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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 FF Nick on
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No law in MS that I know of bro. Back before I got on with the fire district, when I used to work at NAPA. My boss knew I was a vol when he hired me. Most of the calls I just listened to on the radio, but if it was a big enough call and the manpower was lacking he'd let me go providing the store wasn't balls to the wall busy. Sometimes he was even nice enough to leave me on the clock. Hopefully you can figure something out or work a deal with your boss, like maybe seeing if he'll let you go for just house fires or something?
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Portka on
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as far as i know, the only thing that can protect you from losing your job is if you're out all night with your FD fighting a fire or something of that nature, and you would call off work the next day. but as far as leaving work to go on a call, i would understand your boss' concern. however, with his permission to leave, i don't see why he would fire you. my suggestion would be to talk to you boss about leaving work if a real emergency is present. explain to him that during daytime hours it's hard for a volunteer dept to crew trucks because everyone is at work. maybe he'll reconsider the next time you want to leave work for an emergency. keep in mind though he may not pay you if you leave work for an emergency.
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Permalink Reply by David R Czapla; (CHOPPY) on
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I will admit , we are lucky at my dept. Where we have alot of people here while im working. However I dont take my radio to work with me again...priorities. What ever happens while im away will be taken care of without me being there, the patient will be cared for , the fire will be extinguished , the extrication will be completed. OK so its a small Dept. not alot of people available during the day, mutual aid will be available. Just my thought... TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF , AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER CHOPPY 2808 SHFD.
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Permalink Reply by Tim Wood on
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I was told that in Ohio if your late to work because you were on a call your employer cant disipline you. But they have the right to keep you at work if the pager goes off.
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Permalink Reply by Russ Griffith on
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Search your states House Bills, in Ohio we have House Bill 203 which protects volunteer emergency responders' jobs if they are late for or miss work due to being dispatched to an emergency call. Their employer does not have to pay them for this missed time and can require them to make that time up but they cannot be terminated. This bill, however, does not grant the employee the right to leave his/her work place to respond to emergency calls.
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Permalink Reply by Station10Capt106 on
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I'm a business owner and am lucky enough to be able to drop everything and leave whenever the tone goes off. I've had other employees that have worked for me that were on our fire dept too. Most of the time I had no problem with them leaving work to help fight a fire. But there are times when I have committments to customers and things scheduled that must be done. Those times they were not able to leave.
I can see both sides of the arguement. If it is an emergency and they need all hands on deck, then I believe that most employeers would not have a problem letting someone leave. But if that employee is trying to leave for every little scrapped knee, nosebleed, smoke alarm, ect then I can see that the employer would need to put a stop to it.
You have to remember that the business have duties & obligations too, while they can sympathize with an emergency happening elsewhere it does not mean that they can come to a screeching halt and let their employees run off.
John
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Permalink Reply by Tom on
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I know in NJ there are laws to protect the vol, fire an ems responders. Even if your state does not support the volunteers, you may want to consult a labor attourney. You may not want to go back to work there after a law suit, however, you may get some money out of it.
You didn't say what kind of work you were doing? Some jobs you can not just walk away from to answer the pager. Some you can leave an get back to, I am sure a lawyer will also ask the question. Good luck
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Have been through this with my boss as i work in my county but am twp chief. depends on where im working if i can go or not. Sometimes i think my boss wold let his house burn down before he would let me go. I take alot of heat sometimes but thats as far as it goes.I have to use sick time to get paid if i miss or leave i try not to push the issue much so i can leave when i have to.
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Permalink Reply by Coach on
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I manage a company that (1) employs alot of volunteer firefighters, and (2) works for customers in their homes. Most of our management team are volunteer firefighters in one jurisdiction or another. This is not just a "cash register" issue. If the 11 employees all leave their job sites to go chase a fire, i have 6 dissatisfied customers. Considering that most of my customer jobs are opened, serviced, and closed within 72-96 hours, the loss of even one work day is terribly disruptive to scheduling and customer service. I understand the "boss's house" arguement. However, if we all allow work to take a backseat to our volunteer committments, alot of "bosses" are going to lose their business. Guess you then have all the time you want to respond to fire.
Have to admit that I find it ironic that a person will call off work because they were on a fire the night before. That same person will stay at the fire station all day watching news reports of the fire, cleaning equipment, telling war stories, etc becuase they were "too tired" to go to work.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Texas is a "right to work" state. Meaning that most employers can terminate an employee without giving notice or reason (there are some exceptions). I don't know about Kansas law. There was a federal bill which died in committee that was to address this issue.
That being said, even as bad as I need people to show up on calls, I tell them that a volunteer department won't put food on your table. The job should come first.
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Permalink Reply by Lou Angeli on
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Unfortunately, most employers don't tolerate leaving the workplace to attend a fire. Like The Moyers says, when you begin a job, discuss the volunteer situation, and the head honcho may be sympathetic. However, whether it's a right-to-work state or not, if you leave work, without the owner/manager's permission, you can be terminated.
With the current job environment the way it is -- turn off your pager or scanner when you're at work. Your #1 priority is providing for your family.
Lou
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Permalink Reply by Avery Dale on
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In Alabama, you are not supposed to be disciplined for being late or not coming in at all because you where on a call, don't know about leaving work. That's mostly left up to the individual employer.
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