1-1 By: Oliveira (Senate Sponsor - Sibley) H.B. No. 1031
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 10, 1995;
1-3 April 11, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Economic Development; May 22, 1995, reported favorably by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 1; May 22, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the collection of certain unpaid wages.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 61, Labor Code, is amended
1-11 by adding Section 61.085 to read as follows:
1-12 Sec. 61.085. ASSIGNMENT OF LIEN. A lien securing wages due
1-13 under this chapter may be assigned to the claimant, at the
1-14 claimant's request.
1-15 SECTION 2. Chapter 61, Labor Code, is amended by adding
1-16 Subchapter F to read as follows:
1-17 SUBCHAPTER F. DELINQUENCY; LEVY
1-18 Sec. 61.091. NOTICE OF DELINQUENCY. (a) If, under a final
1-19 order, a person is determined to be delinquent in the payment of
1-20 wages, penalties, interest, or other amounts due under this
1-21 chapter, the commission may notify personally or by mail any person
1-22 who:
1-23 (1) possesses or controls any of the delinquent
1-24 person's assets, including a credit, bank, or savings account or
1-25 deposit, or other intangible or personal property; or
1-26 (2) owes a debt to the delinquent person.
1-27 (b) A notice under this subchapter to a state officer,
1-28 department, or agency must be provided before the officer,
1-29 department, or agency presents to the comptroller the claim of the
1-30 delinquent person.
1-31 (c) A notice under this subchapter may be given at any time
1-32 after the wages, penalties, interest, or other amounts due under
1-33 this chapter become delinquent. The notice must state the amount
1-34 of wages, penalties, interest, or other amounts due and owing and
1-35 any additional amount that will accrue by operation of law in a
1-36 period not to exceed 30 days and, in the case of a credit, bank, or
1-37 savings account or deposit, is effective only up to that amount.
1-38 Sec. 61.092. DUTIES OF NOTICE RECIPIENT. (a) On receipt of
1-39 a notice under this subchapter, the person receiving the notice:
1-40 (1) shall advise the commission not later than the
1-41 20th day after the date on which the notice is received of each
1-42 asset belonging to the delinquent person that is possessed or
1-43 controlled by the person receiving the notice and of each debt owed
1-44 by the person receiving the notice to the delinquent person; and
1-45 (2) unless the commission consents to an earlier
1-46 disposition, may not transfer or dispose of the asset or debt
1-47 possessed, controlled, or owed by the person on the date the person
1-48 received the notice within the 60-day period after the date of
1-49 receipt of the notice.
1-50 (b) A notice under this subchapter that attempts to prohibit
1-51 the transfer or disposition of an asset possessed or controlled by
1-52 a bank is effective if it is delivered or mailed to the principal
1-53 office or any branch office of the bank, including any office of
1-54 the bank at which the deposit is carried or the credit or property
1-55 is held.
1-56 (c) A person who receives a notice under this subchapter and
1-57 who violates Subsection (a)(2) is liable to the commission for the
1-58 amount of the indebtedness of the delinquent person with respect to
1-59 whose obligation the notice was given, to the extent of the value
1-60 of the affected asset or debt.
1-61 Sec. 61.093. LEVY. (a) At any time during the 60-day
1-62 period provided by Section 61.092(a)(2), the commission may levy on
1-63 the asset or debt by delivery of a notice of levy.
1-64 (b) On receipt of the levy notice, the person possessing the
1-65 asset or debt shall transfer the asset to the commission or pay to
1-66 the commission the amount owed to the delinquent person.
1-67 Sec. 61.094. NOTICE EFFECT. A notice delivered under this
1-68 subchapter is effective:
2-1 (1) at the time of delivery against all property,
2-2 rights to property, credits, or debts involving the delinquent
2-3 person that are not on the date of the notice subject to a
2-4 preexisting lien, attachment, garnishment, or execution issued
2-5 through a judicial process; and
2-6 (2) against all property, rights to property, credits,
2-7 or debts involving the delinquent person that come into the
2-8 possession or control of the person served with a notice of levy
2-9 during the 60-day period provided by Section 61.092(a)(2).
2-10 Sec. 61.095. DISCHARGE OF LIABILITY. A person acting in
2-11 accordance with the terms of the notice issued by the commission
2-12 under this subchapter is discharged from any obligation or
2-13 liability to the delinquent person with respect to the affected
2-14 property, rights to property, credits, and debts of the person
2-15 affected by compliance with the notice of freeze or levy.
2-16 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
2-17 applies only to a wage claim that is filed with the Texas
2-18 Employment Commission on or after that date. A wage claim that is
2-19 filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date
2-20 that the wage claim was filed, and the former law is continued in
2-21 effect for that purpose.
2-22 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-27 * * * * *