Bill Text: TX HB334 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of a county employee family leave pool program.
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-3)
Status: (Passed) 2025-05-26 - Effective immediately [HB334 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HB334-Enrolled.html
| H.B. No. 334 | ||
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| relating to the establishment of a county employee family leave | ||
| pool program. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 157, Local Government Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Subchapter E-1 to read as follows: | ||
| SUBCHAPTER E-1. COUNTY EMPLOYEE FAMILY LEAVE POOL PROGRAM | ||
| Sec. 157.081. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
| (1) "Family leave pool" means a county employee family | ||
| leave pool created under a program. | ||
| (2) "Pool administrator" means the individual | ||
| responsible for administering a family leave pool. | ||
| (3) "Program" means a county employee family leave | ||
| pool program established under this subchapter. | ||
| Sec. 157.082. ESTABLISHMENT OF COUNTY EMPLOYEE FAMILY LEAVE | ||
| POOL PROGRAM. (a) The commissioners court of a county by order may | ||
| establish a program to allow an employee of the county to | ||
| voluntarily transfer sick or vacation leave time earned by the | ||
| employee to a county employee family leave pool. | ||
| (b) A program established under this section must: | ||
| (1) create a county employee family leave pool; and | ||
| (2) at a minimum comply with the provisions of this | ||
| subchapter. | ||
| (c) If a program is established for a county under this | ||
| section, the county judge of the county shall: | ||
| (1) serve as the pool administrator of the family | ||
| leave pool for the county; or | ||
| (2) appoint an individual to serve as the pool | ||
| administrator of the family leave pool for the county. | ||
| Sec. 157.083. CONTRIBUTION TO FAMILY LEAVE POOL. (a) A | ||
| county employee may contribute to the family leave pool of the | ||
| county that employs the employee one or more days of the employee's | ||
| accrued sick or vacation leave. | ||
| (b) The pool administrator for a county shall credit the | ||
| county's family leave pool with the amount of time contributed by a | ||
| county employee and deduct a corresponding amount of time from the | ||
| employee's earned sick or vacation leave as if the employee had used | ||
| the time for personal purposes. | ||
| (c) A retiring county employee may designate the number of | ||
| the retiring employee's accrued sick or vacation leave hours to be | ||
| used for retirement credit and the number of the retiring | ||
| employee's accrued sick or vacation leave hours to be donated on | ||
| retirement to the family leave pool of the county that employs the | ||
| retiring employee. | ||
| Sec. 157.084. USE OF TIME IN POOL. (a) A county employee is | ||
| eligible to use time contributed to the family leave pool of the | ||
| county that employs the employee if the employee has exhausted the | ||
| employee's eligible compensatory, discretionary, sick, and | ||
| vacation leave because of: | ||
| (1) the birth of a child; | ||
| (2) the placement of a foster child or adoption of a | ||
| child under 18 years of age; | ||
| (3) the placement of any person 18 years of age or | ||
| older requiring guardianship; | ||
| (4) a serious illness to an immediate family member or | ||
| the employee, including a pandemic-related illness; | ||
| (5) an extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing | ||
| pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member; or | ||
| (6) a previous donation of time to the pool. | ||
| (b) A county employee who applies to use time under | ||
| Subsection (a) to care for another person must submit and be listed | ||
| on the other person's birth certificate, birth facts, or adoption | ||
| or foster paperwork for a child under 18 years of age, including | ||
| being listed as the mother, father, adoptive parent, foster parent, | ||
| or spouse of the child's mother, father, adoptive parent, or foster | ||
| parent, or provide documentation that the employee is the guardian | ||
| of a person who is 18 years of age or older and requiring | ||
| guardianship. | ||
| Sec. 157.085. WITHDRAWAL OF TIME FROM POOL. (a) A county | ||
| employee may apply to the pool administrator for the county that | ||
| employs the employee for permission to withdraw time from the | ||
| county's family leave pool. | ||
| (b) A county employee who applies to withdraw time under | ||
| this section because of a serious illness, including a | ||
| pandemic-related illness, of the employee or an immediate family | ||
| member of the employee and does not qualify for or has exhausted | ||
| time available in the sick leave pool of the county that employs the | ||
| employee, if applicable, must provide the county's pool | ||
| administrator with a written statement from the licensed | ||
| practitioner who is treating the employee or the employee's | ||
| immediate family member. | ||
| (c) A county employee who applies to withdraw time under | ||
| this section because of an extenuating circumstance created by an | ||
| ongoing pandemic, including providing essential care to a family | ||
| member, must provide any applicable documentation, including an | ||
| essential caregiver designation, proof of closure of a school or | ||
| daycare, or other appropriate documentation to the pool | ||
| administrator for the county that employs the employee. | ||
| (d) If a pool administrator determines a county employee is | ||
| eligible to withdraw time under this section, the administrator | ||
| shall: | ||
| (1) approve the transfer of time from the county's | ||
| family leave pool to the employee; and | ||
| (2) credit the time to the employee. | ||
| Sec. 157.086. LIMITATION ON WITHDRAWALS. (a) A county | ||
| employee may not withdraw time from the family leave pool of the | ||
| county that employs the employee in an amount that exceeds the | ||
| lesser of: | ||
| (1) one-third of the total time in the pool; or | ||
| (2) 90 days. | ||
| (b) Subject to Subsection (a), the pool administrator for a | ||
| county shall determine the amount of time that a county employee may | ||
| withdraw from the county's family leave pool. | ||
| Sec. 157.087. EQUAL TREATMENT. A county employee absent | ||
| while using time withdrawn from the family leave pool of the county | ||
| that employs the employee may use the time as sick leave earned by | ||
| the employee. The employee shall be treated for all purposes as if | ||
| the employee is absent on earned sick leave. | ||
| Sec. 157.088. NO ENTITLEMENT TO ESTATE. The estate of a | ||
| deceased county employee is not entitled to payment for unused time | ||
| withdrawn by the employee from the family leave pool of the county | ||
| that employs the employee. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2025. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.B. No. 334 was passed by the House on May 2, | ||
| 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 131, Nays 3, 1 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.B. No. 334 was passed by the Senate on May | ||
| 13, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: _____________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| _____________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
