| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to a disqualification for unemployment benefits for |
|
|
refusing to take or failing a preemployment drug test. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 207.047, Labor Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows: |
|
|
(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), an individual is |
|
|
considered to have failed, without good cause, to accept suitable |
|
|
work offered to the individual by an employer if: |
|
|
(1) as a condition of employment, the employer |
|
|
required the individual to submit to a preemployment drug test; and |
|
|
(2) the individual: |
|
|
(A) refused, without good cause, to submit to the |
|
|
drug test; or |
|
|
(B) failed the drug test, unless the failure was |
|
|
caused by the use of a substance that was prescribed by a health |
|
|
care practitioner as medically necessary for the individual. |
|
|
(a-2) The commission by rule shall specify the |
|
|
circumstances under which a person is considered to have good cause |
|
|
for refusing to submit to a drug test under Subsection (a-1). |
|
|
SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2015, the Texas |
|
|
Workforce Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement |
|
|
Section 207.047(a-1), Labor Code, as added by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
|
to a claim for unemployment compensation benefits filed with the |
|
|
Texas Workforce Commission on or after December 1, 2015. A claim |
|
|
filed before December 1, 2015, 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |