|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to compensation received by state employees working in |
|
certain high injury risk positions. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 57.48(k)(1), Education Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(1) "Compensation" means base salary or wages, |
|
longevity pay, high injury risk [hazardous duty] pay, benefit |
|
replacement pay, or an emolument provided in lieu of base salary or |
|
wages. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 403.055(l)(1), Government Code, is |
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
(1) "Compensation" means base salary or wages, |
|
longevity pay, high injury risk [hazardous duty] pay, benefit |
|
replacement pay, or an emolument provided in lieu of base salary or |
|
wages. |
|
SECTION 3. Section 659.044(e), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(e) This subsection applies only to an employee of the Texas |
|
Juvenile Justice Department who is receiving less than the maximum |
|
amount of high injury risk [hazardous duty] pay that the department |
|
may pay to the employee under Section 659.303. The employee's |
|
monthly amount of longevity pay is the sum of: |
|
(1) $4 for each year of lifetime service credit, which |
|
may not include any period served in a high injury risk [hazardous
|
|
duty] position; and |
|
(2) the lesser of: |
|
(A) $4 for each year served in a high injury risk |
|
[hazardous duty] position; or |
|
(B) the difference between: |
|
(i) $7 for each year served in a high injury |
|
risk [hazardous duty] position; and |
|
(ii) the amount paid by the department for |
|
each year served in a high injury risk [hazardous duty] position. |
|
SECTION 4. Section 659.046(f), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(f) The amount of an employee's lifetime service credit does |
|
not include the period served in a high injury risk [hazardous duty] |
|
position if the employee is: |
|
(1) entitled to receive high injury risk [hazardous
|
|
duty] pay under Section 659.302; or |
|
(2) receiving the maximum amount of high injury risk |
|
[hazardous duty] pay that the Texas Juvenile Justice Department may |
|
pay to the employee under Section 659.303. |
|
SECTION 5. Section 659.124(c), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(c) In this section, "compensation" means annualized base |
|
salary or wages, including longevity and high injury risk |
|
[hazardous duty] pay. |
|
SECTION 6. The heading to Subchapter L, Chapter 659, |
|
Government Code, is amended to read as follows: |
|
SUBCHAPTER L. HIGH INJURY RISK [HAZARDOUS DUTY] PAY |
|
SECTION 7. Sections 659.301(2) and (5), Government Code, |
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
(2) "High injury risk [Hazardous duty] position" means |
|
a position in the service of this state that: |
|
(A) renders any individual holding that position |
|
a state employee; or |
|
(B) requires the performance of a high injury |
|
risk [hazardous] duty. |
|
(5) "State employee" means an individual who: |
|
(A) is a commissioned law enforcement officer of |
|
the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Facilities Commission, |
|
the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Texas Department of |
|
Criminal Justice, or the attorney general; |
|
(B) is a commissioned security officer of the |
|
comptroller; |
|
(C) is a law enforcement officer commissioned by |
|
the Parks and Wildlife Commission; |
|
(D) is a commissioned peace officer of an |
|
institution of higher education; |
|
(E) is an employee or official of the Board of |
|
Pardons and Paroles or the parole division of the Texas Department |
|
of Criminal Justice if the employee or official has routine direct |
|
contact with inmates of any penal or correctional institution or |
|
with administratively released prisoners subject to the board's |
|
jurisdiction; |
|
(F) has been certified to the Employees |
|
Retirement System of Texas under Section 815.505 as having begun |
|
employment as a law enforcement officer or custodial officer, |
|
unless the individual has been certified to the system as having |
|
ceased employment as a law enforcement officer or custodial |
|
officer; [or] |
|
(G) before May 29, 1987, received high injury |
|
risk [hazardous duty] pay based on the terms of any state law if the |
|
individual holds a position designated under that law as eligible |
|
for the pay; or |
|
(H) is an employee of a state supported living |
