 |
Lawmakers to Introduce Job Protection Bill for
Volunteer Firefighters Responding to Disasters
By Eileen Sullivan, CQ Staff
Lawmakers plan to introduce a bill Thursday that would
protect volunteer firefighters from losing their jobs
when responding to national disasters.
Democratic Reps. Robert E. Andrews and Bill Pascrell
Jr., both from New Jersey and Reps. Michael N. Castle,
R-Del., and John R. "Randy" Kuhl Jr., R-N.Y., are
expected to introduce the Volunteer Firefighter and
EMS Personnel Job Protection Act. The bill would
provide job security similar to what National Guard
members receive when called up to service.
Currently volunteer firefighters and emergency medical
personnel risk losing their jobs or being demoted when
they miss work because they're responding to a
national emergency. Volunteer firefighters comprise
about 75 percent of the country's fire service,
according to the National Volunteer Fire Council. The
fact that they can be fired if they miss work has
served as a disincentive for volunteer firefighters to
lend their time during national disasters, officials
said.
The bill would protect jobs for up to 14 days a year,
but employers would not be obligated to pay the
firefighters' salaries while they're away. An employee
who has been fired or discriminated against would have
the right to file a civil suit in district court and
seek reinstatement and back pay.
Eight states currently have laws that protect
volunteer firefighters' jobs: Pennsylvania, Illinois,
New Jersey, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Ohio,
Kentucky and Washington.
"Over the past few years we have seen small and large
national disasters throughout the United States — from
the flooding in New Orleans to the forest fires in the
west. Time and time again, our volunteer firefighters
and EMS personnel rose to the occasion and proved to
be crucial in the rescue operations," Castle said in a
prepared statement Wednesday. "Unfortunately, under
current law, volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel
are not protected from termination or demotion by
their employer when they respond to national
disasters."
7:42 AM
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|