HBA-NLM H.B. 1385 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1385 By: Keffer Economic Development 3/9/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Texas Unemployment Compensation Act allows an individual who is partially unemployed to draw unemployment benefits. Currently, "partial unemployment" is defined by the Act without reference to the reason which caused an individual to become partially unemployed. An employee whose hours are reduced as a result of disciplinary action can file a claim for partial unemployment benefits and the Act does not require an individual to return to work after a disciplinary action or unpaid suspension. This bill proposes to prohibit such partial claims when they result from a valid disciplinary action or an unpaid suspension. H.B. 1385 provides that an individual is not partially unemployed if the individual's work hours are reduced by the individual's employer as a result of a disciplinary action. This bill also requires an individual to return to work after a disciplinary suspension or be disqualified for benefits. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 201.091, Labor Code, by adding Subsection (e), as follows: (e) Provides that notwithstanding Subsection (b), an individual is not partially unemployed, for the purposes of this subtitle, if the individual is suspended by the individual's employer from a position of employment without compensation as a disciplinary action during a benefit period. Subsection (b) states that an individual is partially unemployed in a benefit period of less than full-time work if the individual's wages payable for that benefit period are less than the sum of the benefit amount the individual would be entitled to receive if the individual was totally unemployed and the greater of $5 or 25 percent of the benefit amount. SECTION 2. Amends Section 207.045, Labor Code, by adding Subsection (j), as follows: (j) Provides that an individual who is suspended by the individual's employer as a disciplinary action from a position of employment, for a term not to exceed five days without compensation, is considered to have left the position of employment voluntarily without good cause connected to the employment if the individual does not return to the position of employment after the expiration of the period of suspension. Provides that the disqualification for benefits under this subsection continues until the individual satisfies the conditions for requalification under Subsection (b). Subsection (b) states that a disqualification for benefits under this section continues until the individual has returned to employment and worked for six weeks or earned wages equal to six times the individual's benefit amount. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.