from violence related
112	112	to a sexual assault as evidenced by:
113	113	(A) an active or recently issued protective order
114	114	documenting sexual assault of the individual or a member of the
115	115	individual's immediate family or family violence against, or the
116	116	stalking of, the individual [employee] or the potential for family
117	117	violence against, or the stalking of, the individual [employee];
118	118	(B) a police record documenting sexual assault of
119	119	the individual or a member of the individual's immediate family or
120	120	family violence against, or the stalking of, the individual
121	121	[employee]; [or]
122	122	(C) a physician's statement or other medical
123	123	documentation that describes the sexual assault of the individual
124	124	or a member of the individual's immediate family or family violence
125	125	against the individual [employee] that:
126	126	(i) is recorded in any form or medium that
127	127	identifies the individual or member of the individual's immediate
128	128	family, as applicable, [employee] as the patient; and
129	129	(ii) relates to the history, diagnosis,
130	130	treatment, or prognosis of the patient; or
131	131	(D) written documentation from a family violence
132	132	center or rape crisis center that describes the sexual assault of
133	133	the individual or a member of the individual's immediate family or
134	134	family violence against the individual; or
135	135	(3) the individual leaves the workplace to care for
136	136	the individual's terminally ill spouse as evidenced by a
137	137	physician's statement or other medical documentation, but only if
138	138	no reasonable, alternative care was available.
139	139	SECTION 4. Section 207.046(c), Labor Code, is amended by
140	140	adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5) to read as follows:
141	141	(3) "Immediate family" means an individual's parent,
142	142	spouse, or child under the age of 18.
143	143	(4) "Sexual assault" means conduct described by
144	144	Section 22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code.
145	145	(5) "Family violence center" has the meaning assigned
146	146	by Section 51.002, Human Resources Code.
147	147	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
148	148	eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits based on an
149	149	unemployment compensation claim that is filed with the Texas
150	150	Workforce Commission on or after the effective date of this Act. A
151	151	claim filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
152	152	law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and the former law is
153	153	continued in effect for that purpose.
154	154	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
155	155	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
156	156	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
157	157	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
158	158	Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
159	159	* * * * *