78R7039 MCK-D
By: Coleman H.B. No. 2706
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to grievance and complaint resolution procedures for
certain state employees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 6, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 670 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 670. GRIEVANCE AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION
PROCEDURES
Sec. 670.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Aggrieved employee" means an employee of a state
agency who presents a grievance or a complaint under this chapter.
(2) "Complaint" means a written expression of
dissatisfaction presented by an employee regarding:
(A) compensation;
(B) work hours; or
(C) another issue related to employment
conditions that does not constitute a grievance.
(3) "Employee" means a person employed either
full-time or part-time by a state agency who is in a position
subject to the state position classification plan or an analogous
classification plan in effect at an institution of higher education
or who is exempt from a classification plan but compensated at a
rate not to exceed the amount prescribed by the General
Appropriations Act for step 1, salary group 21, of the position
classification salary schedule. The term does not include a
probationary or seasonal employee.
(4) "Executive director" means the chief
administrative officer of a state agency. The term includes the
president of an institution of higher education.
(5) "Grievance" means a written expression of
dissatisfaction presented by an employee regarding the fact that
the employee has been:
(A) terminated from employment;
(B) demoted; or
(C) suspended without pay.
(6) "State agency" means a department, commission,
board, office, or other agency in the executive branch of state
government created by the constitution or a statute of this state.
The term includes an institution of higher education as defined by
Section 61.003, Education Code.
(7) "Supervisor" means the immediate supervisor of an
aggrieved employee.
Sec. 670.002. POLICY; EXISTING RIGHTS UNAFFECTED. (a) An
employee is entitled to due process under this chapter in the review
of a decision that affects the employee's working conditions or
employment and may not be dismissed from the employment without
cause.
(b) This chapter does not affect a right existing on January
1, 2004, relating to an employee's ability to use an established
dispute resolution process concerning the employee's:
(1) wages;
(2) work hours; or
(3) other conditions of employment.
Sec. 670.003. RULES. A state agency by rule shall adopt
standards and procedures in accordance with this chapter relating
to the resolution of a grievance or complaint presented by an
employee of the agency.
Sec. 670.004. INTERNAL AGENCY PROCEDURE. (a) The executive
director shall issue a written decision concerning the resolution
or denial of a grievance or complaint not later than the 60th day
after the date the grievance or complaint is filed with the state
agency under rules adopted by the agency under Section 670.003.
(b) Review of a complaint by the executive director or the
executive director's designee is the final review to which an
employee is entitled for the complaint.
(c) The executive director's decision on a complaint is
final and binding.
(d) The executive director's decision on a grievance is
final and binding in the absence of a timely appeal.
Sec. 670.005. APPEAL TO STATE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE
HEARINGS; JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a) If a grievance is not resolved to
the employee's satisfaction by the executive director, the
aggrieved employee may appeal the grievance to the State Office of
Administrative Hearings. The employee must request the appeal on a
form provided by the State Office of Administrative Hearings not
later than the 20th day after the date the employee receives the
executive director's written decision.
(b) The State Office of Administrative Hearings shall
conduct a hearing on the grievance not later than the 20th day after
the date the request for an appeal is received by the State Office
of Administrative Hearings. A hearings examiner employed by the
State Office of Administrative Hearings shall conduct the hearing.
(c) A hearing conducted under this section is subject to the
contested case provisions of the administrative procedure law,
Chapter 2001.
(d) If the hearings examiner renders a decision favorable to
the employee, the state agency shall pay the costs of a hearing
conducted under this section. If the decision is favorable to the
agency, the costs shall be divided equally between the state agency
and the aggrieved employee.
(e) An employee who has exhausted all administrative
remedies under this chapter and who is aggrieved by the final
decision of the State Office of Administrative Hearings hearings
examiner is entitled to judicial review as provided by the
administrative procedure law, Chapter 2001, for judicial review of
a contested case.
Sec. 670.006. TIME OFF. (a) An employee is entitled to a
reasonable amount of time off with pay to prepare for and to attend
a meeting or hearing conducted under this chapter for the
resolution of a grievance or complaint.
(b) A state agency shall adopt rules relating to an
employee's entitlement to time off under this section.
Sec. 670.007. RETALIATION PROHIBITED. (a) An employee may
not be disciplined, penalized, or prejudiced for exercising a right
to which the employee is entitled under this chapter.
(b) An employee may not be prohibited from or disciplined,
penalized, or prejudiced for acting as a witness in any proceeding
under this chapter.
(c) If the rules adopted by a state agency under Section
670.003 authorize the supervisor of an employee presenting a
grievance or complaint to render a decision relating to the
resolution of the grievance or complaint, the supervisor may not
be:
(1) disciplined, penalized, or prejudiced for
rendering a decision favorable to an aggrieved employee; or
(2) coerced or restrained in making a decision under
this chapter.
SECTION 2. A state agency shall adopt rules as provided by
Sections 670.003 and 670.006, Government Code, as added by this
Act, not later than January 1, 2004.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and
applies only to a grievance or complaint discovered by an employee
on or after January 1, 2004. A grievance or complaint discovered by
an employee before January 1, 2004, is covered by the law in effect
immediately before September 1, 2003, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.