By Dukes H.B. No. 1558
75R4876 MCK-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 Workforce Commission.
1-13 (3) "Complaint" means a written expression of
1-14 dissatisfaction presented by an employee regarding:
1-15 (A) compensation;
1-16 (B) work hours; or
1-17 (C) another issue related to employment
1-18 conditions that does not constitute a grievance.
1-19 (4) "Employee" means a person employed either
1-20 full-time or part-time by a state agency who is in a position
1-21 subject to the state position classification plan or an analogous
1-22 classification plan in effect at an institution of higher education
1-23 or who is exempt from a classification plan but compensated at a
1-24 rate not to exceed the amount prescribed by the General
2-1 Appropriations Act for step 1, salary group 21, of the position
2-2 classification salary schedule. The term does not include a
2-3 probationary or seasonal employee.
2-4 (5) "Executive director" means the chief
2-5 administrative officer of a state agency. The term includes the
2-6 president of an institution of higher education.
2-7 (6) "Grievance" means a written expression of
2-8 dissatisfaction presented by an employee regarding the fact that
2-9 the employee has been:
2-10 (A) terminated from employment;
2-11 (B) demoted; or
2-12 (C) suspended without pay.
2-13 (7) "State agency" means a department, commission,
2-14 board, office, or other agency in the executive branch of state
2-15 government created by the constitution or a statute of this state.
2-16 The term includes an institution of higher education as defined by
2-17 Section 61.003, Education Code.
2-18 (8) "Supervisor" means the immediate supervisor of an
2-19 aggrieved employee.
2-20 Sec. 666.002. POLICY; EXISTING RIGHTS UNAFFECTED. (a) An
2-21 employee is entitled to due process under this chapter in the
2-22 review of a decision that affects the employee's working conditions
2-23 or employment and may not be dismissed from the employment without
2-24 cause.
2-25 (b) This chapter does not affect a right existing on
2-26 September 1, 1997, relating to an employee's ability to use an
2-27 established dispute resolution process concerning the employee's:
3-1 (1) wages;
3-2 (2) work hours; or
3-3 (3) other conditions of employment.
3-4 Sec. 666.003. RULES. A state agency by rule shall adopt
3-5 standards and procedures in accordance with this chapter relating
3-6 to the resolution of a grievance or complaint presented by an
3-7 employee of the agency.
3-8 Sec. 666.004. INTERNAL AGENCY PROCEDURE. (a) The executive
3-9 director shall issue a written decision concerning the resolution
3-10 or denial of a grievance or complaint not later than the 60th day
3-11 after the date the grievance or complaint is filed with the state
3-12 agency under rules adopted by the agency under Section 666.003.
3-13 (b) Review of a complaint by the executive director or the
3-14 executive director's designee is the final review to which an
3-15 employee is entitled for the complaint.
3-16 (c) The executive director's decision on a complaint is
3-17 final and binding.
3-18 (d) The executive director's decision on a grievance is
3-19 final and binding in the absence of a timely appeal.
3-20 Sec. 666.005. APPEAL TO COMMISSION; JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a)
3-21 If a grievance is not resolved to the employee's satisfaction by
3-22 the executive director, the aggrieved employee may appeal the
3-23 grievance to the commission. The employee must request the appeal
3-24 on a form provided by the commission not later than the 20th day
3-25 after the date the employee receives the executive director's
3-26 written decision.
3-27 (b) The commission shall conduct a hearing on the grievance
4-1 not later than the 20th day after the date the request for an
4-2 appeal is received by the commission. A hearings examiner employed
4-3 by the commission shall conduct the hearing.
4-4 (c) A hearing conducted under this section is subject to the
4-5 contested case provisions of the administrative procedure law,
4-6 Chapter 2001.
4-7 (d) If the hearings examiner renders a decision favorable to
4-8 the employee, the state agency shall pay the costs of a hearing
4-9 conducted under this section. If the decision is favorable to the
4-10 agency, the costs shall be divided equally between the state agency
4-11 and the aggrieved employee.
4-12 (e) An employee who has exhausted all administrative
4-13 remedies under this chapter and who is aggrieved by the final
4-14 decision of the commission hearings examiner is entitled to
4-15 judicial review as provided by the administrative procedure law,
4-16 Chapter 2001, for judicial review of a contested case.
4-17 Sec. 666.006. TIME OFF. (a) An employee is entitled to a
4-18 reasonable amount of time off with pay to prepare for and to attend
4-19 a meeting or hearing conducted under this chapter for the
4-20 resolution of a grievance or complaint.
4-21 (b) A state agency shall adopt rules relating to an
4-22 employee's entitlement to time off under this section.
4-23 Sec. 666.007. RETALIATION PROHIBITED. (a) An employee may
4-24 not be disciplined, penalized, or prejudiced for exercising a right
4-25 to which the employee is entitled under this chapter.
4-26 (b) An employee may not be prohibited from or disciplined,
4-27 penalized, or prejudiced for acting as a witness in any proceeding
5-1 under this chapter.
5-2 (c) If the rules adopted by a state agency under Section
5-3 666.003 authorize the supervisor of an employee presenting a
5-4 grievance or complaint to render a decision relating to the
5-5 resolution of the grievance or complaint, the supervisor may not
5-6 be:
5-7 (1) disciplined, penalized, or prejudiced for
5-8 rendering a decision favorable to an aggrieved employee; or
5-9 (2) coerced or restrained in making a decision under
5-10 this chapter.
5-11 SECTION 2. A state agency shall adopt rules as provided by
5-12 Sections 666.003 and 666.006, Government Code, as added by this
5-13 Act, not later than January 1, 1998.
5-14 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
5-15 applies to a grievance or complaint discovered by an employee on or
5-16 after January 1, 1998. A grievance or complaint discovered by an
5-17 employee before January 1, 1998, is covered by the law in effect
5-18 immediately before September 1, 1997, and the former law is
5-19 continued in effect for that purpose.
5-20 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.