| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the employment status of certain individuals engaged in |
|
|
rehabilitative work-training programs. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 201.067, Labor Code, is amended to read |
|
|
as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 201.067. REHABILITATIVE SERVICE; WORK RELIEF; |
|
|
EXCEPTION FOR SERVICES PERFORMED BY CERTAIN TRAINED [BLIND] |
|
|
INDIVIDUALS. (a) In this subtitle, "employment" does not include |
|
|
service performed [by an individual who]: |
|
|
(1) by an individual whose earning capacity is |
|
|
impaired by age, physical impairment, developmental disability, |
|
|
mental illness, or intellectual disability or injury [receives
|
|
|
rehabilitative work or paying work in the employ of a facility that:
|
|
|
[(A)
is conducted to carry out a program of
|
|
|
rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is impaired
|
|
|
by:
|
|
|
[(i) age;
|
|
|
[(ii)
physical impairment, other than
|
|
|
blindness; or
|
|
|
[(iii) mental deficiency or injury; or
|
|
|
[(B)
provides paying work for individuals who,
|
|
|
because of their impaired physical or mental capacity, cannot be
|
|
|
readily absorbed in the competitive labor market;
|
|
|
[(2) is blind] while the individual is in training at a |
|
|
sheltered workshop or other facility operated by a charitable |
|
|
organization under a rehabilitation program that includes: |
|
|
(A) an individual plan for employment as required |
|
|
by 29 U.S.C. Section 722, as amended by the Workforce Innovation and |
|
|
Opportunity Act (Pub. L. No. 113-128); |
|
|
(B) a timeline for completion of the training; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(C) a planned employment outcome; or |
|
|
(2) by an individual who [(3)] receives work relief or |
|
|
work training as a part of an unemployment work-relief or |
|
|
work-training program assisted or financed in whole or in part by a |
|
|
federal agency, an agency of a state, a political subdivision of a |
|
|
state, or an Indian tribe. |
|
|
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1) [(a)], in this |
|
|
subtitle "employment" includes service performed by an individual |
|
|
whose earning capacity is impaired by age, physical impairment, |
|
|
developmental disability, mental illness, or intellectual |
|
|
disability or injury [who is blind] and who, after training, is |
|
|
working for a sheltered workshop or other facility operated by a |
|
|
charitable organization: |
|
|
(1) temporarily while awaiting placement in a position |
|
|
of employment in the competitive labor market; or |
|
|
(2) permanently because the individual is unable to |
|
|
compete in the competitive labor market. |
|
|
SECTION 2. 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 the effective date of this |
|
|
Act. A claim filed before the effective date of this Act 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 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2016. |