Volunteer Firefighter Compensation Clarified
 IAFC Victory Establishes Bright Line Test

Fairfax, VA,  August 11, 2006... The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and its Volunteer & Combination Officer Section (VCOS) are pleased to announce a major victory in their request for definitive guidance from the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regarding how volunteers are treated under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  In an August 7, 2006 letter to the IAFC, the DOL created a “bright line” test clarifying that fire departments and other entities can provide its volunteers up to 20% of what the public agency would otherwise pay to hire a full-time firefighter for performing comparable service.  Read the letter (pdf file).

The most significant part of the letter involves what kinds of – and how many - expenses, benefits and nominal fees can be provided to a volunteer without turning that volunteer into an employee (who is subject to, among other things, minimum wage and overtime protections).  Importantly, the DOL created the following “bright line” test – fire departments and other entities can provide its volunteers up to 20% of what the public agency would otherwise pay to hire a full-time firefighter for performing comparable service.  The DOL also allowed various types of payments to the volunteer per shift, month, or year and depending upon the number of shifts, calls and/or hours worked by the volunteer.

The August 7 letter is the final answer to a three-year effort by the IAFC.  “IAFC and its members view this ruling as a very positive development in clarifying the complex rules regarding the FLSA,” said IAFC president, Chief Bill Killen.  “We will now take the next steps to educate our members on these important changes.”

"We are very excited about this important ruling for the fire service. We thank the efforts of those who have spent timeless effort in bringing to fruition this ruling. We appreciate the legislative report and are beginning to provide information to share with our members with this historical ruling," said VCOS chair, Chief Timothy S. Wall.

The IAFC and VCOS are analyzing the DOL’s letter regarding this new “20% Rule” and other key determinations over the last several years for both volunteer and employee firefighters.  This analysis will be presented at the VCOS Symposium in the Sun Conference in Orlando on November 9-12, 2006.  After the conference, IAFC and VCOS will distribute the analysis free to its members and will make it available to non-members for a fee.

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