Chapter 31 of the General Laws as so appearing in the 2008 official edition is hereby amended by inserting after section 39, the following section:-

Section 39A: Any fire service personnel subject to the retraining requirements of section 39 shall be classified as a conditional employee during said period of retraining required as a precondition of reinstatement to their position.  For purposes of this section, “conditional employee” shall mean, a permanent employee of a fire department separated from their position because of disability for a period of time of more than 5 years.  Such employee shall be entitled to the continuation of their disability status with no other compensation of rights due them until such time as they have successfully completed any approved retraining program required pursuant to section 39 and have been subsequently reinstated to their position.  No such employee shall increase their average rate of pay for pension purposes prior to the successful completion of said retraining program and reinstatement to their position. All such employees shall be regarded as members of the department from which they were separated to accommodate any retraining program approved by the personnel administrator.