The Patrick County Board of Supervisors tabled further discussion of one of its employment policies after determining additional information was needed. The discussion related to the policy that disallows county employees to work for multiple Emergency Management Services (EMS) agencies.
On Jan. 9, Jessica Wilkins asked the board to consider removing or amending the rule. For single parents, Wilkins said it often takes two jobs to make ends meet. Because she is employed by the county, she is prohibited from volunteering at an EMS agency during her off hours. Due to the policy, her training and talents are used to serve residents in other localities rather than those in Patrick.
The county’s attorney, Mark Popovich, explained “the general practice has been if you are an employee in fire/EMS, you can’t be a volunteer fire/EMS because rules can kick in and they can claim they are owed overtime pay because they’re doing exactly the same job” with the volunteer agency that is being done for pay as a county employee.
Popovich said some have started trying to parse that out. For instance, some may be employed by the county as a firefighter but volunteer to run calls with an EMS agency.
“As long as those roles don’t overlap, you’re okay,” he said. “It’s still a gray line, let me just put it that way.”
From a legal perspective, Popovich said lawyers advise a more conservative approach “because yes, one person may say ‘ah, it’s not a problem for me, I’ll never do something like that.’ That may be true, but that might not apply to the next person. So, it’s a tricky situation,” he said.
In Amherst County, Popovich said the board had the same issue but was determined to take the risk.
“They ensured there was a written acknowledgment from the individual who happened to be a firefighter that he could volunteer for EMS, but while he was doing EMS, he could not do or assist in any way the fire department if he was on the scene,” he said.
Popovich advised Amherst County against the decision but said they were having trouble putting enough people in those positions and chose to take the risk.
“If you’re willing to take the risk, it’s doable but not advisable,” he said.
Clayton Kendrick, board chairman, noted that every local EMS squad has trouble with recruitment.
“I think it’s a shame to have trained people, and all the squads are supposed to be working together anyway. It should be a county-wide thing, not a competition, and If you’ve got employees that are trained and they’ve got the time they’re not on the paid services at the time and they want to run calls with JEB Stuart, I don’t see where this has got to do anything with the situation we’re talking about,” he said.
Doug Perry, of the Smith River District, wondered if it would be possible for county employees who volunteer to have separate numbers for each position, so “they could be kept separate. If they’re like ‘I ran this call, I want to get paid’ and we could go back and say,” the employee ran the call as a volunteer rather than as part of their job.
Popovich said there have been localities that have tried to keep the two positions separate by having the individuals sign a paper stating they understand the differences in work and volunteering.
“It’s the same job description,” but designed to prevent employees from claiming overtime pay, he said.
While he would love to see everyone run rescue calls the way they want to and make the money they want to make, Clyde DeLoach, of the Blue Ridge District, believes the county should follow the county attorney’s recommendation.
“If the legal opinion is that it’s risky, then I would not be in favor of it,” he said.
Brandon Simmons, of the Dan River District, said that while he understands what the attorney said, the policy is confusing because it states “‘for contractors or others that work for or those seeking to work for the county.’ They’re not working for the county, they’re working for the public. Like the rescue squads over there, they’re not seeking to work for the county of Patrick, they’re working for the public. So, that’s not interfering with the county of Patrick’s business, right?”
Popovich said that interpretation put the discussion on the technical side.
“The provision of service to the public is part of the county’s obligation,” he said. “The county has enlisted that organization to provide that service. So, in effect, they are working for the county. It may not be on their W-2. It may not say Patrick County, but the service they provide is a service that is supposed to be provided by every locality in Virginia for its citizens.”
Denise Stirewalt, of the Peter’s Creek District, said the county gives every volunteer squad funds to help them run.
Popovich affirmed the county provides “them with funding to provide that service.”
Simmons said the situation has the potential to hurt both sides.
“Either the rescue squads are going to have to give up people, or Scottie’s (Cassell EMS Coordinator) pool is going to get way less and he’s going have to give up people,” Simmons said.
Popovich said some counties have decided to take the risk of allowing county fire/EMS employees to also volunteer with volunteer squads.
“They did the analysis and said, ‘you know, it’s worth the risk if somebody were to come back. We would feel morally better about ourselves that somebody’s life actually got saved versus us worrying about having to pay overtime,’” he said.
Kendrick said he sees a problem with not having calls answered when there are people available the county cannot use because of the policy.
The board tabled the discussion for a future meeting so Popovich can research and create a potential solution.
