I have an employee who is a volunteer firefighter. In the last few years, with the increase in the wildfires in California, he has been taking more and more time off from work. When he leaves, I get little or no advance notice, and I get almost no notice of when he is going to return. He has been promoted to a position with a great deal of responsibility, and these absences are putting a strain on my business. Is there any law that limits how much time away he can take for firefighting, and can I require that he give me a certain amount of advance notice when he is going to be taking the time off?
In California, the Legislature has established a protected leave of absence for volunteer civil service members. That leave is codified in California Labor Code Sections 230.3 and 230.4. Volunteer firefighters are covered by the volunteer civil service leave law.
Labor Code Section 230.3 makes it illegal for an employer to prohibit an employee from taking time off to serve as a volunteer firefighter and to in any way retaliate or discriminate against an employee for being a volunteer firefighter or taking time off to serve as a volunteer firefighter.
No Time Limit
This code section does not limit the amount of time that an employee can take off to perform services as a volunteer firefighter. Moreover, the section does not require the employee to provide advance notice of taking time off to serve as a volunteer firefighter, nor to provide notice of the time when the employee is going to return from the leave of absence.
In addition, Section 230.4 requires that employers with 50 or more employees must provide the employee with two weeks of time off each year to engage in training for volunteer firefighting. Neither of these leaves of absence requires the employer to pay the employee for the time he or she is away from work, but the amount of time off to engage in firefighting is unlimited.
Although the employee’s absence is putting a strain on your business, the law does not allow you to limit the amount of time the employee is away from work, nor does it require the employee to provide advance notice of the leave.
The public policy of the state is to promote the interest in providing these types of public service, even if it causes some detriment to the operations of a business.
Discuss with Employee
You may be able to discuss your concerns with your employee and work out a system that allows you to operate your business in an effective manner while the employee is on the protected leaves.
We would highly recommend speaking with legal counsel before taking any action that the employee might consider to be retaliation due to his or her service as a volunteer firefighter.
Column based on questions asked by callers on the Labor Law Helpline, a service to California Chamber of Commerce preferred members and above. For expert explanations of labor laws and Cal/OSHA regulations, not legal counsel for specific situations, call (800) 348-2262 or submit your question at www.hrcalifornia.com.
