Other Potential Benefits

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Other potential benefits include educational reimbursement, employee discounts on products or services or at selected facilities, employee savings plans, tax sheltered annuities, child care, sick child care, and discounts on home and/or automobile insurance and legal insurance options. These are only a sampling of potential benefits.

Cafeteria Plans


From a management standpoint, consider that the majority of the benefits cited above do cost the jurisdiction dollars. So what are the most important ones from a management standpoint -- and from the employee's standpoint?

Because there may not be consensus on the above, many organizations have introduced "cafeteria plans."Cafeteria plans are flexible benefit plans that allow the employee to choose from among the available benefits and the levels of coverage. This enables workers to select those options that best meet their needs. Typically, in organizations with cafeteria plans, employees are given a dollar amount they have to "spend" on fringe benefits and the "price" of each benefit that is available. They then select and "buy" their own benefits.

Opportunities for Extra Income as a Fringe Benefit

In the emergency services, there are often ways to increase one's salary other than through longevity. There are several optional employment opportunities that can often be viewed as benefits. A few of these opportunities include:

Overtime Pay	With the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) amendments of 1974, and the 1985 Supreme Court decision in Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, the FLSA became applicable to state and municipal employees, entitling them to overtime payments at the rate of one and one-half times their hourly rate for hours worked over fifty-three per week. It also requires that employers must comply with minimum wage, overtime, compensatory time, and record keeping requirements. In October 1985, under pressure from state and local officials who argued that the ruling would substantially increase labor costs, the House and the Senate passed bills letting state and local governments pay their employees in either compensatory time or cash, but at one and one-half times the regular rate.
Call-Back Pay	A benefit that is closely related to overtime pay is call-back pay or recall pay. For instance, some fire departments, during a serious fire situation or a potential or actual emergency condition, will call in off-duty personnel. In these situations, the recalled personnel are usually paid the standard overtime rate, usually for at least a specified minimum number of hours.
Pay incentives for Special Certifications and/or Education	Additionally in the emergency services there are often pay incentives designed to recognize employees for achieving and maintaining certain certifications or specialist status in particular areas. Examples include various percentage salary increases for the various EMT and paramedic certification levels. Some agencies offer a percentage increase in base pay for attainment of an associate degree, a bachelor's degree, and/or a master's degree in a related field.
Educational and Training Incentives	Many agencies reimburse participation in recognized training activities offered by other agencies, professional associations, or by the local, state or federal government. The reimbursement can take the form of "paid time," travel expenses, training costs, or some combination thereof. In addition to or in lieu of increasing one's base pay for attaining various levels of college degrees, many agencies offer tuition assistance for those who attend relevant academic classes at nearby colleges or universities or through a recognized distance degree program. The reimbursement may be for tuition and/or for books. Such reimbursement usually requires completion of the class with a passing grade.
Allowances	While not necessarily an incentive such as the above, there are advantages to receiving uniform replacement allowances and meals in kind. Some departments offer a mileage incentive for volunteer members.
Outside Employment	In addition, assuming the agency does not prohibit other employment, many personnel maintain additional jobs or run a business outside of departmental work hours. The arrangement provides additional income, but can sometimes create problems. Some citizens and municipal officials see this as a justification for lower or as unwanted competition for local, full-time business people. It is also viewed by some as a potential conflict of interest. On some occasions, it has resulted in problem behavior and disciplinary situations in which the employee was engaging in his/her private business while working for the agency.

Public Safety Officer's Benefits Act

Both career and volunteer active members of public fire and rescue departments are covered by provisions of the 1976 Public Safety Officer's Benefits Act as amended in 1984, 1986, and 1990. In essence, the Act provides a $100,000 benefit for death or permanent disablement which occurred in the line of duty. Claims must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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