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Senate Bill 21 |
Senate Author: Williams et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Creighton et al. |
Current law makes an unemployed individual eligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits for a benefit period if the individual is available for work, among other conditions. Senate Bill 21 amends the Labor Code to enact the Ken Legler Act to specify that an individual for whom suitable work is available only in an occupation that regularly conducts preemployment drug testing is available for work only if the individual complies with the applicable requirements of the drug screening and testing program administered by the Texas Workforce Commission under the bill. The bill requires such an individual who files an initial claim for benefits to pass a drug screening assessment, and if the assessment indicates a reasonable likelihood that the individual is using a regulated substance, to pass a drug test. An individual who fails a drug test is ineligible to receive benefits until the individual has passed a subsequent drug test administered after a prescribed period. The bill sets out conditions under which an individual who fails a drug test is eligible to receive benefits and sets out requirements for procedures relating to the rights of an individual who fails a drug test.