84R6467 KSD-D
	By: Burton, Zaffirini	S.B. No. 612

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	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" means an emergency declared by the
	president or the governor.
	(2)  "Emergency medical services" has the meaning
	assigned by Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code.
	(3)  "Emergency medical services volunteer" has the
	meaning assigned by Section 773.003, 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 50 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.  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 information regarding the
	emergency.
	Sec. 23.004.  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. 23.005.  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. 23.006.  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 first anniversary of 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. A cause of action that accrued before
	the effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to
	the cause of 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, 2015.