What's happening
This bill grants New York City Fire Department EMTs guaranteed rest and meal breaks, compensation for interrupted breaks, and choice of firehouse location while awaiting dispatch.
Why it matters
Improves working conditions and morale for EMTs. Guaranteed rest and meal breaks formally acknowledge the intense and stressful nature of EMT work, aiming to reduce burnout and support mental and physical health.
Financial accountability for interrupted breaks. By mandating extra pay when breaks are missed or interrupted, the bill incentivizes the department to honor break times and compensates EMTs for the additional strain of lost rest, directly impacting EMTs’ pay and department budgeting.
Operational flexibility with firehouse access. Allowing EMTs to wait in firehouses when close by can improve their comfort and safety between calls, possibly strengthening EMT-firefighter collaboration and giving EMTs more control over their immediate work environment.
Transparency in scheduling and compensation. The requirement for itemized statements about missed breaks ensures EMTs have clear records for pay and break time, which can help resolve disputes and promote fair treatment.
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Who cares
FDNY emergency medical technicians and advanced emergency medical technicians
The bill would establish paid rest breaks and meal periods for qualifying shifts, with extra pay and replacement breaks when those periods are interrupted or not provided.
New York City Fire Department
The department would have to provide the breaks, account for pay owed for missed or interrupted periods, and let covered employees awaiting dispatch use an active firehouse within 1,000 feet of their assigned location.
Unions representing FDNY emergency medical technicians
Their consent would be required, along with the department’s, to waive meal periods for workdays longer than five hours but no longer than six hours.
Headline styles
Protect EMT Break Rights
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to civil service and pensions
- Recommitted to rules
- Ordered to third reading cal.1293
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to civil service and pensions
Full text
4 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3378
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 6, 2019
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to amend the civil service law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the rights and working conditions of emergency medical technicians employed by the New York city fire department
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 215 to read as follows:
§ 215. Emergency medical technicians rights and working conditions. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless otherwise specified:
(a) "Emergency medical technician" shall mean a person employed by the fire department of the city of New York in a title whose duties are those of an emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical technician, as those terms are defined in section three thousand one of the public health law, or whose duties require the direct supervision of such employees whose duties are those of an emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical technician.
(b) "Department" shall mean the fire department of the city of New York.
2. (a) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergency medical services whose scheduled shift or hours worked is at least four hours shall be authorized and permitted to take rest periods that, to the extent practicable, shall be in the middle of each work period. The duration of such authorized rest periods shall be based on the total hours worked daily at the rate of ten minutes rest time for every four hours worked. A rest period is not required for an emergency medical technician whose total daily work time is less than four hours. Author-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08634-01-9
S. 3378 2
ized rest period time shall be counted as hours worked for which there shall be no deduction from wages.
(b) During the authorized rest period provided for in this subdivision, an emergency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties and the department shall relinquish control over the use of such time by such emergency medical technician; provided, however, that an emergency medical technician may be required to monitor pagers, radios, station alert boxes, intercoms, cellular telephones, or other communication methods during such time.
(c) (i) The department may interrupt a rest period and require an emergency medical technician to terminate his or her rest period and resume work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disaster.
(ii) In the event that a rest period is interrupted pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical technician shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compensation for each workday during which a rest period is interrupted or not provided, and shall be provided with an equivalent rest period as soon as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical technician's shift.
(iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or owed due to an interrupted rest period or rest period that was not provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period.
3. (a) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergency medical services for a work period of more than five hours per day shall be provided a meal period of not less than thirty minutes, except that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the department and the collective bargaining representative of the emergency medical technician.
(b) During the meal period provided for in this subdivision, an emergency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties and the department shall relinquish control over the use of such time by such emergency medical technician, except that an emergency medical technician may be required to monitor pagers, radios, station alert boxes, intercoms, cellular telephones, or other communication methods during such time.
(c) (i) The department may interrupt a meal period and require an emergency medical technician to terminate the meal period and resume work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disaster.
(ii) In the event that a meal period is interrupted pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical technician shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compensation for each workday during which the meal period is interrupted or not provided as scheduled, and shall be provided with an equivalent meal period as soon as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical technician's shift.
(iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or owed due to an interrupted meal period or a meal period that was not provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period.
S. 3378 3
4. An emergency medical technician who, for purposes of awaiting dispatch, is stationed at a location within one thousand feet of a firehouse in use by the department may choose the firehouse as an alternate location for performing his or her duties while awaiting dispatch.
