H.B. No. 1205
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prohibition of certain employment discrimination
  regarding an employee who is a volunteer emergency responder.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by
  adding Chapter 23 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 23. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION REGARDING
  VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RESPONDERS
         Sec. 23.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Emergency" includes a proclamation declaring a
  state of disaster by the governor of Texas or the president of the
  United States that includes a fire, hazardous or toxic materials
  spill and cleanup, medical emergency, or other situation that poses
  an imminent threat of loss of life or property to which a fire
  department or provider of emergency medical services has been or
  later could be dispatched.
               (2)  "Emergency medical services" has the meaning
  assigned by Chapter 773, Health and Safety Code.
               (3)  "Emergency medical services volunteer" has the
  meaning assigned by Section 773.003(13), Health and Safety Code.
               (4)  "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.
               (5)  "Employee" means an individual who is employed by
  an employer for compensation.
               (6)  "Employer" means a person who employs one or more
  employees. The term includes the state or a political subdivision
  of the state.
               (7)  "Political subdivision" means a county,
  municipality, special district, or authority of this state.
               (8)  "Volunteer emergency responder" means an
  individual who is an active participant in an emergency service
  organization but who does not receive compensation for the
  individual's services. The term includes an emergency medical
  services volunteer and a volunteer firefighter.
               (9)  "Volunteer fire department" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 614.101, Government Code.
               (10)  "Volunteer firefighter" means an individual who
  is a member of a volunteer fire department.
         Sec. 23.002.  DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED; LIMITATION. (a)  
  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 a volunteer emergency responder and who
  is absent from or late to the employee's employment because the
  employee is responding to an emergency in the employee's capacity
  as a volunteer emergency responder.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an employee who is a
  volunteer emergency responder is not entitled under this chapter to
  be absent from the employee's employment for more than 14 days in a
  calendar year unless the employee's absence is approved by the
  employer.
         Sec. 23.003.  EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN SMALL EMPLOYERS. This
  chapter does not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees.
         Sec. 23.004.  EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN CRITICAL EMPLOYEES. (a)
  In this section, "critical employee" means an individual:
               (1)  employed as a peace officer, firefighter,
  emergency medical services personnel member, or dispatcher for law
  enforcement, firefighters, or emergency medical services
  personnel; or
               (2)  whose presence is required in order to continue
  the essential functions of the employer, the absence of which could
  cause substantial and grievous economic injury, severely
  compromise the ability of the employer to accomplish mission
  critical functions, or jeopardize the safety and well-being of
  others.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), this chapter does
  not apply to an employee who is a critical employee of the
  employee's employer.
         (c)  An employer may permit a critical employee to provide
  services as a volunteer emergency responder. An employer who
  elects under this subsection to permit a critical employee to
  provide services as a volunteer emergency responder is subject to
  this chapter.
         Sec. 23.005.  NOTICE TO EMPLOYER. An employee who is a
  volunteer emergency responder and who may be absent from or late to
  employment because the employee is responding to an emergency as a
  volunteer emergency responder shall make a reasonable effort to
  notify the employer that the employee may be absent or late. If the
  employee is unable to provide the notice due to the extreme
  circumstances of the emergency or inability to contact the
  employer, the employee shall submit to the employer, on the
  employer's request, a written verification of participation in an
  emergency activity that:
               (1)  is signed by the supervisor, or the designee of the
  supervisor, of the entity for which the affected volunteer
  emergency responder provides services or the applicable emergency
  service organization; and
               (2)  states that the volunteer emergency responder
  responded to an emergency and provides the date and time of the
  emergency.
         Sec. 23.006.  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
  emergency responder 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.
         (c)  This section does not affect an employee's right to
  wages or leave time under Section 661.905, Government Code.
         Sec. 23.007.  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. 23.008.  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 in the
  county in which the place of employment is located not later than
  the 15th business day after the date of the violation.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 23, 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, 2007.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1205 was passed by the House on May
  11, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 132, Nays 5, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 1205 on May 25, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 0,
  1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1205 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 23, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor