S.B. No. 73
AN ACT
relating to leave policy and procedures for state employees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 661, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. STATE AGENCY LEAVE POLICY
Sec. 661.251. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "state
agency" has the meaning assigned by Section 661.001.
Sec. 661.252. AGENCY POLICY. (a) A state agency shall
adopt a policy governing leave for employees under this chapter.
(b) The policy must provide clear and objective guidelines
to establish under what circumstances an employee of the agency may
be entitled to or granted each type of leave provided by this
chapter.
(c) The state agency shall post the policy adopted under
this section on the agency's Internet website in a location easily
accessible by the agency's employees and the public.
SECTION 2. Section 661.902, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) The administrative head of an agency may determine that
a reason other than a reason [that] described by Subsection (a) is
sufficient for granting emergency leave. Subject to the provisions
of this subsection and except as provided by Subsection (c), the
administrative head [and] shall grant an emergency leave to an
employee if the employee requests the leave and [who] the
administrative head determines that the employee has shown good
cause for taking emergency leave. The administrative head may not
grant an emergency leave to an employee under this subsection
unless the administrative head believes in good faith that the
employee being granted the emergency leave intends to return to the
employee's position with the agency on expiration of the period of
emergency leave.
(c) An employee is not required to request an emergency
leave if the administrative head of the employing agency grants the
emergency leave under Subsection (b) because the agency is closed
due to weather conditions or in observance of a holiday.
(d) Not later than October 1 of each year, the
administrative head of an agency shall report to the comptroller
the name and position of each employee of the agency who was granted
more than 32 hours of emergency leave during the previous state
fiscal year, the reason for which the employee was granted the
emergency leave, and the total number of hours of emergency leave
granted to the employee in that state fiscal year.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 661, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 661.923 to read as follows:
Sec. 661.923. LEAVE DURING AGENCY INVESTIGATION. (a) The
administrative head of an agency may grant leave without a
deduction in salary to a state employee who is:
(1) the subject of an investigation being conducted by
the agency; or
(2) a victim of, or witness to, an act or event that is
the subject of an investigation being conducted by the agency.
(b) A state employee who is the subject of an investigation
being conducted by the employing agency is ineligible to receive
leave for that reason under any other provision of this subchapter.
(c) Not later than the last day of each quarter of a state
fiscal year, an agency shall submit a report to the state auditor's
office and the Legislative Budget Board that includes the name of
each agency employee described by Subsection (a)(1) who has been
granted 168 hours or more of leave under this section during that
fiscal quarter. The report must include, for each employee, a brief
statement as to the reason the employee remains on leave.
SECTION 4. Subchapter Z, Chapter 661, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 661.924 to read as follows:
Sec. 661.924. MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH CARE LEAVE FOR
CERTAIN VETERANS. (a) This section applies to a state employee
who is:
(1) a veteran, as defined by Section 434.023(a); and
(2) eligible for health benefits under a program
administered by the Veterans Health Administration of the United
States Department of Veterans Affairs.
(b) A state employee described by Subsection (a) may be
granted leave without a deduction in salary or loss of vacation
time, sick leave, earned overtime credit, or state compensatory
time to obtain medical or mental health care administered by the
Veterans Health Administration of the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs, including physical rehabilitation.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), leave granted
under Subsection (b) may not exceed 15 days each fiscal year.
(d) The administrative head of a state agency may annually
grant additional days of leave described by Subsection (b) as the
administrative head determines appropriate for the employee.
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 2101, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2101.042 to read as follows:
Sec. 2101.042. LEAVE REPORTING. (a) As part of the
centralized accounting and payroll system or any successor system
used to implement the enterprise resource planning component of the
uniform statewide accounting project developed under Sections
2101.031, 2101.035, and 2101.036, the comptroller shall adopt a
uniform system for use by each state agency to which Section
2101.036 applies under Subsection (d) of that section for the
reporting of leave taken by the agency's employees. The system
adopted by the comptroller must include standardized accounting
codes for each type of leave authorized under Chapter 661.
(b) A state agency to which Subsection (a) applies shall use
the uniform system adopted by the comptroller under this section.
SECTION 6. Section 661.902(b), Government Code, as amended
by this Act, and Section 661.923, Government Code, as added by this
Act, apply only to a grant of leave made on or after the effective
date of this Act. A grant of leave made before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the leave was
granted, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. The first report required under Section
661.902(c), Government Code, as added by this Act, is due October 1,
2017, and must cover the period from September 1, 2016, to August
31, 2017.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 73 passed the Senate on
April 3, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 26, 2017, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 73 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 22, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 146,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor