By: Deuell S.B. No. 1537
(Cortez)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain required notices under the Texas Unemployment
Compensation Act, including employer liability arising from
failure to provide the notice.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 205.013, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) If a reimbursing employer pays a reimbursement to the
commission for benefits paid to a claimant that are not in
accordance with the final determination or decision under this
subtitle, the employer is not entitled to a refund of, or credit
for, the amount paid by the employer to the commission unless the
employer has complied with the requirements of Section 208.004 with
respect to the claimant.
SECTION 2. Section 208.004, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (a-1), (c), (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:
(a-1) A notification provided by a person under Subsection
(a), including an initial response to a notice mailed to the person
under Section 208.002, must include sufficient factual information
to allow the commission to make a determination regarding the
claimant's entitlement to benefits under this subtitle.
(c) Notwithstanding Subchapter B, Chapter 204, benefits
paid to a claimant that are not in accordance with the final
determination or decision under this subtitle shall be charged to
the account of a person if:
(1) the person, or the person's agent, without good
cause, fails to provide adequate or timely notification under this
section; and
(2) the commission determines that the person, or the
person's agent, has failed to provide timely or adequate
notification under this section on at least two prior occasions.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (c), a notification is not
adequate if the notification merely alleges that a claimant is not
entitled to benefits without providing sufficient factual
information, other than a general statement of the law, to support
the allegation.
(e) For purposes of Subsection (c), good cause is
established only by showing that a person, or the person's agent,
was prevented from complying with this section due to compelling
circumstances that were beyond the person's control.
(f) The commission may adopt rules as necessary to implement
this section.
SECTION 3. Section 212.005, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 212.005. CHARGEBACK ON REVERSAL OF DETERMINATION OR
DECISION ALLOWING BENEFITS PROHIBITED; EXCEPTION. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), a [A] chargeback may not be made to an
employer's account because of payments having been made under a
determination or decision to the claimant for any benefit period
with regard to which the claimant is finally denied benefits by a
modification or reversal of the determination or decision.
(b) A chargeback shall be made to an employer's account for
benefits paid to a claimant that are not in accordance with the
final determination or decision under this subtitle if the benefits
were paid due to the failure of the employer, or the employer's
agents, to comply with Section 208.004.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a final determination made by the Texas Workforce Commission on or
after October 1, 2013, that a person received an erroneous payment.
A final determination made before that date is governed by the law
in effect on the date the determination was made, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect October 1, 2013.