LABOR CODE

CHAPTER 103. DISCLOSURE BY EMPLOYER OF INFORMATION REGARDING 
CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OR FORMER EMPLOYEES


	§ 103.001.  PURPOSE;  LEGISLATIVE FINDING.  The 
legislature finds that the disclosure by an employer of truthful 
information regarding a current or former employee protects 
employment relationships and benefits the public welfare.  It is 
the intent of the legislature that an employer who makes a 
disclosure based on information obtained by the employer that any 
employer would reasonably believe to be true should be immune from 
civil liability for that disclosure.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 240, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.           


	§ 103.002.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:                                  
		(1)  "Employee" means a person who performs services 
for an employer, whether or not for compensation.
		(2)  "Employer" means a person who has one or more 
employees or other individuals who perform services under a 
contract of hire or service, whether expressed or implied, or oral 
or written.
		(3)  "Job performance" means the manner in which an 
employee performs a position of employment and includes an analysis 
of the employee's attendance at work, attitudes, effort, knowledge, 
behaviors, and skills.
		(4)  "Prospective employee" means any person who has 
made an application, either oral or written, or has sent a resume or 
other correspondence indicating an interest in employment.
		(5)  "Prospective employer" means an employer to whom a 
prospective employee has made an application, either oral or 
written, or sent a resume or other correspondence expressing an 
interest in employment.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 240, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.           


	§ 103.003.  AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE;  APPLICATION TO 
CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.  (a)  An employer may disclose information 
about a current or former employee's job performance to a 
prospective employer of the current or former employee on the 
request of the prospective employer or the employee.
	(b)  An employer may not disclose information about a 
licensed nurse or licensed vocational nurse that relates to conduct 
that is protected under Section 301.352 or 303.005, Occupations 
Code. The employer must provide an affected nurse an opportunity to 
submit a statement of reasonable length to the employer to 
establish the application of Section 301.352 or 303.005, 
Occupations Code.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 240, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.  
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, § 14.818, eff. Sept. 
1, 2001.


	§ 103.004.  IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY;  EMPLOYER 
REPRESENTATIVES.  (a)  An employer who discloses information about 
a current or former employee under Section 103.003 is immune from 
civil liability for that disclosure or any damages proximately 
caused by that disclosure unless it is proven by clear and 
convincing evidence that the information disclosed was known by 
that employer to be false at the time the disclosure was made or 
that the disclosure was made with malice or in reckless disregard 
for the truth or falsity of the information disclosed.  For purposes 
of this subsection, "known" means actual knowledge based on 
information relating to the employee, including any information 
maintained in a file by the employer on that employee.
	(b)  This chapter applies to a managerial employee or other 
representative of the employer who is authorized to provide and who 
provides information in accordance with this chapter in the same 
manner that it applies to an employer.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 240, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.           


	§ 103.005.  EMPLOYMENT REFERENCE.  This chapter does not 
require an employer to provide an employment reference to or about a 
current or former employee.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 240, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.