A chiefs’ guide to volunteer firefighters
The Fairfax, Va.-based International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has published a guide about managing volunteer and partial-volunteer fire departments. The guide is aimed at defining how volunteers should be treated under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The issue of volunteers’ rights under FLSA has been a source of confusion for more than two decades, IAFC President Chief Jim Harmes says in the guide’s introduction. “To bring order to this issue, the IAFC sought and gained from the Department of Labor a series of letter rulings to clearly define the requirements that individuals must meet to qualify as a volunteer firefighter under FLSA regulations,” Harmes says. The guide, which includes chapters on payments to volunteers and taxation of payment and benefits, can be purchased at www.iafc.org/publications.
