Section 424A.01 Membership in a Volunteer Firefighters' Relief Association
424A.01 MEMBERSHIP IN A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS' RELIEF ASSOCIATION.
Subdivision 1.Minors.
No volunteer firefighters' relief association associated with a municipality or an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation may include as a relief association member a minor serving as a volunteer firefighter.
Subd. 2.Status of substitute volunteer firefighters.
No person who is serving as a substitute volunteer firefighter may be considered to be a firefighter for purposes of chapter 69 or this chapter and no substitute volunteer firefighter is authorized to be a member of any volunteer firefighters' relief association governed by chapter 69 or this chapter.
Subd. 3.Status of nonmember volunteer firefighters.
No person who is serving as a firefighter in a fire department but who is not a member of the applicable firefighters' relief association is entitled to any service pension or ancillary benefits from the relief association.
Subd. 3a.
[Repealed, 1989 c 319 art 10 s 8]
Subd. 4.Exclusion of persons constituting an unwarranted health risk.
The board of trustees of every relief association may exclude from membership in the relief association all applicants who, due to some medically determinable physical or mental impairment or condition, is determined to constitute a predictable and unwarranted risk of imposing liability for an ancillary benefit at any age earlier than the minimum age specified for receipt of a service pension. Notwithstanding any provision of section 363A.25, it is a good and valid defense to a complaint or action brought under chapter 363A that the board of trustees of the relief association made a good faith determination that the applicant suffers from an impairment or condition constituting a predictable and unwarranted risk for the relief association if the determination was made following consideration of: (1) the person's medical history; and (2) the report of the physician completing a physical examination of the applicant undertaken at the expense of the relief association.
Subd. 5.Fire prevention personnel.
(a) If the fire department is a municipal department and the applicable municipality approves, or if the fire department is an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation and the contracting municipality or municipalities approve, the fire department may employ or otherwise utilize the services of persons as volunteer firefighters to perform fire prevention duties and to supervise fire prevention activities.
(b) Personnel serving in fire prevention positions are eligible to be members of the applicable volunteer firefighter relief association and to qualify for service pension or other benefit coverage of the relief association on the same basis as fire department personnel who perform fire suppression duties.
(c) Personnel serving in fire prevention positions also are eligible to receive any other benefits under the applicable law or practice for services on the same basis as personnel who are employed to perform fire suppression duties.
Subd. 6.Return to active firefighting after break in service.
(a) The requirements of this section apply to all breaks in service, except breaks in service mandated by federal or state law.
(b)(1) If a firefighter who has ceased to perform or supervise fire suppression and fire prevention duties for at least 60 days resumes performing active firefighting with the fire department associated with the relief association, if the bylaws of the relief association so permit, the firefighter may again become an active member of the relief association. A firefighter who returns to active service and membership is subject to the service pension calculation requirements under this section.
(2) A firefighter who has been granted an approved leave of absence not exceeding one year by the fire department or by the relief association is exempt from the minimum period of resumption service requirement of this section.
(3) A person who has a break in service not exceeding one year but has not been granted an approved leave of absence and who has not received a service pension or disability benefit may be made exempt from the minimum period of resumption service requirement of this section by the relief association bylaws.
(4) If the bylaws so provide, a firefighter who returns to active relief association membership under this paragraph may continue to collect a monthly service pension, notwithstanding the service pension eligibility requirements under chapter 424A.
(c) If a former firefighter who has received a service pension or disability benefit returns to active relief association membership under paragraph (b), the firefighter may qualify for the receipt of a service pension from the relief association for the resumption service period if the firefighter meets the service requirements of section 424A.016, subdivision 3, or 424A.02, subdivision 2.
(d) If a former firefighter who has not received a service pension or disability benefit returns to active relief association membership under paragraph (b), the firefighter may qualify for the receipt of a service pension from the relief association for the resumption service period if the firefighter meets the minimum period of resumption service specified in the relief association bylaws and the service requirements of section 424A.016, subdivision 3, or 424A.02, subdivision 2.
(e) A firefighter who returns to active lump-sum relief association membership and who qualifies for a service pension under paragraph (c) or (d) must have, upon a subsequent cessation of duties, any service pension for the resumption service period calculated as a separate benefit. If a lump-sum service pension had been paid to the firefighter upon the firefighter's previous cessation of duties, a second lump-sum service pension for the resumption service period must be calculated to apply the service pension amount in effect on the date of the firefighter's termination of the resumption service for all years of the resumption service. No firefighter may be paid a service pension twice for the same period of service. If a lump-sum service pension had not been paid to the firefighter upon the firefighter's previous cessation of duties and the firefighter meets the minimum service requirement of section 424A.016, subdivision 3, or 424A.02, subdivision 2, a service pension must be calculated to apply the service pension amount in effect on the date of the firefighter's termination of the resumption service for all years of service credit.
(f) A firefighter who had not been paid a lump-sum service pension returns to active relief association membership under paragraph (b), who does not qualify for a service pension under paragraph (d), but who does meet the minimum service requirement of section 424A.016, subdivision 3, or 424A.02, subdivision 2, based on the firefighter's previous years of active service, must have, upon a subsequent cessation of duties, a service pension calculated for the previous years of service based on the service pension amount in effect on the date of the firefighter's termination of the resumption service, or, if the bylaws so provide, based on the service pension amount in effect on the date of the firefighter's previous cessation of duties.
(g) If a firefighter receiving a monthly benefit service pension returns to active monthly benefit relief association membership under paragraph (b), and if the relief association bylaws do not allow for the firefighter to continue collecting a monthly service pension, any monthly benefit service pension payable to the firefighter is suspended as of the first day of the month next following the date on which the firefighter returns to active membership. If the firefighter was receiving a monthly benefit service pension, and qualifies for a service pension under paragraph (c), the firefighter is entitled to an additional monthly benefit service pension upon a subsequent cessation of duties calculated based on the resumption service credit and the service pension accrual amount in effect on the date of the termination of the resumption service. A suspended initial service pension resumes as of the first of the month next following the termination of the resumption service. If the firefighter was not receiving a monthly benefit service pension and meets the minimum service requirement of section 424A.02, subdivision 2, a service pension must be calculated to apply the service pension amount in effect on the date of the firefighter's termination of the resumption service for all years of service credit.
(h) A firefighter who was not receiving a monthly benefit service pension returns to active relief association membership under paragraph (b), who does not qualify for a service pension under paragraph (d), but who does meet the minimum service requirement of section 424A.02, subdivision 2, based on the firefighter's previous years of active service, must have, upon a subsequent cessation of duties, a service pension calculated for the previous years of service based on the service pension amount in effect on the date of the firefighter's termination of the resumption service, or, if the bylaws so provide, based on the service pension amount in effect on the date of the firefighter's previous cessation of duties.
History:
1979 c 201 s 11; 1981 c 224 s 274; 1982 c 460 s 7; 1983 c 219 s 5; 1989 c 319 art 10 s 2; 1996 c 438 art 8 s 3; 2009 c 169 art 10 s 21; 2010 c 359 art 13 s 4,5