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Can a Boss Fire a Volunteer Firefighter?
i was at work and the pager went off and my boss told me if i leave he would fire me. can he legally do this. is there a law that help the vol firefighters.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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We tell our volunteers when they apply, you must work out with your employee the circumstances as to whether you can respond or not and when. Your work is your means of living. Your a volunteer. That means you will respond to the call as your available. I suppose if you dont want to be employed you can just respond regardless and constantly be looking for work or a job that will allow you to respond when you want to. Volunteering is a great thing. But you have to eat sometime......
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Permalink Reply by gary doyle jr on
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I JUST LIKE TO HELP PEOPLE WHEN IT IS NEEDED THATS ONE REASON I WENT TO WORK AT A NURSE HOME.
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Permalink Reply by Mick Shelley on
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As much as I hate to say, I don't know of any Law that will protect a firefighter from leaving their paid job to go fight fires, However I wish someone would write a bill, and pass it on, so that a vol. firefighter would have some kind of rights. Until then, try and talk to your boss to see if you can't work something out. Good Luck
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HOW DO YOU GET SOMETHING GOING ON THIS
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Permalink Reply by Lou Angeli on
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Gary -- Legislation would need to be written and introduced on the local and state level, since the federal government considers fire-rescue a local issue. But before you do anything, you'll require the permission of your fire department, county association and state association in order to approach councilman or state legislators.
Here's the sad part of the deal. That's when the business owners would crush any effort to introduce legislation to excuse employees of a privately owned business to respond to fires. The first phone call would be to the fire commission, board or chief -- "What's the deal with you interfering in our business? We support you with (________) money, so it's your job to figure out how to staff your department."
If some proposal were to make it through the red tape and become a law, my bet is that employers would not hire volunteer firefighters."
Like I said earlier -- your main concern is to provide for your family. Your day job is your vocation -- being a volunteer firefighter is your avocation. If your department doesn't have enough manpower to staff the rigs during the 7am - 5pm slot, it's time to hire a few paid guys. Taxes will rise, but your employer will simply pass those costs onto his customers.
Lou
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Permalink Reply by Steve on
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Only law in Pa says that if a call is received at least one hour before your shift is to start and your late getting to work they can not fire you. If you are at work they are in no way have to allow you to leave. I think it's a good law. You still have to be able to pay your bills bro.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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Over here in Oz, without a doubt you can be fired.
There are no laws covering volunteers- it falls back to individual workplace agreements.
For example, one of my old employers had a fantastic EBA- we could leave at anytime for a call and still get paid. If we were out overnight for greater than 8 hours, we were entitled to a 10 hour break, also with full pay.
This sort of agreement though is probably the exception versus the normal...
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Permalink Reply by steve price on
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best advice i can say is check your state labor laws and firemans association if there is one in KS
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http://www.ksffa.com/
Kansas State Firefighters Association
try contacting someone there and see if they can help
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Wright on
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Gary
I take it in KS there is not any laws protecting vol. firefighters, them get in contact with your state firefighter groups, all states have them. Any state level group will have people that lobby lawmakers to introduce laws. I see both your and your boss feeling. Here in Kentucky the law states that a firefighter can not be punished for being late or missimg work for responding to a incident. Now any the thing, like in other post, you have to prove that you responded, what time your assisignment was finished, and them you are covered. I'd have a talk with the boss, explain your feeling. Now if you are leaving on all calls, I know why he got a case of the ass. Maybe your co-works have said something to him, who knows. I will say this, Brother you can not make them all. Good Luck I hope this helps.
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On the flipside, I'm gonna play the devil's advocate in this discussion.
I'm a small business owner. Now we're all aware of the harsh economic times we're all facing. Many small businesses the world over are struggling to keep their doors open and are facing a major crisis that many have never experienced before.
Why should I allow my employees to go to a fire call?
When I've got a business to run, deadlines to meet, customers to serve, etc, why am I the one in the wrong for not allowing the employee to respond or threatening them with the sack?
Some food for thought before we jump in too heavily against the employer....
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