By: Brimer S.B. No. 189

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the amount of sick leave for police officers employed by certain municipalities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subsection (i), Section 143.3015, Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(i) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (h), a municipality with a population of less than 560,000 that has not recognized an association as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent as provided by Section 143.304 before September 1, 2005, may adopt rules for police officers converting vacation and sick leave days to hours that supersede [supercede] the provisions of Section 142.0013, Section 143.045, and Section 143.046 provided that:

(1) [(A)] A police officer is entitled to earn 120 hours of vacation leave each year with pay, as a minimum, if the officer has been regularly employed in the department or departments for at least one year.

(2) [(B)] In computing the length of time a police officer may be absent from work on vacation leave, only those hours that the person would have been required to work if not on vacation may be counted as vacation leave.

(3) [(C)] A police officer shall be granted the same number of vacation hours and holiday hours, or hours in lieu of vacation hours or holiday hours, granted to other municipal employees who work the same number of hours in a regular work day and have worked for the municipality for the same number of years.

(4) [(D)] A police officer shall be granted sick leave with pay accumulated at the rate of 10 [4.61] hours for each full month employed in a calendar year, so as to total 120 hours to the person's credit each 12 months.

(5) [(E)] A police officer who leaves the classified service for any reason is entitled to receive in a lump-sum payment the full amount of the person's salary for accumulated sick leave if the person has accumulated not more than 720 hours of sick leave, the person's employer may limit payment to the amount that the person would have received if the person had been allowed to use 720 hours of accumulated sick leave during the last six months of employment. The lump-sum payment is computed by compensating the police officer for the accumulated time at the highest permanent pay classification for which the person was eligible during the last six months of employment. The police officer is paid for the same period for which the person had taken the sick leave but does not include additional holidays and any sick leave or vacation time that the person might have accrued during the 720 hours.

SECTION 2. 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, 2007.