LOSAP Point System – Page 5 – Firefly Admin Inc.

ONE PERSON DRILL?

April 4, 2019

An interesting question was posed to me today – can a volunteer who participates in a one-person drill be awarded a point under the drill category? My initial reaction was no – there is no such thing as a one-person drill. But then I stopped to think about it. Article 11-A doesn’t define a drill.…

REPEAL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE RESTRICTION

April 2, 2019

Up until December 2015, § 217(f) the New York State General Municipal Law stated the following: In computing credit for those active volunteer firefighters who also serve as paid employees within a political subdivision of the state, credit shall not be given for activities performed during the individual’s regularly assigned work periods. This section of…

ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN LOSAP

March 27, 2019

We’ve been asked several times over the last two-three weeks about the eligibility to participate in LOSAP. In particular, if “administrative only” members are eligible to participate. So we thought we would address it now. As usual, we cannot give legal advice – this is meant to help guide you and your attorney in making…

LINE OF DUTY DISABILITY POINTS

March 26, 2019

Were you aware that awarding points for periods of line-of-duty disability is actually optional? It is true, but not well known! This section of the statute is actually one of the point system categories. Since it is a point system category, it is technically optional – a sponsor does not have to include every category.…

POINTS FOR TEACHING A TRAINING CLASS?

March 21, 2019

A question came in regarding a volunteer member of a fire department teaching a training class, and if points can be awarded to that member for teaching the class rather than attending the class. This is not an easy one with a black-and-white answer. It mostly comes down to interpretation and determining what is in the spirit of the…

AMENDING THE LOSAP POINT SYSTEM

March 19, 2019

The sponsor of a LOSAP can amend the point system. The Board must adopt a resolution approving the new point system. If the change makes it easier to earn 50 points by either increasing the number of points awarded for an activity, or decreasing the amount of activity required to earn points for the activity,…

LOSAP POINTS FOR MEETINGS

March 18, 2019

A question was raised about points for meetings. Here is the applicable section of the statute: (v)Attendance at meetings—twenty points maximum.Attendance at any official meetings of the volunteer fire company—one point per meeting. The Office of the State Comptroller has issued two legal opinions about this point system category. Comptroller Opinion 94-25 states that points…

ELECTED AND APPOINTED POSITIONS

March 14, 2019

We were asked recently about officer positions, and eligibility of points. In this particular fire department, there are five fire companies. In addition, there is a “rescue squad”, the membership of which is comprised of members of the five fire companies. The rescue squad is responsible for rescue operations – cutting cars, and similar type…

WHAT TO DO WITH A MINI-DRILL?

March 13, 2019

A short one today (pun intended)…. A question came in regarding a “mini-drill” – meaning, a drill that is less than two hours. The two-hour requirement is in the statute, which is written as follows: Drills—twenty points maximum. One point per drill (minimum two hour drill). Therefore, in order for the skills practice event to…

CAN POINTS BE AWARDED FOR JOB TRAINING?

March 12, 2019

We recently received the following question: A member is an employee for a municipal EMS entity and attends that entity’s EMS related training courses of 4 to 8 hours each and receives an acceptable certificate of completion. The employee is paid while taking the course by the employer. The member then submits the certificates with a…

Category: LOSAP Point System