HB0594 Enrolled                    LRB094 05165 AJO 36388 b

AN ACT concerning volunteer emergency workers.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Volunteer Firefighter Job Protection Act is amended by changing Sections 1, 3, 5, and 20 as follows:

(50 ILCS 748/1)

Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the

Volunteer Emergency Worker Firefighter Job Protection Act.

(Source: P.A. 93-1027, eff. 8-25-04.)(50 ILCS 748/3)

         Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act:

     "Volunteer emergency worker firefighter" means a firefighter who does not receive monetary compensation for his or her services to a fire department or fire protection district and who does not work for any other fire department or fire protection district for monetary compensation. "Volunteer  emergency worker" also means a person who does not receive monetary compensation for his or her services as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (licensed as an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P under the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act), a volunteer ambulance driver or attendant, or a volunteer "First Responder", as defined in Sec. 3.60 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMT) Systems Act, to a fire department, fire protection district, or other governmental entity and who does not work in one of these capacities for any other fire department, fire protection district, or governmental entity for monetary compensation.

    "Monetary compensation" does not include a monetary incentive awarded to a firefighter by the board of trustees of a fire protection district under Section 6 of the Fire Protection District Act. (Source: P.A. 93-1027, eff. 8-25-04.) (50 ILCS 748/5)

    Sec. 5. Volunteer emergency worker firefighter; when termination of employment prohibited. 

    (a) No public or private employer may terminate an employee who is a volunteer emergency worker firefighter because the employee, when acting as a volunteer emergency worker firefighter, is absent from or late to his or her employment in order to respond to an emergency prior to the time the employee is to report to his or her place of employment.

    (b) An employer may charge, against the employee's regular pay, any time that an employee who is a volunteer emergency worker firefighter loses from employment because of the employee's response to an emergency in the course of performing his or her duties as a volunteer emergency worker firefighter.

    (c) In the case of an employee who is a volunteer emergency worker firefighter and who loses time from his or her employment in order to respond to an emergency in the course of performing his or her duties as a volunteer emergency worker firefighter, the employer has the right to request the employee to provide the employer with a written statement from the supervisor or acting supervisor of the volunteer fire department or governmental entity that the volunteer emergency worker serves stating that the employee responded to an emergency and stating the time and date of the emergency.

    (d) An employee who is a volunteer emergency worker firefighter and who may be absent from or late to his or her employment in order to respond to an emergency in the course of performing his or her duties as a volunteer emergency worker firefighter must make a reasonable effort to notify his or her employer that he or she may be absent or late. (Source: P.A. 93-1027, eff. 8-25-04.) (50 ILCS 748/20)

    Sec. 20. Applicability. This Act does not apply to any employer that is a municipality applies only to municipalities with a population of 3,500 or more less. (Source: P.A. 93-1027, eff. 8-25-04.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2006