Substitute Senate Bill No. 863
Public Act No. 19-95
AN ACT CONCERNING EM PLOYMENT PROTECTION FOR
MEMBERS OF THE CIVIL AIR PATROL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) As used in this
section:
(1) "Civil air patrol" means the civilian auxiliary of the United States
Air Force;
(2) "Employee" means an individual who receives wag es or
remuneration for providing services to an employer; and
(3) "Employer" means a person that provides wages or
remuneration to one or more individuals who perform services for the
employer under an express or implied contract of hire, including the
state and any political subdivision of the state.
(b) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, an
employer shall not discriminate against, discipline, or discharge an
employee because: (1) The employee is a member of the civil air patrol;
or (2) the employee is absent from work for the purpose of (A)
responding as a member of the civil air patrol to an emergency
declared by the Governor of this state or the President of the United Substitute Senate Bill No. 863
Public Act No. 19-95 2 of 6
States, (B) responding as a member of the civil air patrol to a request
for assistance in an emergency, natural disaster or life-threatening
event at the request of the United States Air Force or Coast Guard, the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the Division
of Emergency Management and Homela nd Security within the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the state
police or a local police department in this state, or (C) participating as a
member of the civil air patrol in required emergency services training
programs and exercises.
(c) In the case where the employee is absent from work for a
purpose set forth in subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section,
such employee shall (1) give his or her employer as much notice as
possible of the dates such employee will be absent for any purpose set
forth in subparagraph (A), (B) or (C) of subdivision (2) of subsection
(b) of this section, and (2) provide his or her employer with written
verification from the civil air patrol of the purpose of the employee's
absence, as set forth in subparagraph (A), (B) or (C) of subdivision (2)
of subsection (b) of this section.
(d) Nothing in subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of this section shall be
construed to prohibit an employer from (1) treating the time the
employee is absent because of civil air patrol service for any purpose
set forth in subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section as unpaid
time off, or (2) complying with a collective bargaining agreement or
employee benefit plan entered into before October 1, 2019.
(e) An employee who is a member of the civil air patrol and is
trained and qualified to provide emergency services shall notify his or
her employer (1) by October 31, 2019, (2) by such employee's date of
employment with the employer, or (3) by the date on which such
employee joins the civil air patrol, whichever is latest, that such
employee may be called to participate in training or to serve in an
emergency, natural disaster or life-threatening event. Substitute Senate Bill No. 863
Public Act No. 19-95 3 of 6
(f) Any employee aggrieved by a violation of subsection (b) of this
section may bring an action in the Superior Court to recover damages
and equitable relief.
Sec. 2. Section 5-249 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019):
(a) (1) Any state employee who is an active volunteer firefighter or
member of a volunteer ambulance service or company [(1)] (A) 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)] (B) 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.
(2) Any state employee who is an active member of the civil air
patrol, as defined in section 1 of this act, (A) may, with the
authorization of such employee's appointing authority, be permitted to
leave work in order to respond to an emergency, natural disaster or
life-threatening event during such employee's regular hours of
employment without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave or earned
overtime accumulation, or (B) shall be permitted to respond to such
emergency, natural disaster or life- threatening event 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 Substitute Senate Bill No. 863
Public Act No. 19-95 4 of 6
employee submits a written statement from the civil air patrol
verifying that such employee responded to an emergency, natural
disaster or life-threatening event 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) (1) 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.
(2) Any state employee who is an active member of the civil air
patrol may, with the authorization of such employee's appointing
authority, be allowed to attend required emergency services training
programs and exercises 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 Substitute Senate Bill No. 863
Public Act No. 19-95 5 of 6
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.
(e) (1) Any state employee who is an active volunteer firefighter and
is injured on or after January 1, 2014, while serving in his or her
capacity as a volunteer firefighter, shall be permitted to collect sick
leave with pay for such injury pursuant to section 5-247, provided [(1)]
(A) such employee is eligible to receive such sick leave pay pursuant to
the provisions of said section, [(2)] (B) if requested by such employee's
appointing authority, such employee submits a written statement from
the chief of the volunteer fire department that such employee was
injured during a fire call and specifying the date, time and nature of
such injury, and [(3)] (C) the amount of weekly sick leave pay received
for such injury plus any weekly workers' compensation wage
replacement benefits received pursuant to section 7-314a or 7-314b for
such injury shall not exceed the weekly workers' compensation wage
replacement benefits such employee would have received had such
employee been injured in the course of his or her employment as a
state employee. A state employee's collection of sick leave pursuant to
this subsection shall not affect the seniority or accrual of pension
benefits of such state employee. The provisions of this subsection shall
not be construed to preempt or override the terms of any collective
bargaining agreement effective prior to July 1, 2015. Substitute Senate Bill No. 863
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(2) Any state employee who is an active member of the civil air
patrol and is injured on or after October 1, 2019, while serving in his or
her capacity as a member of the civil air patrol, shall be permitted to
collect sick leave with pay for such injury pursuant to section 5-247,
provided (A) such employee is eligible to receive such sick leave pay
pursuant to the provisions of said section, and (B) if requested by such
employee's appointing authority, such employee submits a written
statement from the civil air patrol that such employee was injured
during an emergency, natural disaster or life-threatening event and
specifying the date, time and nature of such injury.