HF 1710

1st Engrossment - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to employment; providing counseling services 
  1.3             and mandatory leave for certain railroad employees; 
  1.4             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.5             chapter 181. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [181.301] [AFTER ACCIDENT COUNSELING.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [COUNSELING AND MANDATORY LEAVE.] Every 
  1.9   railroad company shall provide or make available to every member 
  1.10  of an operating or nonoperating crew involved in an accident on 
  1.11  its railroad right-of-way, which results in loss of human life 
  1.12  or serious bodily injury, counseling services or other critical 
  1.13  incident stress debriefing services within 48 hours of the 
  1.14  accident.  The operating or nonoperating crew members involved 
  1.15  in the accident must be offered relief from duty, with 
  1.16  compensation and applicable benefits, for at least three work 
  1.17  days following the accident.  
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [RETURN TO DUTY.] No crew member, as described in 
  1.19  subdivision 1, shall be required to return to duty until an 
  1.20  appropriate independent medical practitioner has determined that 
  1.21  the crew member does not suffer from posttraumatic stress 
  1.22  disorder or a similar medical condition. 
  1.23     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  1.24     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.