RESTRICTIONS.

(a) If a state employee receives training that is paid for by a state agency, 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, a policy adopted under Section 656.102 must include a requirement that the employee:

(1) work for the agency following the training for at least one month for each month of the training period; or

(2) pay the agency 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.

(b) Before a state employee receives training that will be paid for by a state agency and during which the employee will not be performing the employee's regular duties for three months or more, the agency shall require the employee to agree in writing, before the training begins, to comply with the requirements prescribed under Subsection (a).

(c) By an order adopted in a public meeting, the governing body of a state agency may waive the requirements prescribed under Subsection (a) and release a state employee from the obligation to meet those requirements if the governing body 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.