COMCOR 21.02.12 Conditions and Restrictions on Volunteering by DFRS Firefighters/Rescuers in the MCFRS

To establish conditions and restrictions on volunteer activities provided to the Local Fire and Rescue Departments by a MCFRS Division of Fire and Rescue Services employee in the firefighter/rescuer occupational series.

This Executive Regulation applies to any Montgomery County employee in the firefighter/rescuer occupational series, including the positions of:

Fire/Rescue Chief

Fire Rescue Deputy Chief

Fire/Rescue Assistant Chief

Fire/Rescue District Chief

Fire/Rescue Captain

Fire/Rescue Lieutenant

Master Firefighter/Rescuer

Firefighter/Rescuer III

Firefighter/Rescuer II

Firefighter/Rescuer I (Recruit)

a. Integrated Emergency Command Structure (IECS). The operational chain-of-command system used for incident command in the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service that provides for the integration of all certified fire and rescue personnel into a command structure on fire, rescue, and emergency medical service incidents.

b. Operational Volunteer Activities. The provision of fire suppression, rescue, and emergency medical services, in accordance with the Integrated Emergency Command Structure.

c. Volunteer. For the purpose of this Regulation, an individual who freely and without coercion provides fire suppression, rescue, and emergency medical services, and/or related administrative duties, with a Local Fire and Rescue Department in Montgomery County.

a. A DFRS employee in the firefighter/rescuer occupational class must not volunteer at a higher rant than the employee’s current IECS rank.

b. A DFRS employee who is removed or suspended from the IECS while serving as a volunteer or employee must not participate in any MCFRS operational activities for the duration of the employee’s removal or suspension.

A DFRS employee must not provide more than 48 continuous hours of shift work, volunteer assignments, or any combination thereof, in firefighting, rescue, or emergency medical services in Montgomery County.

a. County leave provisions distinguish between injuries sustained while providing volunteer services, and those sustained while performing DFRS assignments. A DFRS employee is not eligible to use Disability Leave for injuries occurring during volunteer service. A DFRS employee must use sick leave, or leave without pay, for failure to report to DFRS work assignments due to recuperation or recovery from injuries sustained while performing volunteer duties.

b. A DFRS employee must report to the employee’s DFRS District Chief immediately, but not later than 24 hours after sustaining any injuries while performing career or volunteer assignments, to differentiate the applicable leave provisions.

a. A DFRS employee who volunteers for an LFRD must not perform operational volunteer activities in the same LFRD to which the employee is assigned as a DFRS employee. This prohibition also applies to assignments due to transfer, overtime, details, and work substitutions, consistent with Sec. 21-17(a)(1) of the County Code.

b. Notwithstanding Sec. 7.a.,* the operational needs of MCFRS are paramount and may require a DFRS employee to be reassigned due to transfer, overtime, details, or work substitutions. LFRD membership or association must not prevent or affect the transfer or re-assignment of a DFRS employee to a particular work site. If a DFRS employee is transferred or detailed to the same LFRD that the employee serves as a volunteer, the employee must immediately cease volunteer activities and report the matter to the DFRS District Chief.

a. A DFRS employee’s volunteer service must not accrue to time in grade or time in service requirements for promotion, seniority, transfer, retirement, or other provisions for service time as a DFRS employee.

b. A DFRS employee may participate in the Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) for LFRD volunteers, and may receive other benefits available to LFRD volunteers under Section 21-21 of the County Code for time spent and time accrued as an LFRD volunteer.

c. A DFRS employee must not receive LOSAP points or other volunteer benefits for activities performed while serving as a DFRS employee.

d. A former DFRS employee who has received a County disability retirement must not perform operational volunteer activities.

a. Mandatory Overtime and Shift Hold-over. Any mandatory DFRS overtime or shift hold- over required of a DFRS employee that is considered necessary to meet the operational or administrative emergency needs of the County, as ordered by the DFRS Division Chief or his/her designee, takes precedence over any volunteer LFRD assignment that may conflict with the mandatory overtime or hold-over requirement.

b. Assignment during Hold-over. If any mandatory hold-over assignment of a DFRS employee while performing emergency operational volunteer fire and rescue services for an LFRD would conflict with the DFRS employees’ normal work assignment, the DFRS employee must notify the LFRD Chief or LFRD Duty Officer in advance, or as soon as practicable. The LFRD Chief or Duty Officer must promptly notify the DFRS Shift Chief. However, the DFRS employee is ultimately responsible for notifying the employer that the employee will be unable to report for duty at the employee’s assigned location. The Shift Chief must take the appropriate action regarding scheduling. When the Shift Chief is notified that the time used by the DFRS employee was spent in emergency operational volunteer fire and rescue services as a volunteer, the DFRS employee may be placed in pay status at the employee’s normal reporting time. When the LFRD assignment is completed, the DFRS Shift Chief must determine the DFRS employee’s assignment or leave status for the balance of the shift.

c. Participation on MCFRS Specialty Teams. DFRS employees are selected for participation on MCFRS specialty teams on a competitive basis. The DFRS employee must not provide voluntary (unpaid) services to MCFRS specialty teams because the training and deployment of some teams may potentially impact on the employee’s career assignment.

d. If a DFRS employee is receiving workers’ compensation pay for injuries sustained as an LFRD volunteer, the employee must be placed in a “leave without pay” status while receiving workers’ compensation benefits, or until the employee’s disability retirement is determined, or whatever employee status is appropriate. If a DFRS employee is assigned to light duty status as a result of a medical condition, or is on sick leave, or on medical disability status, the DFRS employee must not perform or participate in LFRD operational activities.

a. Application for Volunteer Service. Before providing volunteer service, a DFRS employee must execute an “Application for Volunteer Service” annually, and with any change of LFRD membership. This application must certify that the employee is providing services to the LFRD freely and without coercion. However, a DFRS employee may discontinue the employee’s volunteer service at any time.

b. Previous Regulation. This Regulation replaces and supersedes Executive Regulation 6-94. However, this Regulation will be null and void, and Regulation 6-94 will become effective immediately as if it had not been replaced or superseded, and all DFRS firefighters must cease operational volunteer activities until further notice by the Fire Administrator if a court, any federal or state agency with jurisdiction, or the Merit System Protection Board finds that the County or the LFRD must pay overtime, or any form of compensation, statutory damages under any federal or state wage law, or expenses, to a DFRS employee due to the performance of operational volunteer activities, or service as a volunteer.

The Division of Fire and Rescue Services is responsible for investigating and retaining accurate information related to the misconduct of a DFRS employee when the employee is on or off duty, or when the employee is serving as an LFRD volunteer. Regardless of the employee’s duty status, DFRS employees are subject to all DFRS policies and regulations at all times.

The provisions of this Regulation are severable. If a court holds that a provision is invalid or inapplicable, the remainder of the Regulation remains in effect.