Revision: Jan. 3, 2023, 11:09 a.m.
HB 182-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2023 SESSION
23-0389
05/04
HOUSE BILL 182-FN
SPONSORS: Rep. Wolf, Merr. 7; Rep. B. Boyd, Hills. 12; Rep. Bordes, Belk. 5; Rep. Damon, Sull. 8; Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5
COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
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ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits an employer from discharging or disciplining an employee who is a volunteer firefighter or emergency medical technician and whose failure to report for work was due to such employee responding to an emergency.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-0389
05/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Protective Legislation; Discrimination in the Workplace; Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians. Amend RSA 275 by inserting after section 41-d the following new section:
275:41-e Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians.
I. No employer shall discharge or take any other disciplinary action against any employee by reason of failure of such employee to report for work at the commencement of such employee's regular working hours where the failure is due to the employee's responding to an emergency in his or her capacity as a volunteer member of a fire department or ambulance department; provided, however, that no such employer shall be required to compensate any such employee for any period of such employee's normal working hours during which for such reason the employee fails to report for work and at the request of an employer shall submit a statement signed by the chief of such fire department or ambulance department certifying the date and time such employee responded to and returned from the emergency. Such employee shall inform his or her employer or immediate supervisor of the reasons for the failure to report.
II. As used in this section, “responding to an emergency” shall mean responding to, leaving work to respond to, or working at the scene of or returning from a fire, rescue, emergency medical service call, hazardous materials incident, or a natural or man-made disaster in the good faith belief that the action is necessary to prevent the imminent loss of life or property, where the emergency occurs during a period other than normal working hours of the employee. As used in this section, “volunteer member” shall mean a volunteer, call, reserve, or permanent-intermittent firefighter or emergency medical technician, but shall not include any person who received compensation for over 975 hours of services rendered in such capacity over the preceding 6-month period.
III. 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 such employee's former position without reduction of pay, seniority, or other benefits, and shall receive any lost pay or other benefits during any period for which such termination or other disciplinary action was in effect.
IV. 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.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
23-0389
12/16/22
HB 182-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT prohibiting discharge of volunteer firefighters or volunteer emergency medical technicians from other employment.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
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LOCAL: |
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Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
METHODOLOGY:
This bill prohibits an employer from discharging or disciplining an employee who is a volunteer firefighter or emergency medical technician and whose failure to report for work was due to such employee responding to an emergency.
The Judicial Branch states the bill would authorize an action to enforce the provisions of the new
section to be commenced within one year in Superior Court. The Branch assumes the changes to the law would result in additional litigation which would require additional judicial resources, but the additional number of cases that may be filed if this bill goes into effect, if any, cannot be predicted.
The Department of Labor does not anticipate this bill would have any appreciable impact on expenditures at the state, county or local levels. Additionally, in terms of state costs, the Department does not anticipate the bill would impact the operational costs to the Department of administering RSA 275. The Department indicates it is unlikely that the bill would have a material impact on revenue at the county or local level. It is possible that there could be indeterminable increase in fines levied by the Department against employers acting in violation of the provision.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association indicates municipal employees frequently serve as volunteer firefighters or EMTs in their home communities. As such, it is reasonable to assume that some indeterminable percentage of the municipal workforce would be covered by this legislation. However, the Association states it is impossible to determine the frequency with which volunteer firefighters or EMTs may be called into service prior to the start of their workday and not report to work at their regularly scheduled time or need to leave a work shift as the types of emergencies that they respond to would not be reasonably foreseeable.
It is assumed that any fiscal impact would occur after FY 2023.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Judicial Branch, Department of Labor and New Hampshire Municipal Association