Sec. 5-249. Leave for volunteer fire, ambulance, specialized disaster relief and canine search and rescue services.
Sec. 5-249. Leave for volunteer fire, ambulance, specialized disaster relief and
canine search and rescue services. (a) Any state employee who is an active volunteer
firefighter or member of a volunteer ambulance service or company (1) may, with the
authorization of such employee's appointing authority, be permitted to leave work in
order to respond to fire calls or ambulance calls during such employee's regular hours
of employment without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave or earned overtime accumulation, or (2) shall be permitted to respond to such calls prior to reporting for work
without such prior authorization and without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave or
earned overtime accumulation, provided in either case, if requested by such employee's
appointing authority, such employee submits a written statement from the chief of the
volunteer fire department or the medical director or chief administrator of the volunteer
ambulance service or company verifying that such employee responded to a fire or
ambulance call and specifying the date, time and duration of such response.
(b) Any state employee who is a certified disaster service volunteer of the American
Red Cross may, with the authorization of such employee's supervisor, be granted a leave
not to exceed fifteen working days in each year to participate in specialized disaster
relief services for the American Red Cross, upon the request of the American Red Cross,
without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave or earned overtime accumulation.
(c) Any state employee who is an active volunteer firefighter or member of a volunteer ambulance service or company may, with the authorization of such employee's
appointing authority, be allowed to attend training sessions or drills during such employee's regular hours of employment without loss of pay, overtime accumulation or sick
leave.
(d) Any state employee who is an active member of a volunteer canine search and
rescue team (1) may, with the authorization of such employee's supervisor, be permitted
to leave work in order to respond to search or rescue calls during such employee's regular
hours of employment without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave or earned overtime
accumulation, or (2) shall be permitted to respond to such calls prior to reporting for
work without such prior authorization and without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave
or earned overtime accumulation, provided in either case, if requested by such employee's supervisor, such employee submits a written statement from the chief of the police
or fire department verifying that such employee responded to a search or rescue call
and specifying the date, time and duration of such response. As used in this subsection,
"volunteer canine search and rescue team" means an individual and a dog (A) appropriately trained and certified to engage in search and rescue operations by a nonprofit
canine search and rescue organization that is a member of the National Association of
Search and Rescue, or its successor organization, and (B) who jointly engage in such
operations at the request of a police or fire department and provide services without
compensation.
(1967, P.A. 657, S. 57; 1969, P.A. 523; P.A. 89-379, S. 2; P.A. 95-243, S. 4; P.A. 03-249, S. 1; P.A. 04-241, S. 1; P.A.
07-3, S. 1.)
History: 1969 act deleted requirements that residency and employment location be in town where employee is volunteer
in order for him to have leave to answer calls during work hours; P.A. 89-379 added Subsec. (b) allowing state employees
a leave of absence to participate in specialized disaster relief services for the American Red Cross; P.A. 95-243 in Subsec.
(a) deleted reference to "fireman" and substituted "firefighter" and added a new Subsec. (c) to allow firefighters to attend
training sessions or drills without the loss of pay, overtime accumulation or sick leave; P.A. 03-249 amended Subsec. (a)
by designating existing provisions as Subdiv. (1), adding "leave work in order to" and making technical changes for the
purpose of gender neutrality therein, and adding new Subdiv. (2) authorizing volunteer firefighters and ambulance personnel
to respond to emergency calls prior to reporting for work without prior authorization, and made technical changes for the
purpose of gender neutrality in Subsecs. (b) and (c); P.A. 04-241 added Subsec. (d) re leave benefits and protections for
state employees who are active members of volunteer canine search and rescue teams and defining "volunteer canine
search and rescue team"; P.A. 07-3 amended Subsec. (b) by increasing leave period from 14 days to 15 working days.
See Sec. 4-58a re mutual aid fire pacts between state institutions and municipalities.