1-1 By: McCall, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 341 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 16, 1999; 1-3 April 19, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Economic Development; May 5, 1999, reported adversely, with 1-5 favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 1-6 0; May 5, 1999, sent to printer.) 1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 341 By: Sibley 1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-9 AN ACT 1-10 relating to the use of certain information regarding a current or 1-11 former employee. 1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-13 SECTION 1. Title 3, Labor Code, is amended by adding Chapter 1-14 103 to read as follows: 1-15 CHAPTER 103. DISCLOSURE BY EMPLOYER OF INFORMATION REGARDING 1-16 CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OR FORMER EMPLOYEES 1-17 Sec. 103.001. PURPOSE; LEGISLATIVE FINDING. The legislature 1-18 finds that the disclosure by an employer of truthful information 1-19 regarding a current or former employee protects employment 1-20 relationships and benefits the public welfare. It is the intent of 1-21 the legislature that an employer who makes a disclosure based on 1-22 information obtained by the employer that any employer would 1-23 reasonably believe to be true should be immune from civil liability 1-24 for that disclosure. 1-25 Sec. 103.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-26 (1) "Employee" means a person who performs services 1-27 for an employer, whether or not for compensation. 1-28 (2) "Employer" means a person who has one or more 1-29 employees or other individuals who perform services under a 1-30 contract of hire or service, whether expressed or implied, or oral 1-31 or written. 1-32 (3) "Job performance" means the manner in which an 1-33 employee performs a position of employment and includes an analysis 1-34 of the employee's attendance at work, attitudes, effort, 1-35 knowledge, behaviors, and skills. 1-36 (4) "Prospective employee" means any person who has 1-37 made an application, either oral or written, or has sent a resume 1-38 or other correspondence indicating an interest in employment. 1-39 (5) "Prospective employer" means an employer to whom a 1-40 prospective employee has made an application, either oral or 1-41 written, or sent a resume or other correspondence expressing an 1-42 interest in employment. 1-43 Sec. 103.003. AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE; APPLICATION TO CERTAIN 1-44 EMPLOYEES. (a) An employer may disclose information about a 1-45 current or former employee's job performance to a prospective 1-46 employer of the current or former employee on the request of the 1-47 prospective employer or the employee. 1-48 (b) An employer may not disclose information about a 1-49 licensed nurse or licensed vocational nurse that relates to conduct 1-50 that is protected under Article 4525d, Revised Statutes. The 1-51 employer must provide an affected nurse an opportunity to submit a 1-52 statement of reasonable length to the employer to establish the 1-53 application of Article 4525d, Revised Statutes. 1-54 Sec. 103.004. IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY; EMPLOYER 1-55 REPRESENTATIVES. (a) An employer who discloses information about 1-56 a current or former employee under Section 103.003 is immune from 1-57 civil liability for that disclosure or any damages proximately 1-58 caused by that disclosure unless it is proven by clear and 1-59 convincing evidence that the information disclosed was known by 1-60 that employer to be false at the time the disclosure was made or 1-61 that the disclosure was made with malice or in reckless disregard 1-62 for the truth or falsity of the information disclosed. For 1-63 purposes of this subsection, "known" means actual knowledge based 1-64 on information relating to the employee, including any information 2-1 maintained in a file by the employer on that employee. 2-2 (b) This chapter applies to a managerial employee or other 2-3 representative of the employer who is authorized to provide and who 2-4 provides information in accordance with this chapter in the same 2-5 manner that it applies to an employer. 2-6 Sec. 103.005. EMPLOYMENT REFERENCE. This chapter does not 2-7 require an employer to provide an employment reference to or about 2-8 a current or former employee. 2-9 SECTION 2. Chapter 103, Labor Code, as added by this Act, 2-10 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the 2-11 effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues before 2-12 that date is governed by the law as it existed immediately before 2-13 the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect 2-14 for that purpose. 2-15 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. 2-16 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the 2-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended. 2-21 * * * * *