Does terminating and rehiring a Mississippi firefighter restart the 2,800-compensated-hour clock for certification?

Plain-English summary

Mississippi requires firefighters to complete a certified training program. Section 45-11-203(1) gives newly hired full-time firefighters a window to train and get certified: they can be employed for up to one year, or up to a cumulative 2,800 compensated hours, whichever comes first, before they need to be certified. If they hit the limit without being certified (and without an extension from the Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board), the local government has to stop employing them as a full-time firefighter.

The Board's attorney asked the AG: when a firefighter is terminated and later rehired, does the clock restart at zero?

The AG said no. The statute uses the word "cumulative." The black-letter definition is "Including all the amounts previously added." So the 2,800-hour count is the lifetime total of compensated hours worked as a full-time firefighter in Mississippi, not the count at any one employer or in any one continuous period. Termination and rehire do not reset the count.

The same rule applies regardless of how long the gap is between termination and rehire (six months, six years, the count keeps adding) and regardless of whether the rehire is at the same department or a different department. A firefighter who worked 2,000 hours uncertified at Department A, was terminated, and is now being hired at Department B has 800 hours of remaining runway before the certification requirement bites.

The fourth question Mr. Lampton asked: does the cumulative cap mean an uncertified firefighter who exceeded 2,800 hours can never again be employed as a full-time firefighter in Mississippi? The AG said yes. Without certification (or an extension from the Board), the bar applies prospectively. The path forward for a firefighter in that situation: get certified.

What this means for you

Fire chiefs and local-government HR directors

Under the opinion, the 2,800 compensated-hour limit in § 45-11-203(1) is cumulative across all full-time firefighter employment in Mississippi, so terminating and rehiring a firefighter does not restart the count, whether the rehire is at the same or a different department. The statute prohibits a state agency or political subdivision from paying the salary of a firefighter who does not meet the subsection (2) certification requirement, and provides that "any person violating this subsection shall be personally liable for making such payment."

Firefighters

The opinion holds that compensated hours accumulate across employers and over time. A firefighter who exceeds 2,800 cumulative compensated hours without certification, and without a Board-granted extension, may not be employed full-time as a firefighter in Mississippi. The statute allows the Board to grant an extension not to exceed an additional year, and certification is satisfactory completion of the subsection (2) training program administered by the State Fire Academy or a Board-certified local program.

Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board

The opinion confirms that "cumulative" means the sum total of all compensated hours worked as a full-time firefighter, and that the bar on full-time employment applies to a firefighter who exceeds the limit and remains uncertified absent an extension.

Common questions

Q: Does terminating and rehiring a firefighter restart the certification clock?
A: No. The opinion concludes that because the 2,800 compensated hours are cumulative, the sum total of all compensated hours is used, and there is no restart if the firefighter is terminated and rehired, regardless of the departments involved.

Q: Does the length of the gap, or moving to a different department, change the answer?
A: No. The opinion answers both of those questions (the second and third presented) by reference to the cumulative nature of the hour limit.

Q: What about firefighters who served before January 1, 1991?
A: The statute provides that firefighters serving as full-time employees in a local fire fighting unit prior to January 1, 1991, are not required to meet the minimum training requirements in subsection (2).

Q: How long is an extension from the Board?
A: The statute provides that the Board may grant an extension not to exceed an additional year.

Q: Can a firefighter who exceeded the cumulative limit be employed full-time in Mississippi again?
A: Under the opinion, not unless the firefighter is certified as completing the subsection (2) training requirements (or has a Board-granted extension). The bar applies to those who exceed the limit and remain uncertified.

Background and statutory framework

Section 45-11-203(1) is the operative provision:

After January 1, 1991, no person shall be employed as a full-time fire fighter by any local government fire fighting unit for a period exceeding one (1) year, nor for a cumulative time exceeding two thousand eight hundred (2,800) compensated hours, unless that person is certified as completing the mandatory training requirements in subsection (2). Any state agency or political subdivision that employs a person as a fire fighter who does not meet the requirements of subsection (2) of this section is prohibited from paying the salary of such person, and any person violating this subsection shall be personally liable for making such payment. The Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board may grant an extension to individuals employed within the guidelines as established by the board not to exceed an additional year. Fire fighters serving as full-time employees prior to January 1, 1991, in a local fire fighting unit shall not be required to meet the minimum requirements in subsection (2).

Subsection (2) requires firefighters to satisfactorily complete a training program administered by the State Fire Academy or by local governments certified by the Board, using NFPA fire service professional qualification standards.

The statutory enforcement is unusually strong: the local government cannot pay the firefighter's salary if the certification requirement is not met, and the official who authorizes the payment is personally liable.

