Volunteer incentive programs

[wolfwyndd]

In addition, we're assigned a certain number of points for each call. Standby, on scene, training and transport are each worth a certain number of points. At the end of the year, the district commissioners assign a dollar value to each point and we receive a check for that amount just before Christmas.

Well, I suggested this at our meeting last night with our chief and the rest of the officers as a nice little incentive. Chief said, 'Oh, yeah, we used to do something like that 10 years ago and the person with the most points would get X!' At which point he turned his attention to some other comment and (essentially) ignored it as a suggestion and / or idea.

Essentially the ONLY thing that came out of our meeting last night that MIGHT change is they are going to look at a 'cost of living' increase for our pay per run amount. Right now it's 8.00 for an EMT-B for the first two years of service and 10.00 after that. For a EMT-P it's 12.00 for the first two years of being a paramedic and 15.00 after that. (I think, I didn't pay much attention to the paramedic rate since it doesn't apply to me.) We also discussed issuing 800 radios to those of us volunteers that live within the township, but I don't see how that's going to increase our volunteerism. It's nice, and VERY useful though.

 

[upstateemt]

If you are getting paid for a call, whether it is an hourly rate or a per call rate you are no longer a "volunteer".

How do you claim that income on your taxes?

If the federal government does finally approve a tax credit for volunteer fire and ems that will be an important distinction. Your agencies will also need to have "in place" a method for determining who is an "active" member. That can be a point system or a paid dues system but there must be a way of diferentiating between "active" memeber and "social" members.

 

[Jango]

This post is really for volunteer ems...

i know many volly agencies have 'reward' programs, i.e. $50 gas cards for a certain number of trips to the hospital, etc...

i would like to know if your volunteer agency has any of these type programs...

thanks.

I am a volley in a very small town(like 4,000) and we don't get anything....even though 80% of our calls are medical.....

 

[metivierm]

we actually get a per diem of 3.33 per hour, along with accumulating "ems" miles. Basically, every hour you work gets you ten miles that you can use to get fleece jackets, work shirts, boots, radio holsters etc. It works really well

 

[hitechredneckemt]

The county i run volunteer in, we get paid $50 per call transported to a hospital.

 

[wolfwyndd]

If you are getting paid for a call, whether it is an hourly rate or a per call rate you are no longer a "volunteer".

How do you claim that income on your taxes?

We actually do get a W-2 at the end of the year, but we actually dont have to claim it UNLESS we make more then 600.00 during the year. In the 4 years I've been doing it I've crossed that threshold twice.

And we're still called 'volunteers.' YOU may not call us a volunteer, but we do.

 

[Jon]

Do you get a W-2, a 1099 form, or a gift form?

 

[wolfwyndd]

Do you get a W-2, a 1099 form, or a gift form?

W-2. So I guess LEGALLY we are considered employees.

 

[upstateemt]

wolfwyndd, I really am not trying to be cantankerous and with what you are being paid you certainly aren't "making a living" but whether someone is being paid per call or per hour if they are being PAID they are not volunteering.

I am not trying to start a "who is a more volunteer, volunteer" but I cover 8 12 hours shifts on my ambulance as a bunker (I live too far away to respond from home). I get one polo shirt a year and bring my own groceries for my shift. Granted I live in a small town that doesn't have much of a budget but it just surprises me when volunteers talk about getting paid.

That being said I think it is great that some communities are recognizing the time and energy put into their departments by their EMT's and Fire people and coming up with a reward system. Perhaps someday we will all be rewarded financially for what we do.

 

[BossyCow]

W-2. So I guess LEGALLY we are considered employees.

Be very careful here. Our agency is currently in a huge mess because of inconsistancy regarding W-2s and the 'reimbusement' vs 'pay' confusion.

If money is reported as income on a W-2, you better have proof positive that it is not wages or you will get a bill from the IRS. Our district passed a resolution acknowledging the cost of volunteering. It itemized what it believed were the personal costs per volunteer per call. It included things like clothing damaged, dirtied, gas to get to the calls, hot water used in showers after calls, meals purchased by volunteers who miss home dinner due to calls. Then it termed the check it sent us at the end of the year a 'reimbursement for expenses incurred' but reported it on a W-2.

For those of us who itemize our taxes, this wasn't that big of an issue because we were able to write down the milage spent on calls etc. as expenses and then deduct that amount from the reimbursement. Others got IRS bills. The IRS counted it as income. Now the district is in a mess because the 'wages' its paying are less than minimum wage. Also, what about FICA, SS and Fed W/H which are supposed to be deducted from pay?

Payroll has gotten very complicated and there are a lot of little hidden potholes along that road these days. Be very careful what you get, how its reported and how you claim it.

 

[catskills]

Thanks to this forum thread my Fire Department started a $100 annual gas card to cover travel expenses for members that attended enough department meetings, company meetings, and responded to x number of calls. The members seem to really appreciate it and its many times cheaper than a retirement fund. They gave members a $200 gas card that satisfied this critera for last 2 years. Every time you use the gas card for a fill up, you feel appreciated for your volunteer work. Its the gift that keeps on giving. Until it runs out anyway.


Next year it may be a $200 gas card per member.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

In addition, we're assigned a certain number of points for each call. Standby, on scene, training and transport are each worth a certain number of points. At the end of the year, the district commissioners assign a dollar value to each point and we receive a check for that amount just before Christmas.

I wish we could go to the points system. Right now we just use the base pay per run thing. The only thing bad about it is that you don't make anything for the shift, so on a day with no runs you don't get anything.

 

[BossyCow]

We use the same system as ffemt. We have had issues with how the payment is classified Tax-wise. The district calls it a reimbursement for expenses incurred during volunteer activity. The IRS calls it income unless we itemize what we are being reimbursed for.

 

[PapaBear434]

I've mentioned it before in other threads, but our volunteer service is a "Professional Volunteer" service. Our station alone has four ambulances (soon to be five), a squad truck, a support truck, and a fully functional city wide dispatch center. We run just like we were paid companies, with a chain of command, full accreditation by the state, and we work along side nine other independent stations in the city under the same dispatch system to maintain city wide coverage here in Virginia Beach.

The city provides fuel, repairs, and upgrades to the trucks (radios, computers, items such as that), but we buy the trucks, all the supplies, and stuff like that out of donations and grants we get independently. The city's major incentive to us is not only in tax breaks, both from the city/state and federal levels, but also in education.

They will train you, all the way up from Basic to Enhanced to Intermediate to Medic. As far as you want to go. If you choose, you can get a degree in Acute Care and Paramedic Medicine, fully paid for by the city, in exchange for working a minimum of four 12 hour shifts a month. It takes about two years, but it works out to be more like three after you get all of your required run time in.

It's not a bad deal, and you don't have the stigma of local boys in blue jeans and their rusty pickup trucks showing up at a scene. Doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence.

Oh, and uniforms. That's provided by the station, not the city. We keep it fairly functional, with blue polos with our emblem on the front and back, black BDUs and black boots. They give you an allowance every year, with which you can buy a pair of boots, a new set of BDU's, and maybe some accessory like a carrying pouch for your radio/equipment or some such thing. Jackets, hats (both stocking/beenie hats and ball caps), shirts, raincoats, highway vests, and fleece pullovers with the station emblem are provided as needed.

Just my experience, but the more "professional" you make your volunteer service, the more inclined people are to join, increase their training, and stay with it. It provides better care, and as mentioned it increases confidence in you from the general public that sees you, verses a first responder with wig-wags installed on his POV.

(No offense meant to those of you out there with that kind of Vollie service. Every little bit helps, and in rural areas that might be more than enough to cover you.)

 

[Pudge40]

In addition, we're assigned a certain number of points for each call. Standby, on scene, training and transport are each worth a certain number of points. At the end of the year, the district commissioners assign a dollar value to each point and we receive a check for that amount just before Christmas.

This is how my agency does it although we don't get a check we get points that are then converted into dollars and we put in an order to them from a magzine or supply company and they purchase it for us.