By: Lucio S.B. No. 1251 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1-1 relating to the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act; defining 1-2 temporary help firm and temporary employee. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. The Texas Unemployment Compensation Act (Article 1-5 5221b-1 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by 1-6 adding the following to Article 5221b-3(a): 1-7 DISQUALIFICATION FOR BENEFITS 1-8 An individual shall be disqualified for benefits: 1-9 (a) If the Commission finds that he has left his last work 1-10 voluntarily without good cause connected with his work. The 1-11 disqualification continues until the claimant has returned to 1-12 employment and either worked for six weeks or earned wages equal to 1-13 six times his weekly benefit amount, unless the individual left 1-14 work to move with a spouse from the area in which the individual 1-15 worked. In that case, the disqualification shall be for not less 1-16 than six (6) nor more than twenty-five (25) benefit periods 1-17 following the filing of a valid claim, as determined by the 1-18 Commission according to the circumstances in each case. Provided 1-19 no claimant shall be disqualified because of his or her leaving due 1-20 to medically verified illness of the claimant or the claimant's 1-21 minor child, injury, disability, or pregnancy and is still 1-22 available for work. A medically verified illness of a minor child 1-23 only prevents disqualification under this subsection if there is no 2-1 reasonable alternative care available to the child and the employer 2-2 refused to allow the employee a reasonable amount of time off 2-3 during the illness. Military personnel who do not reenlist may not 2-4 be considered to have left work voluntarily without good cause 2-5 connected with work. An individual who is partially unemployed and 2-6 who resigns that employment to accept other employment that the 2-7 individual reasonably believes will increase the individual's 2-8 weekly wage is not qualified under this subsection. A temporary 2-9 employee of a temporary help firm will be deemed to have left his 2-10 last work voluntarily without good cause connected with his work if 2-11 the temporary employee does not contact the temporary help firm for 2-12 reassignment upon completion of an assignment. A temporary 2-13 employee will not be deemed to have left his work voluntarily 2-14 without good cause connected with his work unless the temporary 2-15 employee has been advised of the obligation to contact the 2-16 temporary help firm upon completion of assignments and that 2-17 unemployment benefits may be denied for failure to do so. 2-18 SECTION 2. The Texas Unemployment Compensation Act (Article 2-19 5221b-17, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding the 2-20 following sections: 2-21 DEFINITIONS 2-22 As used in this Act, unless the context clearly requires 2-23 otherwise: 2-24 (1) "Temporary help firm" means a firm or business that 2-25 employs individuals for the purpose of assigning them to the 3-1 temporary help firm's clients to support or supplement the client's 3-2 work force in work situations such as employee absences, temporary 3-3 skill shortages, seasonal work loads, and special assignments and 3-4 projects. For the purposes of this Act, the temporary help firm is 3-5 deemed to be the employer of the temporary employee. 3-6 (2) "Temporary employee" means an individual employed by a 3-7 temporary help firm for the purpose of being assigned to work for 3-8 the clients of a temporary help firm. 3-9 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993. 3-10 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the 3-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.