80R545 PB-D
 
  By: Keffer H.B. No. 1205
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prohibition of certain employment discrimination
regarding an employee who is a volunteer emergency responder.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 23 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 23. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION REGARDING
VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RESPONDERS
       Sec. 23.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
             (1)  "Emergency" includes a fire, hazardous or toxic
materials spill and cleanup, medical emergency, or other situation
that poses an imminent threat of loss of life or property to which a
fire department or provider of emergency medical services has been
or later could be dispatched.
             (2)  "Emergency medical services" has the meaning
assigned by Chapter 773, Health and Safety Code.
             (3)  "Emergency medical services volunteer" has the
meaning assigned by Section 773.003(13), Health and Safety Code.
             (4)  "Emergency service organization" means any entity
established to provide for the public:
                   (A)  fire prevention and suppression;
                   (B)  hazardous materials response operations; or
                   (C)  emergency medical services.
             (5)  "Employee" means an individual who is employed by
an employer for compensation.
             (6)  "Employer" means a person who employs one or more
employees. The term includes the state or a political subdivision
of the state.
             (7)  "Political subdivision" means a county,
municipality, special district, or authority of this state.
             (8)  "Volunteer emergency responder" means an
individual who is an active participant in an emergency service
organization but who does not receive compensation for the
individual's services. The term includes an emergency medical
services volunteer and a volunteer firefighter.
             (9)  "Volunteer fire department" has the meaning
assigned by Section 614.101, Government Code.
             (10)  "Volunteer firefighter" means an individual who
is a member of a volunteer fire department.
       Sec. 23.002.  DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED. Except as provided
by this chapter, an employer may not terminate or suspend the
employment of, or in any other manner discriminate against, an
employee who is a volunteer emergency responder and who is absent
from or late to the employee's employment because the employee is
responding to an emergency in the employee's capacity as a
volunteer emergency responder.
       Sec. 23.003.  EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN SMALL EMPLOYERS. (a)  
Except as provided by Subsection (b), this chapter does not apply to
an employer for whom an absence to respond to an emergency by an
employee who is a volunteer emergency responder would result in
hardship by reducing the employer's workforce by 50 percent.
       (b)  An employer described by Subsection (a) may permit an
employee to provide services as a volunteer emergency responder.  
An employer who elects under this subsection to permit an employee
to provide services as a volunteer responder is subject to this
chapter.
       Sec. 23.004.  NOTICE TO EMPLOYER. An employee who is a
volunteer emergency responder and who may be absent from or late to
employment because the employee is responding to an emergency as a
volunteer emergency responder shall make a reasonable effort to
notify the employer that the employee may be absent or late. If the
employee is unable to provide the notice due to the extreme
circumstances of the emergency or inability to contact the
employer, the employee shall submit to the employer, on the
employer's request, a written verification of participation in an
emergency activity that:
             (1)  is signed by the supervisor, or the designee of the
supervisor, of the entity for which the affected volunteer
emergency responder provides services or the applicable emergency
service organization; and
             (2)  states that the volunteer emergency responder
responded to an emergency and provides the date and time of the
emergency.
       Sec. 23.005.  EFFECT ON EMPLOYEE WAGES; USE OF LEAVE TIME.
(a) An employer may reduce the wages otherwise owed to the employee
for any pay period because the employee took time off during that
pay period for an absence authorized by this chapter.
       (b)  In lieu of reducing an employee's wages under Subsection
(a), an employer may require an employee who is a volunteer
emergency responder to use existing vacation leave time, personal
leave time, or compensatory leave time for an absence authorized by
this chapter, except as otherwise provided by a collective
bargaining agreement.
       (c)  This section does not affect an employee's right to
wages or leave time under Section 661.905, Government Code.
       Sec. 23.006.  LIABILITY; REINSTATEMENT. An employee whose
employment is suspended or terminated in violation of this chapter
is entitled to:
             (1)  reinstatement to the employee's former position or
a position that is comparable in terms of compensation, benefits,
and other conditions of employment;
             (2)  compensation for wages lost during the period of
suspension or termination; and
             (3)  reinstatement of any fringe benefits and seniority
rights lost because of the suspension or termination.
       Sec. 23.007.  CIVIL ACTION. (a) An employee whose employer
violates this chapter may bring a civil action against the employer
to enforce rights protected by this chapter.
       (b)  An action under this section must be brought in the
county in which the place of employment is located not later than
the first anniversary of the date of the violation.
       SECTION 2.  Chapter 23, Labor Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
effective date of this Act. An action that accrued before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the
action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
       SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.