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            Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following words and terms, when used in this Part, shall have the following meanings:

            (1) “Benefit” means any advantage, profit, privilege, gain, status, account or interest other than wages or salary for work performed that accrues by reason of the employment or an employer policy, plan or practice that includes rights and benefits under a pension plan, insurance coverage, vacation, or employee stock ownership plan.

            (2) “Compensation” means normal or regular base pay, but does not include overtime, per diem, differential pay or any other allowance for expenses incurred.

            (3) “Disability” means a physical or mental impairment, which substantially limits one or more of the major life activities including but not limited to: caring for one’s self, walking, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, performing manual tasks and earning a living.

            (4) “Employee” means any person employed by any private or public employer including an elected or appointed official.

            (5) “Essential functions” means the fundamental job duties of the employment position that the person with a disability held.

            (6) “First responder” means a volunteer engaged in activities involving the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 29:721 et seq., and first responders as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 29:723 including but not limited to medical personnel, emergency and medical technicians, volunteer firemen, auxiliary law enforcement officers, state agency essential workers, emergency service dispatchers, and emergency response operators, and members of the Civil Air Patrol.

            (7) “Reasonable accommodation” means those actions taken by the employer including but not limited to training, changes to work schedule, job reassignment or modification, or physical modification to the work station that do not place an undue hardship on the employer or pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of the individual or others. Undue hardships are those actions requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of the nature and cost of the actions needed to provide reasonable accommodation.

            (8) “State of emergency” exists when the governor or his designee issues a proclamation and requirement that volunteer first responders report for active duty. Active duty is considered ended when the governor or his designee proclaims that a state of emergency no longer exists or releases the volunteer first responder from duty.

            Acts 2004, No. 316, §2, eff. June 18, 2004; Acts 2006, 1^st Ex. Sess., No. 35, §8, eff. March 1, 2006; Acts 2014, No. 811, §12, eff. June 23, 2014; Acts 2021, No. 184, §1.

¹See Acts 2006, 1^st Ex. Sess., No. 35, §8, which changes the term “office of homeland security and emergency preparedness” to “Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness” and §10, which provides for the termination of the Act and the reversion to the law in effect prior to the Act on July 1, 2010.