85R1928 KKR-F
	By: Canales	H.B. No. 317

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the consideration by certain employers of the consumer
	credit reports of certain employees and applicants for employment;
	providing administrative penalties.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 52, Labor Code, is amended by adding
	Subchapter H to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER H.  CONSIDERATION OF CREDIT REPORT BY EMPLOYER
	Sec. 52.081.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
	(1)  "Applicant" means a person who has made an oral or
	written application with an employer, or has sent a resume or other
	correspondence to an employer, indicating an interest in
	employment.
	(2)  "Commission" means the Texas Workforce
	Commission.
	(3)  "Consumer reporting agency" means any person that,
	for monetary fees or dues or on a cooperative nonprofit basis,
	regularly engages in the practice of assembling or evaluating
	credit information or other information on individuals for the
	purpose of furnishing credit reports to third parties.
	(4)  "Credit report" means any written, oral, or other
	communication of information by a consumer reporting agency that
	bears on an individual's creditworthiness, credit standing, or
	credit capacity.
	(5)  "Employee" and "employer" have the meanings
	assigned by Section 21.002.
	(6)  "Employer engaged in or regulating financial
	services" means:
	(A)  a bank, savings and loan association or
	savings bank, credit union, or other depository institution or its
	subsidiaries or affiliates;
	(B)  a mortgage banker or residential mortgage
	loan company;
	(C)  a securities firm or registered financial
	advisory firm;
	(D)  a regulated loan company;
	(E)  an insurance company or insurance agency; or
	(F)  a state agency responsible for regulating an
	entity described by Paragraph (A), (B), (C), or (D).
	Sec. 52.082.  CREDIT REPORT SUBSTANTIALLY RELATED TO
	EMPLOYMENT POSITION. A credit report is considered to be
	substantially related to an employee's or applicant's employment
	position or prospective employment position if the position:
	(1)  is a managerial position which involves setting
	the direction or control of a business or a division, unit, or
	agency of a business;
	(2)  involves access to customers', employees', or the
	employer's personal or financial information, other than
	information customarily provided in retail transactions;
	(3)  involves a fiduciary responsibility to the
	employer, including the authority to issue payments, collect debts,
	transfer money, or enter into contracts;
	(4)  provides an expense account or corporate debit or
	credit card;
	(5)  involves access to the employer's nonfinancial
	assets valued at $2,005 or more, including museum and library
	collections or prescription medications or other pharmaceuticals;
	or
	(6)  provides access to:
	(A)  confidential or proprietary business
	information; or
	(B)  information, including a formula, pattern,
	compilation, program, device, method, technique, process, or trade
	secret that:
	(i)  derives independent economic value,
	actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not
	being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who
	could obtain economic value from the disclosure or use of the
	information; and
	(ii)  is the subject of efforts that are
	reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
	Sec. 52.083.  EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.  This subchapter does not
	limit or affect the rights, remedies, or procedures available to an
	individual who alleges an unlawful employment practice prohibited
	under federal law, another state law, or an order or ordinance of a
	political subdivision of this state.
	Sec. 52.084.  PROHIBITED ACTS BY EMPLOYER. An employer may
	not require an employee or applicant to consent to a request for a
	credit report that contains information about the employee's or
	applicant's credit score, credit account balances, payment
	history, savings or checking account balances, or savings or
	checking account numbers as a condition of employment unless:
	(1)  the employer is a financial institution or other
	employer engaged in or regulating financial services;
	(2)  consideration of the credit report is required by
	law;
	(3)  the employer reasonably believes that the employee
	or applicant has engaged in specific activity that constitutes a
	violation of the law related to the employee's employment or
	applicant's prospective employment; or
	(4)  the report is substantially related to the
	employment position or prospective employment position of an
	employee or applicant and the employer:
	(A)  has a bona fide employment purpose for
	requesting or using information in the credit report; and
	(B)  discloses in writing to the employee or
	applicant:
	(i)  that the employer intends to consider
	the employee's or applicant's credit report; and
	(ii)  the employment reason for the
	employer's consideration of the credit report.
	Sec. 52.085.  ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) An employer
	commits an administrative violation if the employer violates this
	subchapter.
	(b)  The penalty for a violation under this section may not
	exceed $1,000. In assessing a penalty under this section, the
	commission shall consider:
	(1)  prior violations of this subchapter by the
	employer;
	(2)  the severity of the violation; and
	(3)  any other factor the commission determines to be
	relevant.
	SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to an adverse employment
	action that is taken by an employer against an employee or applicant
	for employment or other employer conduct that occurs on or after
	January 1, 2018. Action taken by an employer or other conduct that
	occurs before January 1, 2018, is governed by the law in effect
	immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.