Citations

• Miss. Code Ann. § 45-11-203(1)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 45-11-203(2)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 45-11-253(a)-(b)
• Cumulative, BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY (11th ed. 2019)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/M.Lampton-June-27-2024-Fire-Fighter-Certification-Time-Requirement.pdf

Original opinion text

June 27, 2024
Mark Lampton, Esq.
Attorney, Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board
Post Office Box 79
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
Re: Fire Fighter Certification Time Requirement

Dear Mr. Lampton:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.

Questions Presented
1. Does the termination of a fire fighter from employment and subsequent rehire of the fire fighter restart the time limitation for the fire fighter employee to become certified by the Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board ("FPMSCB")?
2. Does the amount of time between termination of the fire fighter employee and his or her rehire into the same fire department make a difference in determining whether the certification timeline starts over?
3. Does it make a difference if the fire fighter is terminated from one fire department and then hired into a position at a different fire department?
4. Does Mississippi Code Annotated Section 45-11-203(1), by specifically barring employment without certification beyond a "cumulative time exceeding two thousand eight hundred compensated hours," prohibit the uncertified employee to whom this timeline applies from ever being rehired into the position of fire fighter within the State of Mississippi?

Brief Response
1. Since January 1, 1991, unless an extension has been granted, a person working as a full-time fire fighter can only be employed for a period exceeding one year or a cumulative period of employment exceeding two thousand eight hundred (2,800) compensated hours if the individual has been certified as having completed the mandatory training. Miss. Code Ann. § 45-11-203(1). Therefore, being terminated and re-hired does not restart the time limitation for certification.
2. No. See our response to question 1.
3. No. See our response to question 1.
4. Unless an extension has been granted by the FPMSCB, a fire fighter who has been "employed as a full-time fire fighter by any local government fire fighting unit for a period exceeding one (1) year, [or] for a cumulative time exceeding two thousand eight hundred (2,800) compensated hours" may not be rehired or employed "unless that person is certified as completing the mandatory training requirements in subsection (2)." Miss. Code Ann. § 45-11-203(1).

Applicable Law and Discussion
The Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board has the statutory responsibility to "[e]stablish minimum educational and training standards for fire personnel" and to certify persons as being qualified to be fire personnel. Miss. Code Ann. § 45-11-253(a)-(b). Section 45-11-203 establishes uniform minimum training standards for fire fighters:

(1) After January 1, 1991, no person shall be employed as a full-time fire fighter by any local government fire fighting unit for a period exceeding one (1) year, nor for a cumulative time exceeding two thousand eight hundred (2,800) compensated hours, unless that person is certified as completing the mandatory training requirements in subsection (2). Any state agency or political subdivision that employs a person as a fire fighter who does not meet the requirements of subsection (2) of this section is prohibited from paying the salary of such person, and any person violating this subsection shall be personally liable for making such payment. The Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board may grant an extension to individuals employed within the guidelines as established by the board not to exceed an additional year. Fire fighters serving as full-time employees prior to January 1, 1991, in a local fire fighting unit shall not be required to meet the minimum requirements in subsection (2).
(2) The uniform training standards for all paid fire fighters shall consist of satisfactory completion of a training program administered by the State Fire Academy or local governments that have the proper facilities and have been certified by the Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board which shall utilize National Fire Protection Association fire service professional qualification standards.

You first ask if a break in employment because of termination and the subsequent rehiring restarts the time limitation period for certification. The statute states that unless an extension is granted, an individual may only work full-time without certification for a period not exceeding a year or two thousand eight hundred cumulative compensated hours. Miss. Code Ann. § 45-11-203(1). Cumulative is defined as "[i]ncluding all the amounts previously added." Cumulative, BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY (11th ed. 2019). The statute specifically states the two thousand eight hundred compensated hours are cumulative, so the sum total of all the compensated hours worked by the fire fighter shall be used to determine whether the fire fighter requires certification to be employed as a full-time fire fighter in Mississippi. There is no "restart" of the timeline if the individual is terminated and rehired, regardless of the department(s) doing the terminating and rehiring. Accordingly, if the total number of compensated hours worked by a full-time fire fighter exceeds two thousand eight hundred, and no extension has been granted, then the fire fighter must be certified in accordance with subsection (2) of Section 45-11-203 in order to continue employment as a full-time fire fighter in Mississippi. It follows that if a fire fighter has not been granted an extension, has exceeded two thousand eight hundred compensated hours, and has not received his or her certification, the fire fighter may not be employed as a full-time fire fighter in Mississippi.

If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: /s/ Abigail C. Overby
Abigail C. Overby
Special Assistant Attorney General