Tennessee passes CAP leave law

[BrianH76]

Hello all,

I wanted to share some good news from the great State of Tennessee.  For the past few months, a bill has been making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly that would grant 15 workdays of leave per year to any state employee "who participates in a training program for the Civil Air Patrol, or in emergency and disaster services."  The law passed both houses of the General Assembly unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Phil Bredesen yesterday. 

A special thanks goes to Sen. Raymond Finney and Rep. Kevin Brooks who sponsored the bill and guided it through the state legislature.  Both are members of the Tennessee CAP Legislative Squadron.  Anyway, wanted to share the good news! 

[CadetProgramGuy]

Bravo Zulu Tennessee Wing!!

[DrDave]

Congrats!

What's the bill number?  I'd like to look it up and add it to our info for the Missouri bill we're working on.

Thanks,
Dr. Dave

[davedove]

It would be real nice if the federal government would do something like that for its employees.  We can get military leave for Reserve and Guard duty, but there's nothing for the emergency services type volunteers.

[BrianH76]

Congrats!

What's the bill number?  I'd like to look it up and add it to our info for the Missouri bill we're working on.

Thanks,
Dr. Dave

Try this link:

http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/SB3881.pdf

It's SB 3881 or HB 3692.  Good luck in Missouri!

[mikeylikey]

What Tennessee passed was a benefit for State Employees, not a benefit for the average Tennessee citizen who also happens to be a member of CAP.  What we want are laws that help the average member get paid time off from work to do CAP missions, not paid time off for State employees.   

[DrDave]

Yeah, but you gotta start _somewhere_.  You have to admit it's 1,000% better than what they had before (i.e. nothing).

We've got a similar bill already on the books in Missouri (i.e. for state employees) that we're working on amending or rewriting to give any CAP member the ability to take unpaid time off from work to assist in search and rescue operations, without jeopardizing their jobs.

Dr. Dave

[Frenchie]

It would be really nice if the federal government would pass similar legislation.  If they did, most states would fall in line.

[BrianH76]

Yeah, but you gotta start _somewhere_.  You have to admit it's 1,000% better than what they had before (i.e. nothing).

We've got a similar bill already on the books in Missouri (i.e. for state employees) that we're working on amending or rewriting to give any CAP member the ability to take unpaid time off from work to assist in search and rescue operations, without jeopardizing their jobs.

Dr. Dave

I agree with you Dave, and job protection for all CAP members should be the ultimate goal.  Still, the fact that legislators in Tennessee thought enough of CAP that they are willing to grant the employees who work for them the ability to take time off for CAP-related activities is pretty significant.  The thing that most impressed me about this bill is that it not only applies to actual missions, but applies to training as well.  Aside from the National Guard, there is no other organization granted paid time off by the State to train.  The state gives Red Cross members time off for actual disasters, but training is not covered. 

What we want are laws that help the average member get paid time off from work to do CAP missions, not paid time off for State employees.  

This would be an uphill, and potentially impossible, climb.  I can't think of any law that requires private employers to provide paid time off for anything.  USERRA, FMLA, and maternity/paternity leave laws all provide job protections, but no paid leave.  Employee associations or unions may be able to negotiate with individual employers for paid time off for CAP-related activities, but I would not expect to see a law mandating it.  Job protections, however, is another matter and one that should be pushed.  I hope that will occur in Tennessee and other states as well, as it would be a significant enhancement to our capabilities.

[RiverAux]

Actually, I think our best bet to ever get national legislation on this is to slowly accumulate states with the sort of laws that we want.  If Congress looks down and sees that 25 states are giving CAP some level of assistance in this area (and presumably very happy with the services CAP provides them), then they might consider doing something at their level.

Sure, only giving it to government employees won't affect but a handful of CAP members in any state, but its better than nothing. 

[sarflyer]

Outstanding job Tennessee! :clap:

Hopefully we'll see more of those come into being!

[Frenchie]

Sure, only giving it to government employees won't affect but a handful of CAP members in any state, but its better than nothing. 