|
center as defined by Section 531.002, Health and Safety Code, or a |
|
state hospital if the employee is in direct contact with patients |
|
for more than 50 percent of the employee's time working in the |
|
facility. |
|
SECTION 8. The heading to Section 659.302, Government Code, |
|
is amended to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 659.302. ENTITLEMENT TO RECEIVE HIGH INJURY RISK |
|
[HAZARDOUS DUTY] PAY. |
|
SECTION 9. Section 659.302(a), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(a) High injury risk [Hazardous duty] pay is included in the |
|
compensation paid to an individual for services rendered during a |
|
month if the individual: |
|
(1) is a state employee for any portion of the first |
|
workday of the month; and |
|
(2) has completed at least 12 months of lifetime |
|
service credit not later than the last day of the preceding month. |
|
SECTION 10. Sections 659.303(a) and (d), Government Code, |
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) The department may include high injury risk [hazardous
|
|
duty] pay in the compensation paid to an individual for services |
|
rendered during a month if the individual: |
|
(1) has routine direct contact with youth: |
|
(A) placed in a residential facility of the |
|
department; or |
|
(B) released under the department's supervision; |
|
and |
|
(2) has completed at least 12 months of lifetime |
|
service credit not later than the last day of the preceding month. |
|
(d) The department may not pay high injury risk [hazardous
|
|
duty] pay: |
|
(1) from funds authorized for payment of an |
|
across-the-board employee salary increase; or |
|
(2) to an employee who works at the department's |
|
central office. |
|
SECTION 11. Section 659.304, Government Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 659.304. INELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE HIGH INJURY RISK |
|
[HAZARDOUS DUTY] PAY. High injury risk [Hazardous duty] pay may be |
|
paid only to an individual who is: |
|
(1) entitled to receive the pay under Section 659.302; |
|
or |
|
(2) eligible to receive the pay under Section 659.303. |
|
SECTION 12. The heading to Section 659.305, Government |
|
Code, is amended to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 659.305. AMOUNT OF HIGH INJURY RISK [HAZARDOUS DUTY] |
|
PAY. |
|
SECTION 13. Sections 659.305(a), (b), (f), and (h), |
|
Government Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (h), the |
|
amount of a full-time state employee's high injury risk [hazardous
|
|
duty] pay for a particular month is $10 for each 12-month period of |
|
lifetime service credit accrued by the employee. |
|
(b) This subsection applies only to a state employee whose |
|
compensation for services provided to the state during any month |
|
before August 1987 included high injury risk [hazardous duty] pay |
|
that was based on total state service performed before May 29, 1987. |
|
The amount of a full-time state employee's high injury risk |
|
[hazardous duty] pay for a particular month is the sum of: |
|
(1) $10 for each 12-month period of state service |
|
credit the employee finished accruing before May 29, 1987; and |
|
(2) $10 for each 12-month period of lifetime service |
|
credit that the employee accrued after the date, which must be |
|
before May 29, 1987, on which the employee finished accruing the |
|
last 12-month period of state service credit. |
|
(f) The amount of a part-time state employee's high injury |
|
risk [hazardous duty] pay is proportional to the amount of a |
|
full-time state employee's pay under Subsection (a), (b), or (h). |
|
(h) The amount of high injury risk [hazardous duty] pay for |
|
a particular month for a full-time correctional officer employed by |
|
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is the lesser of: |
|
(1) $12 for each 12-month period of lifetime service |
|
credit accrued by the employee; or |
|
(2) $300. |
|
SECTION 14. Section 659.306, Government Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 659.306. RESPONSIBILITY FOR PAYING HIGH INJURY RISK |
|
[HAZARDOUS DUTY] PAY. The state agency that employs an individual |
|
at the beginning of the first workday of a month must pay any high |
|
injury risk [hazardous duty] pay that is included in the |
|
compensation paid to the individual for services rendered during |
|
that month. If the individual transfers to a second state agency |
|
during that month, the first agency remains responsible for paying |
