Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-376 Page: 4 of 4
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(DM-376)
Mr. Steve Robinson - Page 4
hourly, as well as full-time, TYC employees in hazardous duty positions are eligible to
receive hazardous duty pay.7
SUV MARY
A Texas Youth Commission employee holding a hazardous duty
position is not eligible to receive hazardous duty pay during his first
year in a hazardous duty position. Such employee continues to
accrue "lifetime service credit" for longevity pay purposes during the
first year in a hazardous duty position. Subject to the other
conditions of Government Code sections 659.062 and 659.063, part-
time and hourly, as well as full-time, Texas Youth Commission
employees in hazardous duty positions are eligible to receive
hazardous duty pay.
Yours very truly,
DAN MORALES
Attorney General of Texas
JORGE VEGA
First Assistant Attorney General
SARAH J. SHIRLEY
Chair, Opinion Committee
Prepared by William Walker
Assistant Attorney General
7We understand it has been argued that the language of subsection (a) of section
659.062-"hazardous duty pay is instead of other hazardous duty or longevity pay"-indicates that one is
not eligible to receive hazardous duty pay unless he had been eligible to receive longevity pay. The
longevity pay provisions expressly condition eligibility to receive longevity pay (as distinct from eligibility
to accrue service time for longevity pay purposes) on one's being a full-time employee. Gov't Code
gf 659.043, .046. See Attorney General Opinion JM-407 (1985) (distinguishing eligibility to accrue
longevity service time from eligibility to receive longevity pay). We do not believe that an ordinary
reading of the language in which "instead of" is used reasonably permits inferring a requirement that one
have been eligible for longevity pay in order to receive hazardous duty pay. Moreover, even if these
provisions were ambiguous, it is a "well settled" canon of construction that they should be constmrued in
favor of the public employee. Id.
Please note, however, that as you do not ask, we do not address how hazardous duty pay amounts
due a part-time or hourly employee are to be calculated. See, e.g., Attorney General Opinion H684
(1975) (sick leave benefits of parttime and hourly employees).p. 2047
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-376, text, February 6, 1996; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274185/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.