§ 2-975 — Exemptions

Sec. 2-975. - Exemptions.

(a) The domicile requirement imposed by this article shall not apply to any employee of the city who was hired by the city prior to January 1, 2013, except that no employee who was previously exempted and later changed his/her actual domicile to Orleans Parish shall be entitled to retain the benefits of this exemption if that employee establishes a new actual domicile outside of Orleans Parish. (b) The domicile requirement imposed by this article shall not apply to any commissioned law enforcement officers or recruits hired by the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD); firefighters or recruits hired by the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD); emergency medical technicians hired by New Orleans Emergency Medical Services (NOEMS); juvenile detention officers and corrections staff of the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center; and mechanics, maintenance specialists, and maintenance technicians of the Equipment Maintenance Division. Furthermore, appropriate sensitivity training to address racial, gender, religious, and sexual orientation discrimination shall be provided for all law enforcement officers. For the purposes of this subsection, the word "hired" has the same meaning as the word "employed." Domicile waivers for juvenile detention officers and corrections staff of the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center, and mechanics, maintenance specialists, and maintenance technicians of the Equipment Maintenance Division shall be terminated on December 31, 2024. (c) The domicile requirement imposed by this article shall not apply to any employee of the New Orleans Aviation Board during the term of his or her employment with such board and for six months thereafter, if the actual domicile of the employee is nearer to the employee's job site than the distance from the job site to the nearest point of Orleans Parish. (d) Effective between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2027, the requirement imposed by this article shall not apply to inspectors hired or employed by the departments of safety and permits, code enforcement and public works, and the Vieux Carré Commission and the historic district landmarks commission. An inspector hired or employed between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2027 and exempted from the domicile requirements pursuant to this subsection shall be entitled to retain the benefits of this exemption unless and until such inspector establishes a new domicile in Orleans Parish. (e) Part-time employees, those employees who are not classified as full-time employees, shall be exempt from the domicile requirement imposed by this article. (f) Additional exemptions to the domicile requirement imposed by this article may be granted upon a showing of extreme hardship by an employee, on an individual, case-by-case basis, by the appointing authority of the employee subject to the approval of the chief administrative officer. Any employee who seeks to request an exemption to the domicile requirement imposed by this article shall file with the appointing authority and the chief administrative office a request for such an exemption, on a form prescribed by the chief administrative officer. (g) Except as otherwise expressively provided in this article, under no circumstances shall any officer or employee who does not maintain an actual domicile in Orleans Parish be administered with any different treatment or negatively impacted in any way during his or her employment than an employee who is domiciled in New Orleans. (h) The chief administrative officer shall promulgate administrative policies and procedures for the administration of and enforcement of this section within 90 days of the effective date of this ordinance. The chief administrative officer shall provide all employees exempted under this section with notice of all policies and procedures promulgated pursuant to this section.

(M.C.S., Ord. No. 25242, § 1, 3-7-13; M.C.S., Ord. No. 25793, § 1, 4-10-14; M.C.S., Ord. No. 26035, §§ 2, 3, 9-4-14; M.C.S., Ord. No. 29314, § 1, 2-2-23; M.C.S., Ord. No. 30222, § 1, 1-30-25; M.C.S., Ord. No. 30248, § 1, 3-13-25)