By McCall, Junell, Brimer, Keffer, H.B. No. 341 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the use of certain information regarding a current or 1-3 former employee. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Title 3, Labor Code, is amended by adding Chapter 1-6 103 to read as follows: 1-7 CHAPTER 103. DISCLOSURE BY EMPLOYER OF INFORMATION REGARDING 1-8 CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OR FORMER EMPLOYEES 1-9 Sec. 103.001. PURPOSE; LEGISLATIVE FINDING. The legislature 1-10 finds that the disclosure by an employer of truthful information 1-11 regarding a current or former employee protects employment 1-12 relationships and benefits the public welfare. It is the intent of 1-13 the legislature that an employer who makes a disclosure based on 1-14 information obtained by the employer that any employer would 1-15 reasonably believe to be true should be immune from civil liability 1-16 for that disclosure. 1-17 Sec. 103.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-18 (1) "Employee" means a person who performs services 1-19 for an employer, whether or not for compensation. 1-20 (2) "Employer" means a person who has one or more 1-21 employees or other individuals who perform services under a 1-22 contract of hire or service, whether expressed or implied, or oral 1-23 or written. 1-24 (3) "Job performance" means the manner in which an 1-25 employee performs a position of employment and includes an analysis 2-1 of the employee's attendance at work, attitudes, effort, 2-2 knowledge, behaviors, and skills. 2-3 (4) "Prospective employee" means any person who has 2-4 made an application, either oral or written, or has sent a resume 2-5 or other correspondence indicating an interest in employment. 2-6 (5) "Prospective employer" means an employer to whom a 2-7 prospective employee has made an application, either oral or 2-8 written, or sent a resume or other correspondence expressing an 2-9 interest in employment. 2-10 Sec. 103.003. AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE; APPLICATION TO CERTAIN 2-11 EMPLOYEES. (a) An employer may disclose information about a 2-12 current or former employee's job performance to a prospective 2-13 employer of the current or former employee on the request of the 2-14 prospective employer or the employee. 2-15 (b) An employer may not disclose information about a 2-16 licensed nurse or licensed vocational nurse that relates to conduct 2-17 that is protected under Article 4525d, Revised Statutes. The 2-18 employer must provide an affected nurse an opportunity to submit a 2-19 statement of reasonable length to the employer to establish the 2-20 application of Article 4525d, Revised Statutes. 2-21 Sec. 103.004. IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY; EMPLOYER 2-22 REPRESENTATIVES. (a) An employer who discloses information about 2-23 a current or former employee under Section 103.003 is immune from 2-24 civil liability for that disclosure or any damages proximately 2-25 caused by that disclosure unless it is proven by the preponderance 2-26 of the evidence that the information disclosed was known by that 2-27 employer to be false at the time the disclosure was made. For 3-1 purposes of this subsection, "known" means actual knowledge based 3-2 on information relating to the employee, including any information 3-3 maintained in a file by the employer on that employee. 3-4 (b) This chapter applies to a managerial employee or other 3-5 representative of the employer who is authorized to provide and who 3-6 provides information in accordance with this chapter in the same 3-7 manner that it applies to an employer. 3-8 Sec. 103.005. EMPLOYMENT REFERENCE. This chapter does not 3-9 require an employer to provide an employment reference to or about 3-10 a current or former employee. 3-11 SECTION 2. Chapter 103, Labor Code, as added by this Act, 3-12 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the 3-13 effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues before 3-14 that date is governed by the law as it existed immediately before 3-15 the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect 3-16 for that purpose. 3-17 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. 3-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the 3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.