By: Fraser S.B. No. 1229
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Workforce
Commission, including the administration of unemployment
compensation; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (i), Section 207.045, Labor Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(i) An assigned employee of a staff leasing services company
is considered to have left the assigned employee's last work
without good cause if the staff leasing services company
demonstrates that:
(1) at the time the employee's assignment to a client
company concluded, the staff leasing services company, or the
client company acting on the staff leasing services company's
behalf, gave written notice and written instructions to the
assigned employee to contact the staff leasing services company for
a new assignment [on termination of assignment at a client
company]; and
(2) the assigned employee did not contact the staff
leasing services company regarding reassignment or continued
employment; provided that the assigned employee may show that good
cause existed for the assigned employee's failure to contact the
staff leasing services company.
SECTION 2. Section 208.002, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 208.002. [NOTICE OF] INITIAL CLAIM; LAST WORK.
(a) When used in connection with an initial claim, "last work" and
"person for whom the claimant last worked" refer to:
(1) the person for whom the claimant actually last
worked, if the claimant worked for that person in six or more
consecutive weeks and was paid wages by that person equal to at
least six times the claimant's weekly benefit amount; or
(2) the employer, as defined by Subchapter C, Chapter
201, or by the unemployment law of any other state, for whom the
claimant last worked.
(b) The commission shall mail a notice of the filing of an
initial claim to the person for whom the claimant last worked before
the effective date of the initial claim. If the person for whom the
claimant last worked has more than one branch or division operating
at different locations, the commission shall mail the notice to the
branch or division at which the claimant last worked.
(c) [(b)] Mailing of a notice under this section to the
correct address of the person, branch, or division for which the
claimant last worked constitutes notice of the claim to the person.
SECTION 3. Section 214.002, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 214.002. LIABILITY FOR [IMPROPERLY] OBTAINING
IMPROPER BENEFITS. (a) A person who has received improper
benefits is liable for the amount of the improper benefits. The
commission may recover improper benefits by:
(1) deducting the amount of the improper benefits from
any future benefits payable to the person; [or]
(2) collecting the amount of the improper benefits for
the compensation fund in the same manner provided by Sections
213.031, 213.032, 213.033, 213.035, and 213.051 for the collection
of past due contributions; or
(3) employing a private collection agency to seek
repayment of the amount of the improper benefits, but only if the
commission determines the improper benefits are due to fraud under
Section 214.001 and are otherwise uncollectible.
(b) In this section, "improper benefit" means any [the]
benefit or payment obtained under this subtitle by a person who is
disqualified or otherwise ineligible to receive the benefit or
payment for any reason under a final determination or decision made
under this subtitle[:
[(1) because of the nondisclosure or
misrepresentation by the person or by another of a material fact,
without regard to whether the nondisclosure or misrepresentation
was known or fraudulent; and
[(2) while:
[(A) any condition imposed by this subtitle for
the person's qualifying for the benefit was not fulfilled in the
person's case; or
[(B) the person was disqualified from receiving
benefits].
(c) If the commission employs a collection agency under
Subsection (a)(3), the commission may assess a fee against the
claimant. The fee may be collected in the manner used to collect
improper benefits, except that the amount collected must remain
separate from the repaid benefits and may not be deposited in the
unemployment compensation fund.
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 214.007, Labor Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person wilfully
violates a provision of this title [subtitle] or a rule adopted
under this title [subtitle]:
(1) the violation of which is made unlawful or the
observance of which is required under this title [subtitle]; and
(2) for which a penalty is not otherwise provided by
this title [subtitle] or any other applicable statute.
SECTION 5. Chapter 214, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Section 214.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 214.008. ACCESS TO RECORDS BY PRIVATE ENTITY. For the
proper and efficient administration of the federal-state
unemployment compensation program, the commission may make records
maintained by the commission that relate to this title available to
a private entity under a written agreement in accordance with
federal law.
SECTION 6. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 301.081, Labor
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) Employment information thus obtained or otherwise
secured by the commission, including information obtained directly
from employers or from other states, may not be published and is not
open to public inspection, other than to a public employee in the
performance of public duties, except as the commission considers
necessary for the proper administration of this title or as
otherwise provided under federal or state law, including this
title.
(d) A person commits an offense if the person [is an
employee or member of the commission who] violates any provision of
this section. Each [An] offense under this subsection is
punishable by a fine of not less than $20 nor more than $200,
confinement in jail for not more than 90 days, or both fine and
confinement.
SECTION 7. Section 301.082, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) For the proper and efficient implementation of any
federal, state, or local law, the commission or a local workforce
development board may make records maintained by the commission or
local workforce development board, as applicable, that relate to
this title available to a public or private entity under a written
agreement in accordance with federal law.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Subtitle
A, Title 4, Labor Code, apply only to a claim for unemployment
compensation benefits that is filed with the Texas Workforce
Commission on or after the effective date of this Act. A claim
filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date
the claim was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
Amend S.B. No. 1229 (Senate Engrossment) as follows:
(1) Add the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the
bill:
SECTION ___. Section 207.048, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (f) and adding Subsection (g) to
read as follows:
(a) An individual is disqualified for benefits for a benefit
period in which the individual's total or partial unemployment is
caused by[:
[(1)] the individual's stoppage of work because of a
labor dispute at the factory, establishment, or other premises
where the individual is or was last employed[; or
[(2) a labor dispute at another place that:
[(A) is owned or operated by the same employing
unit that owns or operates the premises where the individual is or
was last employed; and
[(B) supplies material or services necessary to
the continued and usual operation of the premises where the
individual is or was last employed].
(b) Disqualification for benefits under this section does
not apply to an individual who shows to the satisfaction of the
commission that the individual:
(1) is not participating in, financing, or directly
interested in the labor dispute; [and]
(2) does not belong to a grade or class of workers any
members of which were employed at the premises of the labor dispute
immediately before the beginning of the labor dispute and any of
whom are participating in, financing, or directly interested in the
dispute;
(3) has been locked out of the individual's place of
employment; or
(4) has been placed on emergency leave without pay by
the individual's employer.
(f) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Lock out" means the denial of entry by an employer
to the place of employment of employees of that employer who have
not:
(A) gone on strike; or
(B) notified the employer of a date on which the
employees intend to go on strike.
(2) "Premises" [, "premises"] includes a vessel.
(g) For the purposes of Subsection (b), the payment of
regular union dues by an individual does not constitute financing a
labor dispute.
(2) Strike SECTION 2 of the bill, amended Section 208.002,
Labor Code (page 1, line 24, through page 2, line 20).
(3) In SECTION 5 of the bill, in the heading to added Section
214.008, Labor Code (page 4, line 15), strike "ENTITY" and
substitute "COLLECTION AGENCY".
(4) In SECTION 5 of the bill, in added Section 214.008,
Labor Code (page 4, lines 19 and 20), strike "entity under a written
agreement in accordance with federal law" and substitute
"collection agency employed by the commission to collect improper
benefits under Section 214.002(a)(3)".
(5) In SECTION 7 of the bill, in added Section 301.082(a-1),
Labor Code (page 5, lines 16 and 17), strike "public or private
entity under a written agreement in accordance with federal law"
and substitute "private collection agency employed by the
commission to collect improper benefits under Section
214.002(a)(3)".
(6) Renumber the SECTIONS of the bill appropriately.
79R17128 KSD-D Ritter