DFRS

POLICES & PROCEDURES
Department Of Fire & Rescue Services
Montgomery County, MD

SERVICE-CONNECTED
LIGHT DUTY


 
 
No. 528
Sept. 26, 1990

PURPOSE
1.0 To establish a policy and procedure for assigning DFRS personnel to light duty due to service-connected injuries that prevent them from performing their normally assigned duties.

APPLICABILITY
2.0 All DFRS personnel.
2.1
This policy was developed in cooperation with the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1664.

DEFINITIONS
3.0 Service-Connected Light Duty - A temporary reassignment of an employee due to a service-connected injury, illness or condition which prevents the employee from unrestricted performance of a regular duty assignment.
3.1 Full Duty - The unrestricted performance of a duty assignment.
3.2 Medically Influenced Duty Status (M.I.D.S.) Officer - A DFRS Officer assigned to monitor personnel assigned to light duty.

POLICY
4.0 Service-Connected Light Duty is a management right exercised at the discretion of the Director or designee to:

  1. assist personnel suffering service-connected injuries to maintain their status within the Fire/Rescue Service while they recuperate;

  2. perform certain necessary Department-level duties which cannot currently be handled due to staffing or fiscal limitations, or would permit the release of full-duty employees for other activities;

  3. provide personnel with a means to provide service within other Bureaus and learn new skills while preparing to return to full duty.
4.1 Personnel sustaining service-connected injuries, illnesses, or conditions that prohibit unrestricted performance of their normal duty assignment must submit copies of Medical Evaluation of Work Status forms, as outlined in Section 4.3 and 4.4 of Policy #801, "Worker's Compensation Claims."
4.2 Immediately upon being certified as "Qualified for Limited Duty" (as indicated on the Medical Evaluation Work Status form) by a licensed health care provider and the Employee Medical Examiner, the employee must notify his/her Senior Career Officer. The Senior Career Officer will, in turn notify the employee's District Chief and Bureau Chief.
4.3 Once notified, the Bureau Chief will select a Service-Connected Light Duty assignment, based on limitations imposed by the employee's licensed health care provider and advise the employee of the assignment.
4.4 All employees are required to report to their light duty assignment, as directed.
4.5 Service-Connected Light Duty assignments longer than six weeks in duration will result in an adjustment of the employee's work hours to coincide with the normal work shift of the duty assignment.
4.6 Employees assigned to Service-Connected Light Duty must submit an updated Medical Evaluation of Work Status Form signed by the treating licensed health care provider at 30 day intervals for the duration of the Service-Connected Light Duty assignment.
4.7 Employees assigned to Service-Connected Light Duty are prohibited from engaging in any outside employment without obtaining written approval from the treating licensed health care provider, Occupational Medical Section, and the Bureau Chief.
4.8 Employees on Service-Connected Light Duty, who are scheduled to attend physical therapy sessions during assigned days off, are not eligible for overtime compensation for such sessions.
4.9 Employees on Service-Connected Light Duty must contact their Senior Career Officer on a bi-weekly basis, to keep the Senior Career Officer apprised of their status.
4.10 Submission of time and attendance sheets for Service-Connected Light Duty employees is the responsibility of the immediate supervisor of the light duty assignment.
4.11 Senior Career Officers must submit to the Medically Influenced Duty Status (MIDS) Tracking Officer a bi-weekly report on the status of light duty personnel. This report must be received no later than the Wednesday following the submission of time and attendance sheets.
4.12 Personnel on Service Connected Light Duty must be re-evaluated and re-certified by the Employee Medical Examiner every 180 days.
4.12 At the end of each 180 calendar days of Service-Connected Light Duty, the employee's Bureau Chief will evaluate the injured employee's prognosis (based on the opinions from the employee's licensed health care provider and the Employee Medical Examiner) and may recommend to the Director that the employee be considered for service-connected disability retirement, pursuant to Section 33-43 of the Montgomery County Personnel Regulations and any applicable labor agreement.
4.13 All Bureaus must establish and maintain a list of light duty projects.
4.14 DFRS personnel who are members of UFCW, Local 400, will follow the provisions established in Article 33C, "Light Duty Assignments for Bargaining Unit Employees," of the collective bargaining agreement between MCGEO and Montgomery County.

PROCEDURE
5.0 Immediately upon being certified as "Qualified for Limited Duty", (as indicated on the Medical Evaluation or Work Status Form), the employee must notify his/her Senior Career Officer.
5.1 The Senior Career Officer will schedule the employee for a light duty, back to work physical and notify the employee of the time and date of the appointment.
5.2 After receiving clearance from Occupational Medical Section for a light duty assignment, the employee must report to his/her immediate supervisor or Senior Career Officer. Pending selection of a light duty assignment by the employee's Bureau Chief, the employee will remain under the supervision of the Senior Career Officer.