Quite a few employers follow what the state and federal government provides for their employees.  It's pretty difficult for the state or federal government to request private employers to do these things for their employees when those same entities aren't doing it themselves.

[DrJbdm]

I'm a Union Vice-President at work and I'm currently writing the new Collective Bargaining Agreement for our workforce. We go in for negotiations in July. Here's the agreement that we're trying to get passed. I think it has a decent chance of making it thru.

    17.2   Full-time employees called to temporary active duty in the United States Armed Forces reserve components or National Guard including an auxiliary of the United States Armed Forces shall receive a leave of absence and such employee will receive his straight-time rate of pay and there will be no loss of seniority or benefits. An employee who is called to extended active duty with the Armed Forces which necessitates a leave of absence shall be granted such leave of absence without pay in accordance with the Federal Statue. extended leave of absence is defined as a period time not to exceed two (2) weeks.


    The definitions further define the leave of absence for Military Aux members as being while on a assigned military mission IE: Assigned Air Force mission; well see if it passes.

[RiverAux]

Can you post the exact definition?  Might affect CG Aux members differently depending on how it is worded. 

[DrJbdm]

 River, This is what we have so far as the definition, of course it's still under construction and I'm still looking at the language. I have to get any language changes approved first thru my executive board then we will present all this to our employer. Of course, I really feel that the Armed Forces Auxiliary should be covered under the same Federal Statute governing the National Guard or Reserve Components.... Perhaps one day.


Definition: Armed Forces Auxiliary is defined as an official uniformed auxiliary branch of any United States Armed Forces that is capable of being assigned to U.S. Armed Forces duties or being called upon to officially support a U.S. Armed Forces assignment in times of duress or emergency. Excludes training events, basic training encampments or other non-emergency duties except when under competent military orders. Examples of U.S. Armed Forces Auxiliary would be the U.S. Air Force Aux or the U.S. Coast Guard Aux.

[Ranger75]

While the Hill may not have taken steps to pass Federal work-leave protections that would encompass a member's participation in an emergency services mission, Federal leave policy does grant such freedoms to individual agencies.  Following retirement from the active military, I accepted a civilian position with a DoD combat support agency (one of those three letter organizations residing within the Beltway).   The published leave policy grants authority to senior officials within the organization to authorize first responders up to five-days of paid adminisrative leave/year to participate in actual or state-sponsored emergenct response training each calendar year.  I have used this provision to participate in a search for a missing aircraft that extended over five days and a four-day session with FEMA to certify IS 300/400.  Another provision speaks to support of "civil defense" activities, again providing for five days of administrative leave each year.  I made use of this clause to fly to Langley AFB and participate in a seies of meeting related to CAP's support of NORAD-sponsored air defense exercises.  I shared my "find" with other Wing members, who also work in the Federal structure.  Upon reading the specific provisions of their own agencies' leave policy, several found similar provisions.  Others found nothing.  I reviewed CPO guidance to Federal agencies and found that each is granted significant latitude in implementing leave.  I would suggest that members working for Uncle Sam check out their own circumstances.  You may find like me that the authority is there, but that it has to be brought to the attention of your supervisiors and HR types because it is not commonly used.  --  Regards  --  Jiim

[RiverAux]

Definition: Armed Forces Auxiliary is defined as an official uniformed auxiliary branch of any United States Armed Forces that is capable of being assigned to U.S. Armed Forces duties or being called upon to officially support a U.S. Armed Forces assignment in times of duress or emergency. Excludes training events, basic training encampments or other non-emergency duties except when under competent military orders. Examples of U.S. Armed Forces Auxiliary would be the U.S. Air Force Aux or the U.S. Coast Guard Aux.

First, I would recommend using "Civil Air Patrol" since that is the name of our organization and then describing it as an AF auxiliary. 

