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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 6-11-1460 SO AS TO ENACT THE "VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER JOB PROTECTION ACT", PROHIBITING AN EMPLOYER FROM FIRING A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER WHO MISSES TIME AT WORK AS A RESULT OF RESPONDING TO AN EMERGENCY IN THE COURSE OF PERFORMING HIS DUTIES AS A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER, ALLOWING THE EMPLOYER TO REQUIRE A WRITTEN STATEMENT AND REASONABLE NOTICE AND TO DEDUCT TIME LOST FROM THE EMPLOYEE'S REGULAR PAY, TO CREATE A CIVIL CAUSE OF ACTION FOR VIOLATION OF THIS ACT AND PROVIDE REMEDIES, AND TO MAKE THIS ACT APPLICABLE TO A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER FOR A FIRE AUTHORITY SERVING A POPULATION OF THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED OR LESS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 11, Title 6 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 6-11-1460. (A) This section may be cited as the 'Volunteer Firefighter Job Protection Act'.
(B) As used in this section, 'volunteer firefighter' means a firefighter who does not receive monetary compensation for services to a Fire Authority, as defined in this chapter, and who does not work for another Fire Authority for monetary compensation.
(C) An employer may not fire an employee who is a volunteer firefighter and who, when acting as a volunteer firefighter and responding to an emergency occurring before the time he is required to report to work, is absent from or late to his employment, except that the employer may:
(1) charge against the employee's regular pay the time the employee misses from employment in the course of performing his duties as a volunteer firefighter in response to an emergency;
(2) request that the employee provide him with a writing from the supervisor or acting supervisor of the Fire Authority stating the time and date of the emergency and that the employee responded to the emergency in the course of his duties as a volunteer firefighter; and
(3) require the employee to make a reasonable effort to notify him that he may be absent or late as a result of responding to an emergency in the course of his duties as a volunteer firefighter.
(D) An employee who is fired from his employment in violation of this section may commence, within one year of the date of the firing, an action against his employer seeking:
(1) reinstatement to his former position;
(2) payment of back wages;
(3) reinstatement of fringe benefits; and
(4) if applicable, reinstatement of seniority rights.
(E) This section applies to a volunteer firefighter with a Fire Authority that serves a population of three thousand five hundred or less."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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