Compensation: includes performance-based bonuses and cost-of-living adjustments. See Utah Code 49-23-102
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Employer: means any department, educational institution, or political subdivision of the state eligible to participate in a government-sponsored retirement system under federal law. See Utah Code 49-11-102
Firefighter service: means employment normally requiring an average of 2,080 hours of regularly scheduled employment per year rendered by a member who is:
(i)
a firefighter service employee trained in firefighter techniques and assigned to a position of hazardous duty with a regularly constituted fire department;
(ii)
the state fire marshal appointed under Section 53-7-103 or a deputy state fire marshal; or
Firefighter service employee: means an employee of a participating employer who provides firefighter service under this chapter. See Utah Code 49-23-102
Public safety service: means employment normally requiring an average of 2,080 hours of regularly scheduled employment per year rendered by a member who is:
(i)
a law enforcement officer in accordance with Section 53-13-103;
(ii)
a correctional officer in accordance with Section 53-13-104;
(iii)
a special function officer approved in accordance with Sections 49-15-201 and 53-13-105;
(iv)
a dispatcher who is certified in accordance with Section 53-6-303;
(v)
a full-time member of the Board of Pardons and Parole created under Section 77-27-2;
(vi)
the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety; or
(vii)
the executive director of the Department of Corrections. See Utah Code 49-23-102
Public safety service employee: means an employee of a participating employer who performs public safety service under this chapter. See Utah Code 49-23-102
(a)
“Objective medical impairment” means the same as that term is defined in Section 49-21-102.
(b)
“Qualifying injury or illness” means a physical or mental objective medical impairment resulting from external force or violence as a result of the performance of an employment duty.
(2)
(a)
A participating employer shall provide a benefit protection contract described in Section 49-11-404 for any public safety service employee or firefighter service employee who suffers a qualifying injury or illness as determined in accordance with this section.
(b)
A participating employer may elect to provide a benefit protection contract for any other injury or illness of a public safety service employee or firefighter service employee in accordance with the requirements for providing a benefit protection contract, including the provisions of Section 49-11-404.
(3)
(a)
For purposes of Subsection (2)(a), the provider of long-term disability or workers’ compensation indemnity benefits shall determine if a public safety service employee or firefighter service employee has suffered a qualifying injury or illness, including completing any appeals relating to that determination in accordance with the applicable appeals procedures.
(b)
In addition to the annual report requirements under Section 49-11-404:
(i)
if there is final determination that a public safety service employee or firefighter service employee has suffered a qualifying injury or illness and is awarded an ongoing monthly disability benefit based on that qualifying injury or illness, the participating employer shall immediately notify the office of the employee’s award of that ongoing monthly disability benefit; and
(ii)
if the public safety service employee’s or firefighter service employee’s monthly disability benefit is terminated for any reason, the participating employer shall immediately notify the office of the termination of the monthly disability benefit.
