109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4998
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act to protect disaster assistance employee reservists when activated by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency for work at a specific disaster
site from termination or demotion in their places of employment.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 16, 2006
Ms. SCHWARTZ of Pennsylvania (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr.
HONDA, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BISHOP of New York,
Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania,
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. FARR, Mr. WU, Mr. PASCRELL,
Mr. STUPAK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. STARK, Mrs. MCCARTHY, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ
of California, and Mr. MEEHAN) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act to protect disaster assistance employee reservists when activated by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency for work at a specific disaster
site from termination or demotion in their places of employment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Disaster Assistance Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT PROTECTIONS FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE EMPLOYEE RESERVISTS.
Section 306 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 5149) is amended by adding at the end the following:
`(c) Employment Protections for Disaster Assistance Employee Reservists-
`(1) TERMINATION PROHIBITED- No person may be terminated, demoted, or
in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions
of employment because the employee, when activated by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency for work at a specific disaster site as a disaster assistance
employee reservist, is absent from or late to his or her employment.
`(2) LIMITATION- Paragraph (1) shall not apply if such person is absent
from his or her employment for the purposes described in paragraph (1)
for a period of more than 90 days per calendar year.
`(3) WITHHOLDING OF PAY- An employer may charge, against the employee's
regular pay, any time that an employee loses from employment because of
the employee's activation as a disaster assistance employee reservist.
`(4) CERTIFICATION- The employer may request the employee to provide the
employer with a written verification from the Federal Emergency Management
Agency that the employee was activated as a disaster assistance employee
reservist and stating the time and dates of such activation.
`(5) REASONABLE NOTICE REQUIRED- An employee who may be absent from or
late to his or her employment due to activation as a disaster assistance
employee reservist shall make a reasonable effort to notify his or her
employer that he or she may be absent or late and shall continue to provide
such reasonable notifications over the course of his or her absence.
`(A) RIGHT OF ACTION- A person who has been terminated, demoted, or
in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions
of employment in violation of this subsection may bring, in a district
court of the United States of appropriate jurisdiction, a civil action
against his or her employer who violated this subsection.
`(B) DAMAGES- The employee may seek reinstatement to his or her former
position, payment of back wages, reinstatement of fringe benefits, and,
where seniority rights are granted, reinstatement of seniority rights.
`(C) LIMITATION- The employee must commence such an action within 1
year after the date of the violation of this subsection.
`(7) DISASTER ASSISTANCE EMPLOYEE RESERVIST DEFINED- In this subsection,
the term `disaster assistance employee reservist' means a person appointed
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under subsection (b)(1) to
serve as a reservist. Reservists are carried on the personnel rolls of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a specified period and may
be activated to perform disaster assistance program work when the need
arises.'.
END
