2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 11-A - Service Award Programs › 217 - General Requirements of a Service Award Program.

§  217.  General requirements of a service award program. No volunteer
fire department, volunteer fire company, fire district, fire  protection
district, village, town or city, shall be required under this article to
provide  service  award  benefits for its active volunteer firefighters.
Any service awards provided to an  active  volunteer  firefighter  under
this  article shall be governed by the provisions of section two hundred
eighteen in the case of defined contribution plans, section two  hundred
nineteen  in the case of defined benefit plans and in either case by the
provisions of sections two hundred fourteen, two  hundred  fifteen,  two
hundred  sixteen  and two hundred nineteen-a of this article. No service
award program may be provided under this article  unless  the  following
requirements are met:
(a) An active volunteer firefighter must be eligible to participate in
any  service  award  program  provided  under this article if the active
volunteer firefighter has reached the age of eighteen and has  completed
at  least  one  year of firefighting service. The sponsor of the service
award program may impose  younger  age  or  shorter  length  of  service
requirements for participation in the service award program.
(b) A participant shall have a nonforfeitable right to a percentage of
a  service  award  that is not less than the percentage determined under
the following table:
 
 Years of                                                 Nonforfeitable
Firefighting Service                                          Percentage
Less than 5                                                         0
5 or more                                                         100
 
Notwithstanding the preceding table, a  participant  shall  have  a  one
hundred  percent  nonforfeitable  right  to  his  service award upon his
attainment of the entitlement age under the program.  Each  sponsor  may
establish a percentage table that provides for a faster rate of becoming
nonforfeitable.   Any   amounts   attributable   to   forfeiture   of  a
participant's service award shall be used to  reduce  contributions  for
other  service  award  program participants and shall not in any case be
used to increase benefits for other participants.  The  preceding  shall
not  preclude  amendment  of  a  service award program to provide for an
increase in benefits.
(c) A year of firefighting service shall be credited under  a  service
award  program for each calendar year after establishment of the program
in which an active volunteer  firefighter  accumulates  at  least  fifty
points.  Points  shall be granted in accordance with a system adopted by
the program sponsor. Such system shall  provide  that  points  shall  be
granted   for  activities  designated  by  the  program  sponsor,  which
activities shall be selected from the following:
(i) Training courses -- twenty-five points maximum.
(A) Courses under twenty hours duration -- one point per hour, with  a
maximum of five points.
(B)  Courses  of  twenty to forty-five hours duration -- one point per
hour for each hour over initial twenty hours,  with  a  maximum  of  ten
points.
(C)  Courses  over  forty-five  hours to one hundred hours duration --
fifteen points per course.
(D) Courses over one hundred hours duration -- twenty-five points  per
course.
(ii) Drills -- twenty points maximum. One point per drill (minimum two
hour drill).
(iii) Sleep-in or stand-by -- twenty points maximum.
(A) Sleep-in -- one point each full night.
(B)  Stand-by -- one point each. A stand-by is defined as line of duty
activity of the volunteer fire company,  lasting  for  four  hours,  not
falling under one of the other categories.
(iv)  Elected  or  appointed  position (see definition) -- twenty-five
points maximum.
(A) Completion of one year term in an elected or  appointed  position.
If  the  term  of  office  for  a  firefighter  who  has been elected or
appointed to a position in a fire company or fire  department  commences
during  the  month  of May, the participant shall receive credit for the
full  year  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  participant  has  not
completed  one  year  in the elected or appointed position at the end of
the calendar year in which he or she was elected or appointed.
(B) An active volunteer firefighter elected to serve as a delegate  to
a  firefighters'  convention shall also be eligible to receive one point
per meeting.
(v) Attendance at meetings -- twenty points maximum.
Attendance at any official meetings of the volunteer fire  company  --
one point per meeting.
(vi)  Participation  in department responses -- twenty-five points for
responding on the minimum number of calls, as outlined below:
(A) Total number of calls            0       500       1000      1500
volunteer fire  company re-           to        to        to        and
sponds  to  annually  other          500       1000      1500        up
than  emergency  rescue and
first aid squad  calls (am-
bulance calls)
Minimum number of calls vol-         10%       7.5%      5%        2.5%
unteer firefighter must run
annually in order to receive
twenty-five points credit
(B) Total number of calls            0       500       1000      1500
emergency rescue and  first          to         to        to        and
aid squad (ambulance)                500       1000      1500        up
Minimum number of calls vol-         10%       7.5%      5%        2.5%
unteer firefighter must run
annually in order to receive
twenty-five points credit
(vii)   Miscellaneous   activities   --   maximum   fifteen    points.
Participation  in  inspections  and  other  activities  covered  by  the
volunteer firefighters' benefit law and  not  otherwise  listed  --  one
point per activity.
(viii)  In  the  event that any active volunteer firefighter is either
totally and temporarily disabled, or partially and permanently disabled,
as certified by the  workers'  compensation  board  or  other  competent
authority  approved by the sponsor of the service award program, and the
disability occurs during the course of service  as  a  volunteer,  while
actively  engaged  in  providing  line  of  duty services, as defined in
subdivision one of section five of the volunteer  firefighters'  benefit
law,  the  firefighter  shall receive five points for each full month of
such disability.
(ix) Teaching fire prevention classes--five points maximum. An  active
volunteer  firefighter  who at the direction of his company, district or
department, and for no remuneration, presents a public  education  class
on  fire  prevention  to  a school, not-for-profit corporation, or civic
organization organized and existing under the  laws  of  this  state  or
authorized to conduct activities in this state--one point per class.
The  program  sponsor  may  designate  less  than  all  the activities
specified in this subdivision as activities  for  which  points  may  be
earned.
(d)  An  active  volunteer  firefighter's  service  award  program may
provide for the crediting of years of active  firefighting  service  for
periods  prior to the establishment of such program to a maximum of five
years of active firefighting service per participant  but  only  to  the
extent  authorized  pursuant  to  section  two  hundred  sixteen of this
article.
(e) In order to provide credit for service prior to the  establishment
of  the  service  award  program,  each  sponsor  shall review its prior
membership rosters to determine the number  of  years  credit  for  each
participant  who  is  entitled  to  credit.  In making the analysis, the
standards for active service  set  forth  in  subdivision  (c)  of  this
section  and  adopted  by  the  sponsor shall be used. Approval for such
prior service shall require certification by  the  president,  secretary
and  chief  of  the  volunteer  fire  company.  In  the  event an active
volunteer firefighter requests credit  for  service  in  more  than  one
volunteer  fire company, each such company shall provide a certification
for the appropriate number of years.
(g) An active volunteer firefighter whose name does not appear on  the
approved certified list or who is denied credit for service prior to the
establishment  of  the  service  award  program  shall have the right to
appeal within thirty days of posting of the list or within  thirty  days
of  denial  of  past  service credit. The appeal shall be in writing and
mailed to the  clerk  or  secretary  of  the  governing  board  of  such
political  subdivision, which shall investigate the appeal. The decision
of the authorities in control of each volunteer fire  company  shall  be
subject to appropriate judicial review.
(h)  An  active  volunteer  firefighter's  service  award  program may
designate that benefits thereunder may be paid in the  form  of  a  lump
sum,  a  life  annuity with or without survivor benefits, period certain
annuities, or any other form provided under the program.  All  forms  of
benefit  payments  shall  be  actuarially  equivalent to each other. The
sponsor may limit the forms of benefit payment  under  a  service  award
program  or  impose  conditions  concerning  the  availability  of  such
benefits. Nothing in this subdivision  shall  require  a  sponsor  of  a
service  award  program  to purchase annuity contracts from an insurance
company.