§ 2. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 12-140 to read as follows:
§ 12-140 Emergency medical technicians rights and working conditions. a. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless otherwise specified:
(1) "Emergency medical technician" shall mean a person employed by the fire department of the city of New York in a title whose duties are those of an emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical technician, as those terms are defined in section three thousand one of the public health law, or whose duties require the direct supervision of such employees whose duties are those of an emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical technician.
(2) "Department" shall mean the fire department of the city of New York.
b. (1) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergency medical services whose scheduled shift or hours worked is at least four hours shall be authorized and permitted to take rest periods that, to the extent practicable, shall be in the middle of each work period. The duration of such authorized rest periods shall be based on the total hours worked daily at the rate of ten minutes rest time for every four hours worked. A rest period is not required for an emergency medical technician whose total daily work time is less than four hours. Authorized rest period time shall be counted as hours worked for which there shall be no deduction from wages.
(2) During the authorized rest period provided for in this subdivision, an emergency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties and the department shall relinquish control over the use of such time by such emergency medical technician, provided, however, that an emergency medical technician may be required to monitor pagers, radios, station alert boxes, intercoms, cellular telephones, or other communication methods during such time.
(3) (i) The department may interrupt a rest period and require an emergency medical technician to terminate his or her rest period and resume work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disaster.
(ii) In the event that a rest period is interrupted pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical technician shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compensation for each workday during which a rest period is interrupted or not provided, and shall be provided with an equivalent rest period as soon as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical technician's shift.
(iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or owed due to an interrupted rest period or rest period that was not provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period.
c. (1) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergency medical services for a work period of more than five hours per day shall be provided a meal period of not less than thirty minutes, except that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than
S. 3378 4
six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the department and the collective bargaining representative of the emergency medical technician.
(2) During the meal period provided for in this subdivision, an emergency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties and the department shall relinquish control over the use of such time by such emergency medical technician, except that an emergency medical technician may be required to monitor pagers, radios, station alert boxes, intercoms, cellular telephones, or other communication methods during such time.
(3) (i) The department may interrupt a meal period and require an emergency medical technician to terminate the meal period and resume work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disaster.
(ii) In the event that a meal period is interrupted pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical technician shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compensation for each workday during which the meal period is interrupted or not provided as scheduled, and shall be provided with an equivalent meal period as soon as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical technician's shift.
(iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or owed due to an interrupted meal period or a meal period that was not provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period.
d. An emergency medical technician who, for purposes of awaiting dispatch, is stationed at a location within one thousand feet of a firehouse in use by the department may choose the firehouse as an alternate location for performing his or her duties while awaiting dispatch.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil service law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the rights and working conditions of emergency medical technicians employed by the New York city fire depart- ment
Purpose or general idea of bill
The bill will establish the rights for emergency medical technicians of the New York city fire department. The bill will require the implementa- tion of the procedures set forth to establish reasonable standards of labor, rest, meal breaks and pay during such activities.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill amends and adds a new section 215 to the civil service law, which sets forth the scope of work and limitations of such work for emergency medical technicians that are employed by the Fire Department of the City of New York. The section details the requirement of periods devoted to rest, periods devoted to meals and disclosures owed during pay statements for emergency medical technicians that work a qualifying number of hours per shift. The section also details the exceptions to the requirements.
Section two of the bill amends and adds a new section 12-140 to the administrative code of the City of New York. The section details the requirement of periods devoted to rest, periods devoted to meals and disclosures owed during pay statements for emergency medical technicians that work a qualifying number of hours per shift. The section also details the exceptions to the requirements.
Section three of the bill sets forth the effective date as the imme- diately.
Existing law
Currently, there is no law ensuring the rights and fair conditions of emergency medical technicians that work for the New York city fire department.
Justification
Emergency medical technicians should be recognized and valued equally as other uniformed services. The nature of the job that emergency medical technicians perform is demanding and is quite difficult. Besides the performance of the emergency medical technicians, the environment in which they must act is not always predictable. Often, the workers are on call, awaiting an emergency request or are responding to emergency requests for the entire duration of their shift. This bill looks to adequately address the issues of meal breaks, rest periods and pay requirements of these hard working New Yorkers that are, at the moment, treated unequally compared to other uniformed services.
Emergency medical technicians provide critical, necessary services to the communities they serve and they deserve to have set rights and limi- tations that justly recognize them as vital pillars of our New York community and as equals to the other uniformed services of New York.
Prior legislative history
2018: S8432 - Referred to Civil Service and Pensions.
Fiscal implications
Undetermined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.