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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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You are a Volunteer Gary, your work is your responsibility to you. You leave or participate in your Volunteer Department at the discretion of your boss. However, that is something you can negotiate with him. If he says no thats what you need to adhere to. Otherwise find a job where the boss lets you leave. To my knowledge there are no laws to protect you. Morally there is concern but If your boss says no you have to go with it or find other work.
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Permalink Reply by Len on
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YES ......If an employer feels you are not preforming your duties as expected he can terminate your employment . The only exception would be called up as a nnational guardsman . The Violunteer Fire Service is just that Volunteer ......however shame on your employer if he is so small minded that he cannot understand how valuable your volunteering is .
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Permalink Reply by Station10Capt106 on
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I do not think you can fault the employer and say he is small minded. There are alot to take into consideration. The business is most likely his livelihood and he must ensure it runs smoothly. Disrupting work or taking away from customer service can have lasting effects on a business, especially in todays economy.
The best thing is to talk to your boss and see what kind of arrangements could be made and then stick too and respect what your boss decides.
Don't jeopordize your paycheck!
John
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This is the code for vollies in Indiana.
IC 36-8-12-10.7
Employees of private employers; volunteer firefighting or
volunteer member activity
Sec. 10.7. (a) This section applies to an employee of a private
employer who:
(1) is a volunteer firefighter or volunteer member; and
(2) has notified the employee's employer in writing that the
employee is a volunteer firefighter or volunteer member.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), the employer may not
discipline an employee:
(1) for being absent from employment by reason of responding
to a fire or emergency call that was received before the time that
the employee was to report to employment; or
(2) for leaving the employee's duty station to respond to a fire
or emergency call if the employee has secured authorization
from the employee's supervisor to leave the duty station in
response to a fire or an emergency call received after the
employee has reported to work.
(c) After the employer has received the notice required under
subsection (a)(2), the employer may reject the notification from the
employee on the grounds that the employee is an essential employee
to the employer. If the employer has rejected the notification of the
employee:
(1) subsection (b) does not apply to the employee; and
(2) the employee must promptly notify the:
(A) fire chief or other officer in charge of the volunteer fire
department; or
(B) the officer in charge of the volunteer emergency medical
services association;
of the rejection of the notice of the employee who is a volunteer
firefighter or a volunteer member.
(d) The employer may require an employee who has been absent
from employment as set forth in subsection (b) to present a written
statement from the fire chief or other officer in charge of the
volunteer fire department, or officer in charge of the emergency
medical services association, at the time of the absence indicating
that the employee was engaged in emergency firefighting or
emergency activity at the time of the absence.
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Permalink Reply by Cody W. Nelson on
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I have actually been fired from a job because I responded to a call. In Texas, everyone is an "at will" employee, which means that your boss has the right to walk in and fire you with no just cause. Maybe you should get with a Local IAFF rep and see if maybe you department and others around you could get some kind of legislation started. If you get a law enacted or change the law, there is nothing an employer could do about it, except maybe not hire you.
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Permalink Reply by gary doyle jr on
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why i live in a small town and you have a hard time getting anyone to vol tear anymore if it was the bosses house or biness he or she would want the fire demp to be there
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Permalink Reply by Matt Crawford on
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At the plant that i worked at, my boss knew up front that i was a vol. fireman. We reached an agreement that if there was no more than 6 Firefighters responding then i could respond (unless it was a major incident). If we were toned out when i was not at work and the call would make me late he simply asked me or someone on the scene to call him and let him know that i would be late. He was very understanding and after a year or so anytime we were toned out he let me go, plus left me on the clock. I found that if you work with your boss they will usually work with you. I work with my Asst. Chief now and we go by the Backdraft rule "You go, we go".
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Permalink Reply by Carlo on
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In all honesty, Volunteering is "Volunteering", theres nothing in the word Volunteer that mentions Mandatory, you answer calls when you can, and not one work hours, a paycheck is more important then volunteering, the job will get done regardless, you don't have to be at every little incident that happens. when your not working respond to calls but when you are leave the pager at home, most companys have day paid crews. at least here in Jersey they do.
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Permalink Reply by Bobby King on
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Kentucky Law is much the same.. if a Person is called to an Emergency before he/she goes to work or misses work you cannot be fired or punished.. but your employer does not have to pay you for your time away.. and can require you to make up lost time.. However as far as leaving the job to go to an Emergency I dont believe that you can do that without being punished.
However Federal law and state laws are two diffrent animals
When I was working for the US Dept of Defense you were not allowed to leave your post ( with good reason) untill properly relieved furthermore you were not to be late to work as that rule did not apply.
Basically in a nutshell if your not sure about your states laws and You have to think about it more than once you probably ought not do it
Sgt. Bobby J. King
Firefighter/EMT/EMD
Madison County Div of Emergency Services
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Permalink Reply by Angela M. Burkhart on
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I'm sorry I don't know about your state and I am certain that there isn't a national law, which there should be as far as I am concerned.
Then again in most states if there is nothing written either in your contract(when you were hired)or in the company(that you're employed with)by-laws regarding leaving for emergency calls then you might have a case if he does fire you because that wasn't something that was told to you verbally or otherwise.
I understand your dilemma because if your area is anything like mine can be it is near critical with the amount of volunteers that you have and you're being there could make all the difference, especially at a working fire. Right now my company is pretty fortunate but we still could absolutely use more people in all aspects of the company.
In Pennsylvania an employer is not legally required to allow you to leave(by they must also state this in writing when you are hired, providing you are truthful about wanting to leave)your scheduled shift. However, they can NOT hold it against you if you are late coming in or miss a shift because you answered a call prior to your start time. This means no points, docked hours, or penalties of any kind.
Around here it used to be common practice for companies to allow volunteers to leave, especially if it was a true emergency and not a vehicle accident standby, etc. Unfortunately too many workers tried to take advantage and not show back up to work for hours after the incident had concluded. Then slowly most of them stopped allowing them too.
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No offense but that may be the case in your area but not here in Pennsylvania and many other states. I understand your point because all of us volunteers need to bring home money to pay the bills. My area isn't too bad off so far but in many, many other areas in the states and probably around the world the numbers of volunteers are dwindling at an alarming rate, so sometimes in cases like these it could make all the difference in saving a life, maybe one of your own personnel.
I do agree with one point and that is I can see leaving work for a working fire or MVA with entrapment, something more urgent but automatic alarms, spill controls, etc can be handled by skeleton crews if necessary.
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Permalink Reply by Cory Fanale on
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I have been reading most of the comments on this discussion and understand that an employer does not have to let you leave and they can fire you if you do. My question is: If you have to be at work at 8:30 and a call come out at say 7 o'clock can they fire you if you are late to work even if you have at written excuse on Department letterhead and signed by the chief or officer in charge? Now I would hope they wouldn't fire you, but just not pay you for the time you weren't there or take a sick or vacation day away from you. I am from PA so any information for this state or any other state would be a big help and would be greatly appreciated!
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