739 KAR 2:020 - Education incentive
RELATES TO: KRS Chapter 95A
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 95A.240(1) authorizes the Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education to establish administrative regulations necessary to properly administer the Firefighters Foundation Program Fund. This administrative regulation establishes the procedures and criteria which shall be utilized to determine the eligibility of local governments and individual paid firefighters to share in the fund, and to clarify the eligibility requirements for a qualified firefighter who has been off duty for illness or other reasons to return to the service and receive incentive pay without having to be treated as a new firefighter.
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) "Allowable sickness, injury or other
medical causes" means reasons for which time off the job is granted by the
local government for sickness, injury, or other medical causes.
(2) "Certified training" means firefighter
training given by a certified instructor and approved and recorded by the
commission.
(3) "Commission" means
commission as defined by KRS 95A.210(1).
(4) "Department" means the Department of
Housing, Buildings and Construction.
(5) "Fiscal year" means the period July 1
through June 30 of each twelve (12) month period.
(6) "Fund" means fund as defined by KRS 95A.210(2).
(7) "Professional
firefighters" means an individual described in KRS 95A.210(4) who work a
minimum of 2,080 hours per year as a member of a fire department or fire
protection district. This definition is intended to cover jobs involving the
suppression, investigation, inspection and prevention of emergency situations,
but does not include a public safety officer or a peace officer who has
responsibility for the prevention and detection of crime other than
arson.
(8) "Incentive pay" means
monies from the fund used to supplement compensation paid to professional
firefighters.
(9) "Leave of
absence" means a leave granted by the local government for which the
firefighter is employed and for which leave the fire department or its workers'
compensation carrier provides a form of compensation.
(10) "Local government" means local
government as defined by KRS 95A.210(3).
Section 2. Eligibility.
(1) A local government which meets the
following requirements shall be eligible to participate and share in the
distribution of funds if it has made application on Form KPF-1, July 14, 1998,
and if the commission has determined that the local government has met the
eligibility criteria as stated in KRS 95A.230.
(a) The commission shall review the
qualifications of firefighters employed by local fire department units after
the effective date of this administrative regulation to determine the basic
training, if any, which the firefighter may be required to successfully
complete prior to being eligible to participate in the fund;
(b) The fire department shall comply with all
rules and administrative regulations issued by the commission to facilitate the
administration of the fund and further the provisions of KRS Chapter
95A;
(c) The fire department shall
comply with all provisions of law applicable to local firefighters;
and
(d) A firefighter who does not
possess a high school degree or its equivalent and who has been deemed eligible
to participate in the fund pursuant to KRS Chapter 95A who terminates
firefighter service, forfeits his eligibility and shall meet the minimum
educational requirement to reparticipate in the fund.
(2) A firefighter who possesses sufficient
training to meet the basic training requirements established by the commission
and who terminates or is granted a leave of absence from firefighter service
for a period exceeding one (1) year (365 days) shall forfeit his eligibility.
Eligibility shall be reestablished for a firefighter who returns to service
upon completion of 100 hours of training and meets the minimum training
requirements set forth in subsection (6) of this section. If his separation or
leave of absence does not exceed one (1) year, he shall be considered eligible
for participation in the fund. After the first year, a firefighter shall also
have the additional amount of time equal to his time off to acquire his 100
hours of required annual training to maintain his eligibility.
(3) If a firefighter is off duty due to
allowable sickness, injury, or other medical cause in his first year of
employment, he shall have an additional amount of time equal to the required
time off to acquire the balance of his initial 400 hours of required training.
After the first year, a firefighter shall also have the additional amount of
time equal to his time off to acquire his 100 hours of required training to
maintain his eligibility. The firefighter shall be eligible to receive
incentive pay upon completion of 100 make-up hours.
(4) A copy of the high school diploma or GED
certificate for each firefighter, if required, shall be maintained by the local
unit and shall be available for review by appropriate commission
personnel.
(5) If, after having
successfully completed a certified basic training course, a firefighter
transfers from one (1) participating local unit to another, he shall be
eligible to receive payments from the fund if he continues to meet the
requirements of the fund as established by the commission.
(6) If a firefighter transfers from one (1)
fire department to another, paid or volunteer, all certified training he has
received shall be recognized by the fire department to which he has transferred
and shall be credited toward his eligibility for participation in the
fund.
(7) A firefighter shall not
receive monies from this fund for employment with more than one (1) employer
and shall not receive dual payment.
Section 3. Participation Requirements.
(1) Application shall be made by local
governments for new participation. Applications shall be filed on Form KPF 1,
July 14, 1998, and shall be accepted from February 1 through April 30 of each
year for payment to begin July 1 of that fiscal year. A local government
failing to make application within the specified dates shall not be considered
for participation until the next application filing period.
(2) The commission shall determine which
local governments are eligible to share in the fund and may withhold or
terminate payments to a local government that does not comply with the
requirements of KRS Chapter 95A or the rules and administrative regulations
issued by the commission.
(3) If
the commission finds, upon audit or by any other means that a local government
has received funds in violation of the provisions of this administrative
regulation and applicable statutes, the commission shall require reimbursement
for all payments erroneously or falsely made, or it may refuse to grant future
eligible incentive pay awards until the amount owed is recovered by the
commission.
Section 4.
Local Unit Distribution of Funds.
(1) The
local unit shall submit a monthly incentive request on Form KPF-2, July 1,
1998, requesting incentive pay for their eligible firefighters. Upon receipt of
the incentive check, the local unit shall return Form KPF-2A, July 1, 1998, to
the commission to acknowledge receipt of the monthly incentive pay.
(2) The local unit shall include the
incentive compensation paid to each firefighter from the fund as a part of the
firefighter's salary in determining all payroll deductions.
(3) The local unit shall provide each
firefighter with a check stub or separate receipt upon which the gross amount
of incentive funds paid to the firefighter shall be identified.
(4) The local unit shall disburse incentive
funds during the month for which the funds are requested.
(5) The local unit shall maintain records to
document that each participant devotes sufficient hours performing fire service
training to qualify him for incentive pay.
(6) The local unit shall submit to the
commission a quarterly report on Forms KPF-3 and 3A, July 1, 1998, to reconcile
disbursement of incentive pay.
Section
5. Local Audits.
(1) The local
unit may be audited by the department pursuant to established
procedures.
(2) For audit purposes,
the local unit shall maintain accurate financial records. These records shall
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Books of original entry;
(b) Source documents supporting accounting
transactions;
(c) The general
ledger;
(d) Subsidiary
ledgers;
(e) Personnel and payroll
records;
(f) Cancelled checks;
and
(g) Any related document and
record.
(3) These records
shall be retained by the local unit until destruction is authorized by the
commission or applicable requirements of the Department of Libraries and
Archives.
Section 6.
Incorporation by Reference.
(1) The following
material is incorporated by reference:
(a)
Application for Incentive Pay, Form KPF-1, July 14, 1998.
(b) Paid Firefighters Foundation Incentive
Program Form, Form KPF-2, July 1, 1998.
(c) Professional Firefighters Foundation
Incentive Program Check Verification, Form KPF-2A, July 1, 1998.
(d) Quarterly Fiscal Report, Form KPF-3, July
1, 1998.
(e) Professional
Firefighters Foundation Incentive Program Form KPF-3A, July 1, 1998 (to be used
with Form KPF-3).
(2)
This material may be inspected, copied, or obtained at the Commission on Fire
Protection Personnel Standards and Education, 118 James Court, Lexington,
Kentucky 40505, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Notes
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 95A.240
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