You want to know what responsibility a private employer has with regard to its employees who are volunteer firefighters responding to fire and emergency calls.

The law prohibits an employer, including private employers and the state and its subdivisions, from discharging or discriminating against employees who are volunteer firefighters because they are late to, or absent from, work as a result of responding to a fire or emergency call before or during work. It requires the employee, within 30 days after being certified as a volunteer firefighter, to submit to his employer a written statement signed by the fire chief notifying the employer of the employee's status as a firefighter.

The employee also must:

1. make every effort to notify his employer that he may be late or absent in order to respond to an emergency fire call before or during his regular working hours;

2. if unable to notify his employer in advance, submit to the employer a written statement signed by the fire chief explaining why he could not provide prior notification;

3. at the employer's request, submit a written statement from the fire chief verifying that he responded to a fire call and specifying the date, time, and duration of the response; and

4. promptly notify the employer of any change to his status as a volunteer firefighter.

If an employee is fired or discriminated against in violation of the law, he can bring an action within one year of the violation in the Superior Court for the district where the violation allegedly occurred or the employer has its principal office for (1) reinstatement, (2) payment of back wages, and (3) reestablishment of employee benefits to which he would have been otherwise entitled. The court may award the prevailing party costs and reasonable attorney's fees (CGS § 7-322c).

Two bills in the 2005 session (sSB 818 and HB 6554) would have allowed volunteer firefighters who work for private employers with 50 or more employees to respond to fire calls without prior employer authorization before they report to work, and with their employer's authorization, during regular work hours, without losing pay, vacation time, sick leave, or earned overtime. In both cases, if the employer requested, employees would have to provide a written statement from the officer or other authorized fire department personnel in charge of the scene verifying the employee's response and specifying the date, time, and duration. The bills did not pass.

VR: dw