By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 1800
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state employee military leave.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 431.005, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 431.005. LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS AND
EMPLOYEES. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a [A] person
who is an officer or employee of the state, a municipality, a
county, or another political subdivision of the state and who is a
member of the state military forces or a reserve component of the
armed forces is entitled to a paid leave of absence from the
person's duties on a day on which the person is engaged in
authorized training or duty ordered or authorized by proper
authority for not more than 15 workdays in a federal fiscal year.
During a leave of absence the person may not be subjected to loss of
time, efficiency rating, or vacation time[, or salary].
(b) A [Leaves of absence under Subsection (a) may not exceed
15 days in a federal fiscal year, except that a] member of the
legislature is entitled to pay for all days that the member is
absent from a session of the legislature and engaged in training and
duty as provided by Subsection (a).
(c) A state employee who is a member of the state military
forces or a reserve component of the armed forces and who is ordered
to duty by proper authority is entitled, when relieved from duty, to
be restored to the position that the employee held when ordered to
duty.
SECTION 2. Section 431.0825, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 431.0825. EMPLOYEES IN NATIONAL GUARD; EMERGENCY
LEAVE. A state employee called to state active duty as a member of
the state military forces [National Guard] by the governor is
entitled to receive paid emergency leave without loss of military
leave under Section 431.005(a) or annual leave.
SECTION 3. Section 659.023, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A state agency shall:
(1) provide an employee activated to military service
as a member of the reserve component of the armed forces with a
statement containing the balance of the employee's accrued state
compensatory time; and
(2) accommodate an employee's request to use the
balance of the employee's accrued state compensatory time before
the compensatory time expires.
SECTION 4. Section 661.903, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 661.903. NATIONAL GUARD EMERGENCY. A state employee
who is called to state active duty as a member of the state military
forces [Texas National Guard] by the governor because of an
emergency is entitled to a leave of absence without a deduction in
salary in accordance with Section 431.0825. A state employee who is
called to federal active duty as a member of the state military
forces may not receive the employee's state salary except as
provided by Sections 661.904(d) and (f) and 661.9041.
SECTION 5. Section 661.904, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 661.904. MILITARY LEAVE DURING NATIONAL EMERGENCY.
(a) An employee called to active duty during a national emergency
to serve in a reserve component of the armed forces of the United
States under Title 10 or 32, United States Code, is entitled to an
unpaid leave of absence.
(b) The employee continues to accrue state service credit
for purposes of longevity pay while on military duty described by
Subsection (a) but does not accrue vacation or sick leave during an
unpaid leave of absence [that time].
(c) The employee may retain [retains] any accrued vacation
or sick leave and is entitled to be credited with those balances on
return to state employment from military duty described by
Subsection (a). Leave earned while in a state-paid status is
credited to the employee's balance when the employee returns to
active state employment.
(d) The employee may use any accrued vacation leave, earned
compensatory leave, or overtime leave under the federal Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.), as amended,
in whole or in part, to maintain benefits for the employee or the
employee's dependents while the employee is on military duty
described by Subsection (a).
(e) Before a state employee leaves for military service, the
state agency employing the employee shall review with the employee
any issues relating to maintaining state health insurance coverage
during the employee's military duty, including what the employee
needs to do to maintain state health insurance coverage, how health
insurance coverage is affected by paid or unpaid leave, and how to
pay any premium required for the insurance coverage.
(f) A state employee activated for military service may
continue to accrue service credit with the Employees Retirement
System of Texas by receiving at least one hour of state pay during
each month of active military service. The employee may use any
combination of paid leave, including state compensatory leave,
overtime leave under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.), as amended, annual leave, military
leave, or approved agency differential pay, to qualify for the
state pay.
SECTION 6. Subchapter Z, Chapter 661, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 661.9041 to read as follows:
Sec. 661.9041. DIFFERENTIAL PAY. The administrative head
of a state agency shall grant sufficient emergency leave as
differential pay to a state employee on unpaid military leave if the
employee's military gross pay is less than the employee's state
gross pay. The combination of emergency leave and military pay may
not exceed the employee's actual state gross pay.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.