In regards to CG Aux -- the CG actually does issue orders for CG Aux boatcrew and aircrew patrols in a way somewhat similar to how CAP gets AFAMs, so no problem with that.  However, the vast majority of CG Aux missions in direct support of CG operations or administration aren't quite as closely controlled.  For example, if an Auxie goes to stand watch on a cutter, you're not going to see an official piece of paper assigning him to that duty that day (though there will be one signed by the CG saying he is qualified to do that job).  He should have notified his local Aux leadership he was going to the cutter and after the watch is over the Auxie will generate a mission report form documenting the hours he spent on duty.  But there are no official "orders" for that mission.

Any other CG Auxies want to help come up with some better wording to cover how we do things? 

[DrJbdm]

 I had thought of using the name Civil Air Patrol but I know that our name generates the perception that we are a youth cadet program. It would be very difficult to pass that thru in the collective bargaining agreement. Call it a little back door maneuvering or whatever, but sometimes you have to play on people's mis-perception to get things useful to pass thru. While CAP is indeed the U.S. Air Force Aux, you are correct it is not our official name, however peoples perception of the term United States Air Force Auxiliary is much more positive then their perception of Civil Air Patrol. We are either not known or we are thought of as a youth cadet program. I have rarely seen anyone not associated with CAP having the right perception of us. When writing the language of this section I felt it was important to play on people's mis-perception while still being technically accurate.

  I work in an area where we do not have a heavy presence of the Coast Guard Aux, I have seen them out on Lake Travis patrolling in a boat and have actually had them performing boat safety inspections on the boat docks of our city park. I would actually like to see them have a larger presence on the Lake, it is a huge lake and every bit of help is appreciated out there. We have only five agencies that patrol Lake Travis, so on most weekends we are spread VERY thin. The Coast Guard Aux could be seen as a big help, it would be nice to get them to have a representative on the Lake Travis Task Force.

[RiverAux]

Its pretty easy to say "Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force" or "Civil Air Patrol (an Air Force auxiliary).  So long as another one doesn't get formed, I'm personally ok with using "the Air Force auxiliary". 

[RRLE]

Any other CG Auxies want to help come up with some better wording to cover how we do things?

From an 'ex'

AuxMan 5.J.6 Patrol Orders

Every deployment of a facility for any activity for the Coast Guard or the Auxiliary must be under Coast Guard reimbursable or non-reimbursable orders. This mandate applies to all facilities (surface, aircraft, or land mobile radio facilities while used in vehicles or mobile trailers). The operation and movement of any such facility without Coast Guard orders is performed as a private U.S. citizen and not as an Auxiliarist, and therefore, may not be covered by 14 U.S.C. § 831, 832, and 823a(b).

AuxMan 5.J.7. Use of Private Motor Vehicles - some stuff snipped

Auxiliarists are authorized to use private motor vehicles for authorized Auxiliary activities without Coast Guard orders unless they plan to seek reimbursement for expenses or third party liability protection. In addition to routine travel to and from authorized activities, private motor vehicles may be used in the performance of other authorized activities such as participation in parades (i.e., towing a boat or a float), performing a chart updating mission, or conducting environmental activities. Coast Guard orders are required if a motor vehicle is being used as a land mobile radio or radio direction finding facility or in the performance of AtoN missions. Appropriate orders and contingency (pocket) orders may be issued to operators of fixed land and land mobile radio and radio direction finding facilities. Auxiliarists who choose to use their private motor vehicles for Auxiliary activities without orders, do so at their own risk. An Auxiliarist's decision to use a private motor vehicle for Auxiliary activities does not necessarily obligate the Coast Guard to assume potential third-party liability arising from the use of a private motor vehicle. Assignment to duty with Coast Guard orders will facilitate favorable potential third party liability determinations by Coast Guard leadership and the Department of Justice.

The following type of order is not used much in the Aux - it should probably be used more ofthen then it is.

AuxMan 9.A.1.b. Monthly/Quarterly Orders

Monthly/quarterly orders, reimbursable or non-reimbursable, are normally used for an Auxiliarist who serves at a certain station or office on a regular basis over an extended period of time. The purpose of this type of order is to reduce the administrative need to issue the same orders many times over a period of time. Travel conducted under this type of order is accomplished throughout the stated period, with a single claim for reimbursement filed at the end of that period. The Auxiliarist who provides weekly administrative assistance at a Director's office, or someone serving as a regular weekend watchstander at a station or group, could receive this type of orders. Orders covering periods longer than a quarter are discouraged.

