What's happening
This bill allows civil service employees who volunteer as firefighters or EMTs to take excused, unpaid leave during a declared emergency.
Why it matters
Supports emergency response capacity. by ensuring that civil service employees who volunteer as firefighters or EMTs can fully participate in emergency operations without risking their regular jobs or using up their paid leave.
Removes a potential barrier to volunteering. by establishing that this excused leave does not count against any other leave (such as vacation or sick days), which could encourage more public employees to serve in volunteer emergency roles.
Increases transparency and accountability. by requiring employees to log and certify their volunteer hours—with signatures from both the employee and a volunteer organization officer—which helps prevent abuse and ensures leave is used appropriately.
May enhance community safety. during declared emergencies by tapping into a larger pool of trained responders, as public employees with volunteer credentials are more likely to be available when their communities need them most.
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Who cares
Civil service employees who volunteer as firefighters or ambulance workers
They would receive excused leave without using other leave when required to perform volunteer duties during a federally, state- or municipally declared emergency.
Government employers
They would have to grant qualifying employees excused leave and receive signed logs of their emergency volunteer hours.
Volunteer fire departments and ambulance squads
Their civil service members would be entitled to leave from government jobs for required emergency duties, and a line officer would have to sign each employee’s volunteer-hours log.
Headline styles
Excused Leave for Volunteer Responders
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
8 Co-sponsors
3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Held for consideration in governmental employees
- Referred to governmental employees
- Referred to governmental employees
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5595
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 13, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. MANKTELOW, BRABENEC, DeSTEFANO, GIGLIO, MONTESA- NO, HAWLEY, CROUCH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. McDONOUGH, STEC, WALSH -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to directing the granting of excused leave to civil service employees who are members of a volunteer fire department or a volunteer ambulance or rescue squad during a state of emergency
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The civil service law is amended by adding a new section 89 to read as follows:
§ 89. Excused leave during a state of emergency. 1. Every person holding a position in the civil service who is a member of a volunteer fire department or of a volunteer ambulance squad shall be entitled to absent himself or herself and shall be deemed to have a leave of absence from his or her duties or service as such civil service employee, during a state of emergency as declared by the federal, the state or a municipal government, when such civil service employee is required to perform duties or services for such volunteer department or squad as the result of the state of emergency.
2. The entire period of the leave of absence granted pursuant to this section shall be excused leave and shall not be charged against any other leave such civil service employee is otherwise entitled to.
3. Every civil service employee taking such a leave of absence shall maintain a log of all volunteer hours performed during the state of emergency. Such log shall be signed by the employee and a line officer of the volunteer organization, and be submitted to the employee's employer.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08930-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.