(a) Required training or education. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, §656.045, the Commission may require an employee to attend, as all or part of the employee's duties, a training or education program if the training or education is related to the employee's duties or prospective duties.

(b) Use of funds. The Commission may spend public funds as appropriate to pay the salary, tuition and other fees, travel and living expenses, training stipend, the expense of training materials, and other necessary expenses of an employee who is required to participant in a training or education program.

(c) Use of Commission resources. An employee who is engaged in training pursuant to this section and who does not perform his or her regular duties for three or more months as a result of the training:

(1) may use Commission equipment or resources such as personal computers, printers, copiers, fax machines, e-mail, internet connections, etc.; and

(2) may be required by the supervisor or division director to use a Commission vehicle to attend the training.

(d) Agreement of understanding. The employee shall sign an agreement of understanding and assume the following mandatory obligations, pursuant to Texas Government Code, §§656.103 and 656.104:

(1) If the employee receives training paid for by the Commission, and during the training period the employee does not perform the employee's regular duties for three or more months as a result of the training, the employee shall agree in writing that the employee will either work for the agency following the training for at least one month for each month of the training period or pay the Commission for all the costs associated with the training that were paid during the training period, including any amounts of the employee's salary that were paid and that were not accounted for as paid vacation or compensatory leave.

(2) If the employee does no work for the Commission following its reimbursement to the employee for training costs, works for some but not all of the required amount of time, or fails to pay the Commission amounts reimbursed for training costs, and the Commission does not release the employee from the obligation to either provide the services or make the payments, the employee is liable to the Commission for all costs associated with the training that the Commission paid, including any amounts of the employee's salary that were paid during the training period and that were not accounted for as paid vacation or compensatory leave, and for the Commission's reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining payment, including reasonable attorney's fees.

(3) The Commission may waive the requirements prescribed under paragraph (1) of this subsection and release an employee from the obligation to meet those requirements only if the Commission finds that such action is in the best interest of the agency or is warranted because of an extreme personal hardship suffered by the employee and enters an order to that effect in open meeting.

Source Note: The provisions of this §20.605 adopted to be effective April 12, 2004, 2004, 29 TexReg 3621