|
the full amount of high injury risk [hazardous duty] pay for that |
|
month. |
|
SECTION 15. Section 659.307, Government Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 659.307. SERVICE CREDIT. (a) The amount of an |
|
individual's lifetime service credit equals the number of months |
|
the individual has served in a high injury risk [hazardous duty] |
|
position during the individual's lifetime. |
|
(b) The amount of an individual's state service credit |
|
equals the sum of: |
|
(1) the amount of the individual's lifetime service |
|
credit, as determined under Subsection (a); and |
|
(2) the number of months during the individual's |
|
lifetime that the individual has provided services to the state in a |
|
position that is not a high injury risk [hazardous duty] position. |
|
SECTION 16. Section 661.034(b), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(b) Under this section, rate of compensation: |
|
(1) includes an emolument in lieu of base pay for which |
|
the state employee was eligible on the last day of employment; and |
|
(2) does not include longevity or high injury risk |
|
[hazardous duty] pay. |
|
SECTION 17. Section 661.063(c), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(c) Under this section, rate of compensation: |
|
(1) includes an emolument in lieu of base pay for which |
|
the state employee was eligible; and |
|
(2) does not include longevity or high injury risk |
|
[hazardous duty] pay. |
|
SECTION 18. Section 661.067(b), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(b) A state employee who remains on the payroll of a state |
|
agency under this section: |
|
(1) is entitled to continue to receive all |
|
compensation and benefits that the state employee was receiving on |
|
the employee's last day of duty, including paid holidays, longevity |
|
pay, and high injury risk [hazardous duty] pay; |
|
(2) is entitled to a general salary increase for state |
|
employees that takes effect before the employee's accrued vacation |
|
time is exhausted; and |
|
(3) may not use sick leave or accrue sick leave or |
|
vacation time. |
|
SECTION 19. Section 666.001(1), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(1) "Compensation" includes: |
|
(A) base salary or wages; |
|
(B) longevity or high injury risk [hazardous
|
|
duty] pay; |
|
(C) benefit replacement pay; |
|
(D) a payment for the balance of vacation and |
|
sick leave under Subchapter B, Chapter 661; |
|
(E) a payment for the accrued balance of vacation |
|
time under Subchapter C, Chapter 661; and |
|
(F) an emolument provided in lieu of base salary |
|
or wages. |
|
SECTION 20. Section 811.001(7), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(7) "Compensation" means the base salary of a person; |
|
amounts that would otherwise qualify as compensation but are not |
|
received directly by a person pursuant to a good faith, voluntary, |
|
written salary reduction agreement in order to finance payments to |
|
a deferred compensation or tax sheltered annuity program |
|
specifically authorized by state law or to finance benefit options |
|
under a cafeteria plan qualifying under Section 125 of the Internal |
|
Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 125); longevity and high |
|
injury risk [hazardous duty] pay; nonmonetary compensation, the |
|
value of which is determined by the retirement system; amounts by |
|
which a person's salary is reduced under a salary reduction |
|
agreement authorized by Chapter 610; and the benefit replacement |
|
pay a person earns under Subchapter H, Chapter 659, [as added by
|
|
Chapter 417, Acts of the 74th Legislature, 1995,] except for the |
|
benefit replacement pay a person earns as a result of a payment made |
|
under Subchapter B, C, or D, Chapter 661. The term excludes |
|
overtime pay and a cleaning or clothing allowance. |
|
SECTION 21. Section 814.203(c), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(c) For the purposes of this section, "comparable pay" means |
|
80 percent or more of the member's final state employment base pay |
|
before deductions for taxes or deferred compensation under state |
|
and federal law, including any longevity or high injury risk |
|
[hazardous duty] pay, but excluding the monetary value of any |
|
insurance or retirement benefits. Comparable pay may be adjusted |
|
by the retirement system to account for adjustments in state pay |
|
rates. |
|
SECTION 22. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |