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On May 12, Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Personnel Job Protection Act (S. 1025), which would provide up to 14 days of employment protection per calendar year to volunteer emergency personnel responding in an official capacity to a Presidentially-declared disaster. Both Carper and Collins are co-Chairs of the Senate Fire Services Caucus.

 

“Volunteer first responders shouldn’t be put in the position of having to choose between their jobs and responding to a major disaster,” said National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “Passage of this important legislation would eliminate the threat of termination or demotion.”

 

The Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Personnel Job Protection Act would also reduce pressure on emergency managers, who rely heavily on the availability and performance of the more than one million volunteer first responders around the country. Pre-emergency planners must know what assets they have available to them so the deployment process can move as smoothly and quickly as possible.

 

“The Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Personnel Job Protection Act is common-sense legislation to help everyday heroes who should not be punished for bravely answering the call of duty,” said Sen. Carper. “Without this legislation, we are asking first responders to sacrifice for us without providing them job protection when they return from disaster relief work – and that is simply unacceptable.”

 

Fourteen days is a standard amount of time for aid-requesting agencies to expect an emergency responder to commit to a major emergency involving interstate response. After that period of time, if additional aid is needed, a new group of first responders can be brought in to replace the ones who have exhausted their job protection limit.

 

“This bipartisan bill is a matter of simple fairness,” said Senator Collins. “The Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Personnel Job Protection Act recognizes that our dedicated volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel are critical in times of disaster. By extending some protection to these brave men and women, we can strengthen the protection of life-saving response that they provide to millions of Americans.”

 

Under S. 1025, employers would not be required to compensate employees for time missed due to responding and employees would have to make a reasonable effort to notify their employers that they will miss work and continue to provide reasonable updates over the course of their absence.

 

Job protection under this legislation would only apply to emergency responders acting in an official capacity. “Self-responders” would not be eligible and employers would have the right to ask for documentation from the official supervising the response to verify that the employee was involved in an official capacity.

 

“I’d like to thank Senator Carper and Senator Collins for introducing the Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Personnel Job Protection Act,” said Stittleburg. “I look forward to working with them and our other allies in the House and Senate to see that this legislation is enacted in the 111th Congress.”