Bill C-215: An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Employment Insurance Act (volunteer firefighters)

Short Title Canada Labour Code Employment Insurance Act First Session, Forty-second Parliament, 64 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016 HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA BILL C-215 An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Employment Insurance Act (volunteer firefighters) FIRST READING, FEBRUARY 3, 2016 Ms. Moore 421009 SUMMARY This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code to prohibit disciplinary action against volunteer firefighters who must leave work or fail to appear at work in order to act in that capacity. It also amends the Employment Insurance Act to provide that claimants remain eligible for employment insurance for any day on which they provide services as a volunteer firefighter. Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca 1st Session, 42nd Parliament, 64 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016 HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA BILL C-215 An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Employment Insurance Act (volunteer firefighters) Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: Short Title Short title 1 This Act may be cited as the Support for Volunteer Firefighters Act. R.‍S.‍, c. L-2 Canada Labour Code 2 The Canada Labour Code is amended by adding the following after section 246: Division XIV.‍1 Volunteer Firefighters Prohibition 246.‍1 (1) No employer shall, without good cause, prevent an employee from acting as a firefighter called on an occasional basis (in this Act referred to as a “volunteer firefighter”) if the employee has informed the employer of their obligations, in particular that if called to act in that capacity, they will have to leave work suddenly or will not be able to appear at work. Current employee (2) No employer shall, without good cause, dismiss, suspend, lay off, demote or discipline an employee because they are a volunteer firefighter nor take into account the fact that an employee is a volunteer firefighter in a decision to promote or train them if the employee has informed the employer of their obligations and advises the employer when, to act in that capacity, they must leave work suddenly or are not able to appear at work. Future employee (3) No employer shall, without good cause, refuse to employ a person because they are a volunteer firefighter. 1996, c. 23 Employment Insurance Act 3 (1) Subsection 18(1) of the Employment Insurance Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (b), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (c) and by adding the following after paragraph (c): (d) providing services as a volunteer firefighter. (2) Section 18 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2): Definition of services as a volunteer firefighter (3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)‍(d), services as a volunteer firefighter means services provided to a fire department by an individual in their capacity as a firefighter on an occasional basis that consist primarily in responding to and being on call for firefighting and related emergency calls, attending meetings held by the fire department and participating in required training related to the prevention or suppression of fires, but does not include firefighting services provided to a fire department otherwise than as a firefighter on an occasional basis. Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons