79R3074 PB-F

By:  Kuempel                                                      H.B. No. 701



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a prohibition of certain employment discrimination 
regarding an employee who is a volunteer member of an emergency 
service organization.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by 
adding Chapter 25 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 25.  EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION REGARDING VOLUNTEER MEMBERS 
OF EMERGENCY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS
	Sec. 25.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:                            
		(1)  "Emergency service organization" means any entity 
established to provide for the public:
			(A)  fire prevention and suppression;                                 
			(B)  hazardous materials response operations;  or                     
			(C)  emergency medical services.                                      
		(2)  "Employee" means an individual who is employed by 
an employer for compensation.
		(3)  "Employer" means a person who employs one or more 
employees.  The term includes the state or a political subdivision 
of the state.
		(4)  "Political subdivision" means a county, 
municipality, special district, or authority of this state.
		(5)  "Volunteer member" means an individual who is 
carried on the membership list of an emergency service organization 
as an active participant but who does not receive compensation for 
the individual's services.
	Sec. 25.002.  DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.  Except as 
provided by this chapter, an employer may not terminate or suspend 
the employment of, or in any other manner discriminate against, an 
employee who is:
		(1)  a volunteer member of an emergency service 
organization; and    
		(2)  absent from employment or late to the employee's 
employment because the employee is responding to an emergency in 
the employee's capacity as a volunteer member.
	Sec. 25.003.  NOTICE TO EMPLOYER.  An employee who is a 
volunteer member and who may be absent from or late to employment to 
perform duties as a volunteer member shall make a reasonable effort 
to notify the employer that the volunteer member may be absent or 
late.
	Sec. 25.004.  EFFECT ON EMPLOYEE WAGES; USE OF LEAVE TIME.  
(a)  An employer may reduce the wages otherwise owed to the employee 
for any pay period because the employee took time off during that 
pay period for an absence authorized by this chapter.
	(b)  In lieu of reducing an employee's wages under Subsection 
(a), an employer may require an employee who is a volunteer member 
to use existing vacation leave time, personal leave time, or 
compensatory leave time for an absence authorized by this chapter, 
except as otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement.
	Sec. 25.005.  DOCUMENTATION.  (a)  For purposes of this 
section, "documentation" means a written verification of 
participation in an activity of an emergency service organization 
that:
		(1)  is signed by the supervisor, or the designee of the 
supervisor, of the emergency service organization; and
		(2)  states that the employee responded to an emergency 
and provides the date and time of the emergency.
	(b)  An employer may require an employee to provide 
documentation to the employer of the employee's participation in a 
particular activity of an emergency service organization.
	Sec. 25.006.  LIABILITY; REINSTATEMENT.  An employee whose 
employment is suspended or terminated in violation of this chapter 
is entitled to:
		(1)  reinstatement to the employee's former position or 
a position that is comparable in terms of compensation, benefits, 
and other conditions of employment;
		(2)  compensation for wages lost during the period of 
suspension or termination; and
		(3)  reinstatement of any fringe benefits and seniority 
rights lost because of the suspension or termination.
	Sec. 25.007.  CIVIL ACTION.  (a)  An employee whose employer 
violates this chapter may bring a civil action against the employer 
to enforce rights protected by this chapter.
	(b)  An action under this section must be brought not later 
than the first anniversary of the date of the violation.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 25, Labor Code, as added by this Act, 
applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  An action that accrued before the 
effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the 
action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that 
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.