| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the establishment of a state employee family leave |
|
|
pool. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 661, Government Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subchapter A-1 to read as follows: |
|
|
SUBCHAPTER A-1. STATE EMPLOYEE FAMILY LEAVE POOL |
|
|
Sec. 661.021. PURPOSE. The purpose of the state employee |
|
|
family leave program is to: |
|
|
(1) provide eligible state employees more flexibility |
|
|
in: |
|
|
(A) bonding with and caring for children during a |
|
|
child's first year following birth, adoption, or foster placement; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(B) caring for a seriously ill family member or |
|
|
the employee, including pandemic-related illnesses or |
|
|
complications caused by a pandemic; and |
|
|
(2) allow employees to apply for leave time under the |
|
|
family leave pool. |
|
|
Sec. 661.022. GUIDELINES. (a) The governing body of a |
|
|
state agency shall, through the establishment of a program, allow |
|
|
an agency employee to voluntarily transfer sick or vacation leave |
|
|
earned by the employee to a family leave pool. |
|
|
(b) The executive head of the state agency or another |
|
|
individual appointed by the governing body shall administer the |
|
|
family leave pool. |
|
|
(c) The governing body of the state agency shall adopt rules |
|
|
and prescribe procedures relating to the operation of the agency |
|
|
family leave pool. |
|
|
Sec. 661.023. CONTRIBUTION TO FAMILY LEAVE POOL. (a) A |
|
|
state employee may contribute to the family leave pool one or more |
|
|
days of the employee's accrued sick or vacation leave. |
|
|
(b) The pool administrator shall credit the family leave |
|
|
pool with the amount of time contributed by a state employee and |
|
|
deduct a corresponding amount of time from the employee's earned |
|
|
sick or vacation leave as if the employee had used the time for |
|
|
personal purposes. |
|
|
(c) A retiring state employee may designate the number of |
|
|
the retiring employee's accrued sick or vacation leave hours to be |
|
|
used for retirement credit and the number of the retiring |
|
|
employee's accrued sick or vacation leave hours to be donated on |
|
|
retirement to the sick or family leave pool. |
|
|
Sec. 661.024. USE OF TIME IN POOL. (a) A state employee is |
|
|
eligible to use time contributed to the family leave pool of the |
|
|
state agency that employs the employee if the employee has |
|
|
exhausted the employee's eligible compensatory, discretionary, |
|
|
sick, and vacation leave because of: |
|
|
(1) the birth of a child; |
|
|
(2) the placement of a foster child or adoption of a |
|
|
child under 18 years of age; |
|
|
(3) the placement of any person 18 years of age or |
|
|
older requiring guardianship; |
|
|
(4) a serious illness to an immediate family member or |
|
|
the employee, including a pandemic-related illness; |
|
|
(5) an extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing |
|
|
pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member; or |
|
|
(6) a previous donation of time to the pool. |
|
|
(b) A state employee who applies to use time under |
|
|
Subsection (a) to care for another person must submit and be listed |
|
|
on the other person's birth certificate, birth facts, or adoption |
|
|
or foster paperwork for a child under 18 years of age, including |
|
|
being listed as the mother, father, adoptive parent, foster parent, |
|
|
or partner of the child's mother, adoptive parent, or foster |
|
|
parent, or provide documentation that the employee is the guardian |
|
|
of a person who is 18 years of age or older and requiring |
|
|
guardianship. |
|
|
Sec. 661.025. WITHDRAWAL OF TIME FROM POOL. (a) A state |
|
|
employee may apply to the pool administrator for permission to |
|
|
withdraw time from the family leave pool. |
|
|
(b) If the state employee is seeking permission to withdraw |
|
|
time because of a serious illness, including a pandemic-related |
|
|
illness, of an immediate family member or the employee and does not |
|
|
qualify for or has exhausted time available in the sick leave pool, |
|
|
the employee must provide the pool administrator with a written |
|
|
statement from the licensed practitioner who is treating the |
|
|
employee or the employee's immediate family member. |
|
|
(c) If the state employee is seeking permission to withdraw |
|
|
time because of an extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing |
|
|
pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member, |
|
|
the employee must provide any applicable documentation, including |
|
|
an essential caregiver designation, proof of closure of a school or |
|
|
daycare, or other appropriate documentation. |
|
|
(d) If the pool administrator determines the state employee |
|
|
is eligible, the administrator shall: |
|
|
(1) approve the transfer of time from the pool to the |
|
|
employee; and |
|
|
(2) credit the time to the employee. |
|
|
Sec. 661.026. LIMITATION ON WITHDRAWALS. (a) A state |
|
|
employee may not withdraw time from the family leave pool in an |
|
|
amount that exceeds the lesser of: |
|
|
(1) one-third of the total time in the pool; or |
|
|
(2) 90 days. |
|
|
(b) Subject to Subsection (a), the pool administrator shall |
|
|
determine the amount of time that an employee may withdraw from the |
|
|
pool. |
|
|
Sec. 661.027. EQUAL TREATMENT. A state employee absent |
|
|
while using time withdrawn from the family leave pool may use the |
|
|
time as sick leave earned by the employee. The employee shall be |
|
|
treated for all purposes as if the employee is absent on earned sick |
|
|
leave. |
|
|
Sec. 661.028. NO ENTITLEMENT TO ESTATE. The estate of a |
|
|
deceased state employee is not entitled to payment for unused time |
|
|
withdrawn by the employee from the family leave pool. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |