AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SICK LEAVE BANK FOR MUNICIPAL FIRST RESPONDERS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this section, "employee" means any municipal firefighter, police officer or emergency services personnel member employed by a municipality.

(b) Not later than July 1, 2014, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall establish a sick leave bank for municipal firefighters, police officers and emergency services personnel members. The commissioner shall establish and maintain a single electronic portal available on the Internet and located on the Internet web site of the Department of Administrative Services for purposes of accepting the posting of the wages and sick leave accruals of the participating employees by the employing municipality and any additional information required by the commissioner. The employing municipality shall update such wages and sick leave accruals not less than quarterly.

(c) Once the Commissioner of Administrative Services has established such sick leave bank, any municipality may opt to participate in the sick leave bank by resolution passed by its legislative body. Any employee who has been employed for two or more years by a municipality that has passed such a resolution may elect to participate in the sick leave bank by contributing the hourly equivalent of one day toward the sick leave bank by the time such employee attains two years of employment or the municipality passes such a resolution, whichever is later. Such employee may elect to withdraw from the sick leave bank at any time, but any hours previously donated to the sick leave bank by such employee shall be forfeited and such employee may not participate in the sick leave bank after such withdrawal. If at any time the sick leave bank falls below three thousand hours, the commissioner may require all employees participating in the sick leave bank to make an additional contribution of the hourly equivalent of one day, or in any other amount deemed necessary by the commissioner. Any unused time in the sick leave bank shall not lapse and shall carry over into the next succeeding fiscal year.

(d) Any employee may be eligible to receive sick leave from the sick leave bank provided such employee (1) has been a municipal employee at least two years prior to the date of application for such sick leave, (2) elected to participate in the sick leave bank at the time the sick leave bank was established or at the time such employee became eligible to join such sick bank, whichever is later, (3) has exhausted all sick leave, personal leave and compensatory time and vacation leave, (4) has filed a medical certificate in support of his or her continued absence that is deemed acceptable by the commissioner, (5) has an illness or injury not covered by workers' compensation benefits or such benefits have been exhausted, and (6) has not been disciplined for abuse of sick leave during the two years prior to the time of application to the sick leave bank, provided the commissioner may waive this requirement. Any eligible employee shall apply for sick leave from the sick leave bank to the Department of Administrative Services, in the manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Administrative Services.

(e) The commissioner shall pay benefits to any employee who the commissioner finds to be eligible in accordance with subsection (d) of this section the equivalent to one-half day for each day of illness or injury. Such payments shall commence on the sixteenth day after the exhaustion of such employee's sick leave, personal leave, compensatory time, vacation leave or workers' compensation benefits. No employee may draw from the bank more than once per fiscal year and such benefits may not exceed two hundred one-half days per fiscal year.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to affect any collective bargaining agreement entered into by any employee.

(g) The Commissioner of Administrative Services may adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to implement the provisions of this section.