(i) A participant whose  volunteer  fire  service  is  interrupted  by
full-time  extended obligatory military service or by a single voluntary
enlistment not to exceed four years in the armed forces  of  the  United
States  shall  be  considered  on  military leave. During such period of
military leave, the participant shall receive active  volunteer  service
credit  of fifty points for each full year, prorated for service of less
than a year.
(j) All program assets shall  be  held  in  trust  for  the  exclusive
purpose of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries or
for  the  purpose  of defraying the reasonable expenses of the operation
and administration of the program. If the service award program and  the
related  trust  are not tax qualified within the meaning of sections 401
and 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (68A Stat 3, 26 U.S.C.  401
and 501), the trust referred to in this subdivision may provide that the
assets  held  thereunder  may  be  subject  to  the  claims  of  general
creditors, if any, of the sponsor or may contain such  other  terms  and
provisions  as  are  necessary  to  insure  that the participation by an
active volunteer firefighter in  the  service  award  program  does  not

result  in  taxable  income  to  such  volunteer  firefighter  under any
provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
(k) Every fiduciary of a service award program will be required to act
solely  in the interest of the program's participants and beneficiaries.
Subject only to the provisions of the program document, a fiduciary  may
accept,  hold,  invest  in  and  retain  any  investment if purchased or
retained in the exercise of the degree of judgment and care,  under  the
circumstances   then   prevailing,   which   persons   of  prudence  and
intelligence exercise in the management of their  own  affairs,  not  in
regard  to  speculation, but in regard to permanent disposition of their
funds, considering the probable income to be derived therefrom  as  well
as the probable safety of their capital.
(l)  No  service  award  provided under the program may be assigned or
alienated except to provide for the legally obligated support  of  minor
children or spouse.
(m) A participant who is convicted of the crime of arson in any degree
as  defined  in  the penal law shall not be eligible to receive benefits
from a service award program and shall forfeit any and all rights he  or
she  may have had to past or future benefits pursuant to a service award
program.
(n) An  active  volunteer  firefighters'  service  award  program  may
provide  for  the  crediting of years of active firefighting service for
periods  after  an  active  volunteer  firefighter   has   reached   the
entitlement age and is receiving a service award.
(o)  In  the  case  of a state-administered service award program, the
state comptroller  may  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  prescribing
procedures  and  forms for the compilation and maintenance of records of
the points accumulated by each volunteer firefighter. Each fire  company
participating  in  the  state-administered  program  shall  compile  and
maintain such records in the manner prescribed.
(q) The program sponsor may make adjustments to the  participation  in
department  responses  point  system  category provided for in paragraph
(vi) of subdivision (c) of this section in the event that  such  program
sponsor  adopts  written  emergency response protocols setting different
emergency response requirements for the fire department, fire companies,
squads  and  units  thereof  such  that  certain  participants  are  not
permitted   to  respond  and  are  restricted  from  responding  to  all
non-emergency rescue and first aid  squad  calls  and/or  all  emergency
rescue  and  first  aid  squad  calls. Such restrictions on response may
relate to determinations made by the district physician or  department's
physician as to the duties that may be assigned to certain personnel. In
the   event   that   the   program  sponsor  adopts  different  response
requirements for different groups, participants in those groups shall be
required to respond to the minimum number of emergency calls assigned to
their group by applying the percentage provided for in paragraph (vi) of
subdivision (c) of  this  section.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of
section two hundred sixteen of this article, a point system amendment to
address  written  emergency  response  protocols  may  be adopted by the
affirmative vote of at least sixty  percent  of  such  governing  board,
without  referendum.  Such  amendment  shall  only take effect as of the
first day of January next succeeding the completion of  the  proceedings
required   for   adoption   of   the  amendment  and  shall  only  apply
prospectively unless the new  written  emergency  response  protocol  is
adopted  in order to address a state disaster emergency, as such term is
defined in section twenty of the executive law, and  applicable  to  the
county  or counties in which the fire department operates, in which case
such amendment may be applied in the year adopted.