4.__Enforcement; penalty for violation.__If an employer has violated subsection 2, the employee may bring an action in Superior Court in the county in which the employee resides or in the county in which the employer's place of business is located.__ The action must be brought within one year of the date of the alleged violation.__If the court finds that the employer violated subsection 2, and if the employee so requests, the court shall order the employer to reinstate the employee in the employee's former position without reduction of pay, seniority or other benefits. The court also shall order any other appropriate remedy necessary to return the employee to the position the employee would have been in had the employer not violated subsection 2, including payment of back pay and reinstatement of any other benefits lost during the period in which the discharge or disciplinary action was in effect.

5.__Impact on individual agreements.__This section does not apply if the employer and the employee have entered into a written agreement, signed by the employer and the employee, that governs procedures to be followed when the employee is called to respond to an emergency as a volunteer firefighter.__This subsection applies only if:

A.__The local official in charge of calling out firefighters has a written policy that:

(1)__Specifies the circumstances under which firefighters will be ordered to remain at an emergency; and

(2)__Affirms that firefighters will be released as soon as practicable; and

B.__The employee presents a copy of the policy to the employer upon notifying the employer of the employee's status as a volunteer firefighter.

6.__Designation as essential.__Upon receiving notice of an employee's volunteer firefighter status, an employer may designate the employee essential to the employer's operations.

SUMMARY

This bill protects a volunteer firefighter from being discharged or disciplined by an employer on the grounds that the volunteer firefighter arrives late or does not arrive at work because the volunteer firefighter is responding to an emergency