79R8256 KEG-D

By:  Deshotel                                                     H.B. No. 2745



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the overtime compensation of employees of the Texas 
Department of Criminal Justice.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 659.015, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (c) and (g) and adding Subsection (i) to read 
as follows:
	(c)  Except as provided by Subsection (i), an [An] employee 
who is required to work hours in excess of 40 hours in a workweek is 
entitled to compensation for the excess hours either by:
		(1)  the agency allowing or requiring the employee to 
take compensatory time off at the rate of 1-1/2 hours off for each 
hour of overtime;  or
		(2)  at the discretion of the employing agency, in 
cases in which granting compensatory time off is impractical, the 
employee receiving pay for the overtime at the rate equal to 1-1/2 
times the employee's regular rate of pay.
	(g)  Compensatory time off to which an employee is entitled 
under Subsection (f) must be taken during the 12-month period 
following the end of the workweek in which the compensatory time was 
accrued or it lapses.  An employee may not be paid for that 
compensatory time, except that:
		(1)  compensatory time of an employee of the Texas 
Department of Criminal Justice is not subject to a lapse under this 
subsection and the employee shall be paid for all compensatory time 
the employee has accumulated up to the employee's separation from 
employment with the department in accordance with Subsection 
(i)(3); and
		(2)  [.  However,] an employee of an institution of 
higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, or 
an employee engaged in a public safety activity, including highway 
construction and maintenance or an emergency response activity, may 
be paid at the employee's regular rate of pay for that compensatory 
time if the employer determines that taking the compensatory time 
off would disrupt normal teaching, research, or other critical 
functions.
	(i)  Subsection (e) does not apply to an employee of the 
Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  For each hour of 
compensatory time off to which the employee is otherwise entitled 
under Subsection (f), an employee of the Texas Department of 
Criminal Justice:
		(1)  is entitled to compensatory time off at the rate of 
1-1/2 hours, not to exceed a total of five hours in a week;
		(2)  in addition to the compensatory time off to which 
the employee is entitled under Subdivision (1), is entitled to pay 
in the employee's regular paycheck at the rate of 1-1/2 times the 
employee's regular rate of pay for any overtime over five hours in a 
week; and
		(3)  at the time of the employee's separation from 
employment with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, shall be 
paid by the department at the employee's regular rate of pay for any 
compensatory time accumulated under Subdivision (1).
	SECTION 2.  Sections 659.015(i)(1) and (2), Government Code, 
as added by this Act, apply only to overtime hours worked by an 
employee of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on or after the 
effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.