Provides authorized leave for volunteer fire department members or volunteer ambulance squad members for states of emergency; deems leave is excused when a state of emergency is declared by the federal or state government and such person is engaged in the actual performance of his or her duties as an emergency responder; provides such period of leave shall not be charged against any other leave to which the employee is entitled; allows the employer to request a statement from the department or service stating the period of time the employee responded to the state of emergency.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7111--B
IN SENATE
April 28, 2014
___________
Introduced by Sen. GRISANTI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to authorized absences by
members of volunteer fire departments and volunteer ambulance squads
who respond to states of emergency
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 202-l to
2 read as follows:
3 § 202-l. Leave of absence for volunteer emergency responders. 1.
4 During the time that an emergency exists following a declaration of such
5 emergency pursuant to section twenty-four or twenty-eight of the execu-
6 tive law, an employee may request and shall be granted a leave of
7 absence from his or her employer while engaged in the actual performance
8 of his or her duties as, (a) a volunteer firefighter, or (b) an enrolled
9 member of a volunteer ambulance service pursuant to article thirty of
10 the public health law unless the employer determines that the employee's
11 absence would impose an undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's
12 business as defined by paragraph (d) of subdivision ten of section two
13 hundred ninety-six of the executive law.
14 2. Subdivision one of this section shall apply only when:
15 (a) The employer has previously received written documentation from
16 the head of the employee's fire department or volunteer ambulance
17 service, as applicable, notifying the employer of the employee's status
18 as a volunteer firefighter or member of a volunteer ambulance service;
19 or
20 (b) The employee's duties as a volunteer firefighter or member of a
21 volunteer ambulance service are related to the declared emergency.
22 3. The entire period of the authorized leave of absence granted pursu-
23 ant to this section shall either be unpaid excused leave for employees
24 who are subject to the overtime provisions of this chapter, the federal
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04717-04-4
S. 7111--B 2
1 fair labor standards act and regulations promulgated thereunder, or may
2 otherwise be charged against any other leave to which such employee is
3 entitled, as determined by the employee.
4 4. Upon the employer's request, an employee who has been granted a
5 leave of absence in accordance with this section shall provide his or
6 her employer with a notarized statement from the head of the volunteer
7 fire department or volunteer ambulance service, as applicable, certify-
8 ing the period of time, or times, that said employee responded to any
9 emergency pursuant to this section.
10 5. Nothing set forth in this section shall be construed to impede,
11 infringe or diminish the rights and benefits which accrue to employees
12 through bona fide collective bargaining agreements, or otherwise dimin-
13 ish the integrity of the existing collective bargaining relationship.
14 6. As used in this section, employer does not include the state. Noth-
15 ing set forth in this section shall be construed as superseding, limit-
16 ing, or otherwise affecting the provisions of section eighty-two-a of
17 the civil service law, providing for authorized absences for public
18 officers and employees of the state.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
20 have become a law.
