By Mr. Brewer, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate,
No. 1052) of Stephen M. Brewer and Gale D. Candaras for
legislation relative to the employment rights of volunteer
ambulance service. Labor and Workforce Development.
|
By Mr. Brewer, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate,
No. 1052) of Stephen M. Brewer and Gale D. Candaras for
legislation relative to the employment rights of volunteer
ambulance service. Labor and Workforce Development.
|
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 149 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 177B the following section: -
“Section 177C. No employer shall discharge or take any other disciplinary action against any employee be reason of failure of such employee to report to work at the commencement of his regular working hours where such failure is due to his responding to an emergency in his capacity as a volunteer member of an ambulance service; provided, however, that no such employer shall be required to compensate any such employee for any period of his normal working hours during which for some reason he fails to report for work. At the request of the employer, the employee shall submit a statement signed by the head of such ambulance service certifying the date and time such employee responded to and returned from such emergency. Such employee shall inform his employer or immediate supervisor of the reasons for such failure.”
As used in this section, “responding to an emergency” shall mean responding to, working at the scene of, transporting to a medical facility, or returning from a medical emergency or injury or a call of same, in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to prevent the imminent loss of life or to maintain the quality of life, where either such call occurs during a period other than the normal working hours of the employee.
As used in this section, “volunteer member” shall mean volunteer, call, reserve, or permanent-intermittent member of such ambulance service, but shall not include any person who received compensation for over nine hundred and seventy-five hours of services rendered in such capacity over the preceding six month period.
Any employee who is terminated or against whom any disciplinary action is taken in violation of the provisions of this section shall be immediately reinstated to his former position without reduction in pay, seniority or other benefits, and shall receive any lost pay or other benefits during any period in which such termination or other disciplinary action was in effect. An action to enforce the provisions of this section shall be commenced within one year of the date of the alleged violation, in the superior court within any county wherein the action occurred or wherein the employer resides or transacts business.
