By Dukes, Maxey H.B. No. 1590
74R3486 MJW-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to grievance and complaint resolution procedures for
1-3 certain state employees.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 6, Government Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Chapter 666 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 666. GRIEVANCE AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION
1-8 PROCEDURES
1-9 Sec. 666.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "Aggrieved employee" means an employee of a state
1-11 agency who presents a grievance or a complaint under this chapter.
1-12 (2) "Commission" means the Texas Employment
1-13 Commission.
1-14 (3) "Complaint" means a written expression of
1-15 dissatisfaction presented by an employee regarding:
1-16 (A) compensation;
1-17 (B) work hours; or
1-18 (C) another issue related to employment
1-19 conditions that does not constitute a grievance.
1-20 (4) "Employee" means a person employed either
1-21 full-time or part-time by a state agency who is in a position
1-22 subject to the state position classification plan or an analogous
1-23 classification plan in effect at an institution of higher education
1-24 or who is exempt from a classification plan but compensated at a
2-1 rate not to exceed the amount prescribed by the General
2-2 Appropriations Act for step 1, salary group 21, of the position
2-3 classification salary schedule. The term does not include a
2-4 probationary or seasonal employee.
2-5 (5) "Executive director" means the chief
2-6 administrative officer of a state agency. The term includes the
2-7 president of an institution of higher education.
2-8 (6) "Grievance" means a written expression of
2-9 dissatisfaction presented by an employee regarding the fact that
2-10 the employee has been:
2-11 (A) terminated from employment;
2-12 (B) demoted; or
2-13 (C) suspended without pay.
2-14 (7) "State agency" means a department, commission,
2-15 board, office, or other agency in the executive branch of state
2-16 government created by the constitution or a statute of this state.
2-17 The term includes an institution of higher education as defined by
2-18 Section 61.003, Education Code.
2-19 (8) "Supervisor" means the immediate supervisor of an
2-20 aggrieved employee.
2-21 Sec. 666.002. POLICY; EXISTING RIGHTS UNAFFECTED. (a) An
2-22 employee is entitled to due process under this chapter in the
2-23 review of a decision that affects the employee's working conditions
2-24 or employment and may not be dismissed from the employment without
2-25 cause.
2-26 (b) This chapter does not affect a right existing on
2-27 September 1, 1995, relating to an employee's ability to use an
3-1 established dispute resolution process concerning the employee's:
3-2 (1) wages;
3-3 (2) work hours; or
3-4 (3) other conditions of employment.
3-5 Sec. 666.003. RULES. A state agency by rule shall adopt
3-6 standards and procedures in accordance with this chapter relating
3-7 to the resolution of a grievance or complaint presented by an
3-8 employee of the agency.
3-9 Sec. 666.004. INTERNAL AGENCY PROCEDURE. (a) The executive
3-10 director shall issue a written decision concerning the resolution
3-11 or denial of a grievance or complaint not later than the 60th day
3-12 after the date the grievance or complaint is filed with the state
3-13 agency under rules adopted by the agency under Section 666.003.
3-14 (b) Review of a complaint by the executive director or the
3-15 executive director's designee is the final review to which an
3-16 employee is entitled for the complaint.
3-17 (c) The executive director's decision on a complaint is
3-18 final and binding.
3-19 (d) The executive director's decision on a grievance is
3-20 final and binding in the absence of a timely appeal.
3-21 Sec. 666.005. APPEAL TO COMMISSION; JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a)
3-22 If a grievance is not resolved to the employee's satisfaction by
3-23 the executive director, the aggrieved employee may appeal the
3-24 grievance to the commission. The employee must request the appeal
3-25 on a form provided by the commission not later than the 20th day
3-26 after the date the employee receives the executive director's
3-27 written decision.
4-1 (b) The commission shall conduct a hearing on the grievance
4-2 not later than the 20th day after the date the request for an
4-3 appeal is received by the commission. A hearings examiner employed
4-4 by the commission shall conduct the hearing.
4-5 (c) A hearing conducted under this section is subject to the
4-6 contested case provisions of the administrative procedure law,
4-7 Chapter 2001.
4-8 (d) If the hearings examiner renders a decision favorable to
4-9 the employee, the state agency shall pay the costs of a hearing
4-10 conducted under this section. If the decision is favorable to the
4-11 agency, the costs shall be divided equally between the state agency
4-12 and the aggrieved employee.
4-13 (e) An employee who has exhausted all administrative
4-14 remedies under this chapter and who is aggrieved by the final
4-15 decision of the commission hearings examiner is entitled to
4-16 judicial review as provided by the administrative procedure law,
4-17 Chapter 2001, for judicial review of a contested case.
4-18 Sec. 666.006. TIME OFF. (a) An employee is entitled to a
4-19 reasonable amount of time off with pay to prepare for and to attend
4-20 a meeting or hearing conducted under this chapter for the
4-21 resolution of a grievance or complaint.
4-22 (b) A state agency shall adopt rules relating to an
4-23 employee's entitlement to time off under this section.
4-24 Sec. 666.007. RETALIATION PROHIBITED. (a) An employee may
4-25 not be disciplined, penalized, or prejudiced for exercising a right
4-26 to which the employee is entitled under this chapter.
4-27 (b) If the rules adopted by a state agency under Section
5-1 666.003 authorize the supervisor of an employee presenting a
5-2 grievance or complaint to render a decision relating to the
5-3 resolution of the grievance or complaint, the supervisor may not
5-4 be:
5-5 (1) disciplined, penalized, or prejudiced for
5-6 rendering a decision favorable to an aggrieved employee; or
5-7 (2) coerced or restrained in making a decision under
5-8 this chapter.
5-9 SECTION 2. A state agency shall adopt rules as provided by
5-10 Sections 666.003 and 666.006, Government Code, as added by this
5-11 Act, not later than January 1, 1996.
5-12 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
5-13 applies to a grievance or complaint discovered by an employee on or
5-14 after January 1, 1996. A grievance or complaint discovered by an
5-15 employee before January 1, 1996, is covered by the law in effect
5-16 immediately before September 1, 1995, and the former law is
5-17 continued in effect for that purpose.
5-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.