HBA-TYH H.B. 634 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 634 By: Hochberg Business & Industry 3/10/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Established on April 1, 1990, as part of a broad legislative effort to reform the state's workers' compensation system, part of the mission of the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission (commission) is to "promote an effective and efficient system for the delivery of fair and appropriate benefits to those who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses." However, the goal of compensating workers based on actual earnings is not currently being achieved for persons relying on multiple employment for support. At the present time, a person who holds more than one job and becomes injured while at work may only be compensated for wages lost from the job where the injury occurred, even if the person relies on both salaries for support. H.B. 634 requires the commission to account for wages lost from both jobs when computing the average weekly wage. 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 Subchapter C, Chapter 408, Labor Code, by adding Section 408.0445, as follows: Sec. 408.0445. AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE FOR EMPLOYEE WITH MULTIPLE EMPLOYMENT. (a) Defines "employee with multiple employment" as an employee who, at the time of the injury, earned wages from more than one employer. (b) Provides that for determining the amount of temporary income benefits, impairment income benefits, supplemental income benefits, lifetime income benefits, or death benefits of an employee with multiple employment, the average weekly wage of the employee is computed by dividing the amount of total wages earned by the employee during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of the injury by 50. (c) Requires the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission to compute the average weekly wage at the time of the injury in a manner that is fair and just to both parties, if the commission determines that computing the average weekly wage for an employee with multiple employment as provided by this section is impractical. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.