Texas Administrative Code › Title 26 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › Part 1 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION › Chapter 558 - LICENSING STANDARDS FOR HOME AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES AGENCIES › Subchapter C - MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR ALL HOME AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES AGENCIES › Division 3 - AGENCY ADMINISTRATION › Section 558.247 - Verification of Employability and Use of Unlicensed Persons

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) The provisions in this subsection apply
					 to an unlicensed applicant for employment and an unlicensed employee, if the
					 person's duties would or do include face-to-face contact with a client.
(1) An agency must conduct a criminal history
					 check authorized by, and in compliance with, Texas Health and Safety Code
					 Chapter 250 (relating to Nurse Aide Registry and Criminal History Checks of
					 Employees and Applicants for Employment in Certain Facilities Serving the
					 Elderly, Persons with Disabilities, or Persons with Terminal Illnesses) for an
					 unlicensed applicant for employment and an unlicensed employee.
(2) The agency must not employ an unlicensed
					 applicant whose criminal history check includes a conviction listed in Texas
					 Health and Safety Code §
												250.006
					 that bars employment, or a conviction the agency has determined is a
					 contraindication to employment. If an applicant's or employee's criminal
					 history check includes a conviction of an offense that is not listed in Texas
					 Health and Safety Code §
												250.006,
					 the agency must document its review of the conviction and its determination of
					 whether the conviction is a contraindication to employment.
(3) Before the agency hires an unlicensed
					 applicant, or before an unlicensed employee's first face-to-face contact with a
					 client, the agency must search the nurse aide registry (NAR) and the employee
					 misconduct registry (EMR) using the HHSC website to determine if the applicant
					 or employee is listed in either registry as unemployable. The agency must not
					 employ an unlicensed applicant who is listed as unemployable in either
					 registry.
(4) The agency must
					 provide written information about the EMR to an unlicensed employee in
					 compliance with the requirements of 40 TAC §
												93.3(c)
					 (relating to Employment and Registry Information).
(5) In addition to the initial verification
					 of employability, the agency must search the NAR and the EMR to determine if
					 the employee is listed as unemployable in either registry as follows:
(A) for an employee most recently hired
					 before September 1, 2009, by August 31, 2011, and at least every twelve months
					 thereafter; and
(B) for an employee
					 most recently hired on or after September 1, 2009, at least every 12
					 months.
(6) The agency
					 must immediately discharge an unlicensed employee whose duties would or do
					 include face-to-face contact with a client when the agency becomes aware:
(A) that the employee is designated in the
					 NAR or the EMR as unemployable; or
(B) that the employee's criminal history
					 check reveals conviction of a crime that bars employment or that the agency has
					 determined is a contraindication to employment.