By Solis                                              H.B. No. 2648
       74R5675 MLR-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to a multilingual pay differential for certain state
    1-3  employees.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subchapter E, Chapter 659, Government Code, is
    1-6  amended by adding Section 659.063 to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 659.063.  MULTILINGUAL PERSONNEL; PAY DIFFERENTIAL.  (a)
    1-8  In this section, "multilingual employee" means a person who in the
    1-9  performance of the person's duties is capable of effectively
   1-10  translating orally a language other than English into English and,
   1-11  when necessary, translating the language into written English.  The
   1-12  term includes a person who can interpret American sign language
   1-13  (Ameslan).
   1-14        (b)  This section applies only to the Texas Employment
   1-15  Commission, the Texas Department of Human Services, the Texas
   1-16  Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, and any other
   1-17  state agency determined by the Texas Employment Commission to be
   1-18  appropriate for implementation of this section.  The Texas
   1-19  Employment Commission by rule shall prescribe the criteria for
   1-20  making a determination under this subsection.
   1-21        (c)  In addition to other benefits of employment provided by
   1-22  law, an eligible employee who is certified as multilingual is
   1-23  entitled to a multilingual pay differential in the following
   1-24  amount:
    2-1              (1)  2.5 percent of the employee's monthly salary or
    2-2  wages to a maximum of $60 a month for a multilingual employee who
    2-3  uses an additional language skill for not less than 15 percent or
    2-4  more than 50 percent of the employee's time or work; and
    2-5              (2)  5.1 percent of the employee's monthly salary or
    2-6  wages to a maximum of $125 a month for a multilingual employee who
    2-7  uses an additional language skill for more than 50 percent of the
    2-8  employee's time or work.
    2-9        (d)  A certified multilingual employee is eligible for the
   2-10  multilingual pay differential if the use of an additional language
   2-11  skill occupies not less than 15 percent of the employee's time or
   2-12  work or the employee's assigned position includes translating
   2-13  while:
   2-14              (1)  interviewing monolingual non-English-speaking
   2-15  persons;
   2-16              (2)  preparing documents;
   2-17              (3)  helping a non-English-speaking person with an
   2-18  emergency; or
   2-19              (4)  teaching a subject other than a language in a
   2-20  language other than English.
   2-21        (e)  A certified multilingual employee who is in a
   2-22  supervisory position is eligible for the multilingual pay
   2-23  differential if the employee meets the requirements of Subsection
   2-24  (d).
   2-25        (f)  A certified multilingual employee is not eligible for
   2-26  the multilingual pay differential if the employee:
   2-27              (1)  is in a supervisory position and only supervises
    3-1  other multilingual employees;
    3-2              (2)  holds an exempt position;
    3-3              (3)  teaches a language; or
    3-4              (4)  has a position that involves multilingual skills
    3-5  as an inherent component of the position, including translating.
    3-6        (g)  An agency covered by this section must ensure that:
    3-7              (1)  an employee is not required to use language skills
    3-8  against the employee's wishes, regardless of whether the employee
    3-9  is certified;
   3-10              (2)  the work quotas and job performance standards for
   3-11  a multilingual position reflect the additional time and difficulty
   3-12  that translation requires; and
   3-13              (3)  a position that is classified as a certified
   3-14  multilingual position by the agency is classified according to
   3-15  rules and standards adopted by the agency.
   3-16        (h)  The Texas Employment Commission shall administer
   3-17  multilingual examinations and certify state employees as
   3-18  multilingual under this section.  The commission by rule shall
   3-19  provide for:
   3-20              (1)  oral and written examinations;
   3-21              (2)  time and place of examinations, which must be
   3-22  given statewide;
   3-23              (3)  levels of multilingual certification;
   3-24              (4)  certification of state employees; and
   3-25              (5)  waiver of the examination requirement in an
   3-26  emergency situation or if an examination is not available for a
   3-27  person.
    4-1        SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
    4-2        (b)  A state employee who has four years or more of
    4-3  experience in a position that would make the person eligible for
    4-4  the multilingual pay differential under Section 659.063, Government
    4-5  Code, as added by this Act, if the person were certified under this
    4-6  Act is eligible for the multilingual pay differential without
    4-7  examination or certification under Section 659.063, Government
    4-8  Code, as added by this Act, until September 1, 1999.
    4-9        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   4-10  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   4-11  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   4-12  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   4-13  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.