For emergencies only and this usually involves the movement of a facility:

AuxMan 9. A.1.d. Verbal Orders

In times of emergency or critical operational need, an Auxiliarist may receive verbal orders to proceed on a mission. These orders can be reimbursable or nonreimbursable. The orders must be noted in the Coast Guard unit logs of the unit issuing the order and must be followed up with written orders as soon as conditions permit (for reimbursement if authorized, or with nonreimbursable orders if injury, damage, or mishap occurs).

[DrJbdm]

River, yes it is easy to say Civil Air Patrol, but bottom line is I do not want to say Civil Air Patrol. CAP has a bad or a negative image in many circles, we all know of the problems that CAP has with its image. I would never get anything passed if I identified it as CAP. It's broader in scope and sounds more official to have it read U.S. Air Force Aux. I only managed to get those articles passed thru the general union membership by having it written as it is. Those guys I work with view CAP has a youth organization and not as a military unit. Youth organizations do not receive orders from the Air Force for operational missions. Identifying ourselves as the U.S. Air Force Aux. does that, people then have a much easier time grasping that we do operational Air Force missions. My goal isn't to use this to recruit anybody; therefore I could care little for having to explain what CAP is and what we do. I think CAP should cling tightly to the U.S. Air Force Aux title, we would get much more mileage then with just going with CAP.

[RiverAux]

If we were starting over today, we probably would be the Air Force Auxiliary, and probably we SHOULD be called the AF Auxiliary.  But, we are the Civil Air Patrol and probably will continue to be for the forseeable future. 

You're plain wrong on the facts though on CAP having a bad reputation overall.  The only actual data out there (CAP NHQ survey info in recent public affairs presentation) pretty convincingly shows that those that have heard of CAP, have a good impression of CAP.  So, its not an automatic loser to use CAP. 

[RiverAux]

Illinois passes leave law: http://www.cap.gov/visitors/news/cap_news_online/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&nodeID=6192&newsID=4492&year=2008&month=7

[dogboy]

I wanted to share some good news from the great State of Tennessee.  For the past few months, a bill has been making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly that would grant 15 workdays of leave per year to any state employee "who participates in a training program for the Civil Air Patrol, or in emergency and disaster services."  The law passed both houses of the General Assembly unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Phil Bredesen yesterday. 

Here's the relevant California Government Code Section which authorizes 10 days per year. Note that almost all State employees have collective bargaining agreements which may grant different rights than those in the Code. Also, it only covers activities with an State OES mission number. An ordinary ELT search is not assigned an OES number.

19844.5.  (a) A state employee who is called into service by the
Office of Emergency Services pursuant to a mission assignment number
for the purpose of engaging in a search and rescue operation,
disaster mission, or other life-saving mission conducted within the
state is  entitled to administrative time off from his or her
appointing power.  The appointing power shall not be liable for
payment of any disability or death benefits in the event the employee
is injured or killed in the course of service to the Office of
Emergency Services, but the employee shall remain entitled to any
benefits currently provided by the office.
   (b) The period of the duty described in subdivision (a) shall not
exceed 10 calendar days per fiscal year, including the time involved
in going to and returning from the duty.  A single mission shall not
exceed three days, unless an extension of time is granted by the
office and the appointing power.
   (c) This section shall apply only to volunteers participating in
the California Explorer Search and Rescue Team, Drowning Accident
Rescue Team, Wilderness Organization of Finders, California Rescue
Dog Association, and the California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.
   (d) A state employee engaging in a duty as described in this
section shall not receive overtime compensation for the hours of time
off taken but shall receive normal compensation.
   (e) A state employee shall be released to engage in a duty
described in this section at the discretion of the appointing power.
However, leave shall not be unreasonably denied.  The appointing
power shall also establish a procedure whereby state employees who
receive weekend or evening requests to serve may be released to do
so.