Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1642 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R3603 MAW-F
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 1642
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the transfer of compensation experience for purposes of
8	8	the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 204.081, Labor Code, is amended to read
11	11	as follows:
12	12	Sec. 204.081. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this subchapter:
13	13	(1) "Compensation experience" includes the period
14	14	that benefit wage credits or benefits have been chargeable and any
15	15	other factor under Subchapter A, B, C, or D necessary to the
16	16	computation of experience rating under those subchapters.
17	17	(2) "Person" means an individual, trust, estate,
18	18	partnership, association, company, or corporation.
19	19	(3) "Substantially common management or control"
20	20	exists if, after the acquisition of the organization, trade, or
21	21	business of an employing unit, the predecessor employing unit
22	22	continues to:
23	23	(A) own or manage the organization that conducts
24	24	the organization, trade, or business;
25	25	(B) own or manage the assets necessary to conduct
26	26	the organization, trade, or business;
27	27	(C) control through security or lease
28	28	arrangements the assets necessary to conduct the organization,
29	29	trade, or business; or
30	30	(D) direct the internal affairs or conduct of the
31	31	organization, trade, or business.
32	32	(4) "Substantially common ownership" exists if, on the
33	33	date of an acquisition of the organization, trade, or business of an
34	34	employing unit, a shareholder, officer, or other owner of a legal or
35	35	equitable interest in the predecessor employing unit, or the spouse
36	36	or a person within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity, as
37	37	determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, of the shareholder,
38	38	officer, or other owner:
39	39	(A) is a shareholder, officer, or other owner of
40	40	a legal or equitable interest in the successor employing unit; or
41	41	(B) holds an option to purchase a legal or
42	42	equitable interest in the successor employing unit.
43	43	(5) "Transfer of trade or business" includes the
44	44	transfer of part or all of an employer's workforce to another
45	45	employer if, as the result of the transfer, the transferring
46	46	employer no longer performs trade or business with respect to the
47	47	transferred workforce and the employer to whom the workforce is
48	48	transferred performs trade or business with respect to the
49	49	workforce.
50	50	(6) "Knowingly" means having actual knowledge of or
51	51	acting with deliberate ignorance of or reckless disregard for the
52	52	prohibition involved.
53	53	(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(4), following a partial
54	54	acquisition of an organization, trade, or business of an employing
55	55	unit, substantially common ownership does not exist solely because
56	56	the predecessor employing unit has the right to repossess the part
57	57	acquired by the successor employing unit in the event of the
58	58	successor's failure to complete a condition of the acquisition.
59	59	SECTION 2. Section 204.085, Labor Code, is amended by
60	60	adding Subsections (a-1) and (e) to read as follows:
61	61	(a-1) In the case of a partial acquisition for which the
62	62	transfer of compensation experience is required under Section
63	63	204.083, the commission shall require the predecessor employer and
64	64	successor employer to jointly submit, not later than the second
65	65	anniversary of the date the partial acquisition was completed,
66	66	information necessary for making the determination described by
67	67	Subsection (a). The period for which the required information must
68	68	be submitted is the lesser of:
69	69	(1) four years; or
70	70	(2) the length of time the predecessor employer was
71	71	liable for the payment of a tax under this subtitle.
72	72	(e) The commission shall include information about the
73	73	availability of a partial transfer of compensation experience under
74	74	this subchapter:
75	75	(1) with the information provided by the commission to
76	76	each new employer; and
77	77	(2) on any form, including in electronic format,
78	78	required to be submitted by an employer to report a change of
79	79	status.
80	80	SECTION 3. Sections 204.081(b) and 204.085(a-1), Labor
81	81	Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a partial acquisition of
82	82	an organization, trade, or business of an employing unit that
83	83	occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. An acquisition
84	84	that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
85	85	law in effect on the date the acquisition occurred, and the former
86	86	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
87	87	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.