Total Fire Group to Provide Pay Differential and Benefits for Employees on Active Military Duty
Total Fire Group, a leading supplier nationally of firefighter and emergency medical service personal protective equipment, announced today that it is extending pay differential and benefits for its employees on active military duty.
The Dayton, OH-based manufacturer of Morning Pride, American Firewear, Pro Warrington, Servus, Ranger, Fire Warrior, Kore Kooler rehab chairs, and other brands, will make up the difference between employees’ regular pay and their military pay, and maintain all company-paid benefits for up to two years.
The company will also extend this same pay differential to employees who have been on active dut y at any time in the last three years. “Fact is,” said Bill Grilliot, president and CEO of Total Fire Group, “since even before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, members of the National Guard and Reserve forces have been serving longer and more often, and as a result have been more affected than in previous confrontations. We want to recognize the personal sacrifices so many men and women have made.
“We are making our decision public,” Grilliot continued, “in the hope that other firms in the fire service - and everywhere - will join us in this important effort.” (Grilliot, himself, a retired U.S. Army Captain who served in the reserve, is an active Captain in a suburban Dayton fire department.)
In order to provide a measure of employment security to reservists subject to active duty recall and minimize the disadvantages that occur when reservists need to be absent from their civilian employment to serve in the uniformed services, the United States enacted t he Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) in 1994. Codified in Chapter 43, Part III, Title 38 of the United States Code, this act mandates that “any person whose absence from a position of employment is necessitated by reason of service in the uniformed services shall be entitled to reemployment rights and benefits.”
“Total Fire Group has always honored the USERRA and later laws related to preservation of certain employee benefit rights,” Grilliot said, “but we also recognize that reservists give up more than just their jobs when they’'re called up for active duty. Although the law may require that their former positions be waiting for them when they return, many reservists still have to deal with the financial hardships of the difference in pay between their civilian jobs and their military positions; as well, other job benefits they may lose out on while on active duty are not guaranteed to them.
“Our announcement today,” he co ncluded, “is a response to this need, and we are encouraging all companies to join us in this important effort.”
Total Fire Group is based in Dayton, OH. Website: www.totalfiregroup.com.