By McCall H.B. No. 3214
76R8895 T
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 11, Chapter 341, Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER D. DISCLOSURE BY EMPLOYER OF INFORMATION REGARDING
1-8 CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OR FORMER EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LAW
1-9 ENFORCEMENT APPLICANTS
1-10 Sec. 341.101. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-11 (1) "Employee" means a person who performs services for an
1-12 employer, whether or not for compensation.
1-13 (2) "Employer" means a person who has one or more
1-14 employees or other individuals who perform services under a
1-15 contract of hire or service, whether expressed or implied, or oral,
1-16 or written.
1-17 (3) "Job performance" means the manner in which an
1-18 employee performs the duties and responsibilities of a position of
1-19 employment and includes both written or oral analysis of the
1-20 employee's attendance at work, attitude toward the job, effort,
1-21 knowledge, and skills, performance evaluations, awards, demotions,
1-22 promotions, disciplinary actions, eligibility for rehire, and other
1-23 analogous personnel actions.
1-24 (4) "Law enforcement agency" means a prospective
2-1 employer who employs peace officers as defined by Sec. 2.12 of the
2-2 Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
2-3 (5) "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 (6) "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. 341.102. AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE. (a) For purposes of
2-11 performing a thorough background investigation for applicants
2-12 applying for employment as a peace officer, an employer shall
2-13 disclose job performance information relating to a current or
2-14 former employee, upon request of a law enforcement agency, if all
2-15 of the following conditions are met:
2-16 (1) The request is made in writing.
2-17 (2) The request is accompanied by a notarized
2-18 authorization by the applicant releasing the employer of liability.
2-19 (3) The request and the authorization are presented to
2-20 the employer by a sworn officer or other authorized representative
2-21 of the employing law enforcement agency.
2-22 (b) Non-disclosure agreements between applicants applying
2-23 for employment as a peace officer and current or former employers
2-24 will not apply to the release of information regarding an
2-25 applicant's job performance to a law enforcement agency requesting
2-26 the information in compliance with this subchapter.
2-27 Sec. 341.103. EXCEPTION TO CONFIDENTIALITY FOR REQUESTS FOR
3-1 INFORMATION BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. For purposes of this
3-2 subchapter only, the confidentiality provision contained in Sec.
3-3 143.089(g) of the Texas Local Government Code shall not apply and
3-4 the personnel file maintained for the law enforcement agency's use
3-5 shall be released if a law enforcement agency processing an
3-6 applicant requests job performance information from another law
3-7 enforcement agency.
3-8 Sec. 341.104. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO APPLICANT FOR
3-9 EMPLOYMENT. (a) On receipt of a written request by an applicant
3-10 for employment, a prospective employer shall provide to the
3-11 applicant, not later than the 30th day after the date on which the
3-12 request is received by the employer, copies of all written
3-13 communications from current and former employers of the applicant
3-14 that may reasonably be believed to affect the applicant's
3-15 possibility of employment with the prospective employer.
3-16 (b) An applicant for employment must make a request under
3-17 Subsection (a) not later than the 30th day after the date on which
3-18 the applicant completes the application process required by the
3-19 prospective employer.
3-20 Sec. 341.105. IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY; EMPLOYER
3-21 REPRESENTATIVES. (a) An employer who discloses information about
3-22 a current or former employee under Section 103.006 is immune from
3-23 civil liability for that disclosure or any damages proximately
3-24 caused by that disclosure unless it is proven by the preponderance
3-25 of the evidence that the information disclosed was known by that
3-26 employer to be false at the time the disclosure was made.
3-27 (b) This chapter applies to a managerial employee or other
4-1 representative of the employer who is authorized to provide and who
4-2 provides information in accordance with this chapter in the same
4-3 manner that it applies to an employer.
4-4 (c) In the absence of fraud or malice and on a finding by
4-5 the court that the statements and information provided by the
4-6 current or former employer were not false in an action under this
4-7 section brought by the applicant, the court shall award to the
4-8 defendant reasonable and necessary attorney's fees and court costs.
4-9 Sec. 341.106. CIVIL INJUNCTION. An employer's refusal to
4-10 disclose information to a law enforcement agency in accordance with
4-11 this section may constitute grounds for a civil action for
4-12 injunctive relief requiring disclosure on the part of an employer.
4-13 SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Government Code, as added by this
4-14 Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
4-15 effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues before
4-16 that date is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
4-17 the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
4-18 for that purpose.
4-19 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-20 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.