Chapter 6 › III.B.3 Backfill Employees

We paid people to cover for staff working on the disaster. Is that eligible?

FEMA term

Backfill

Short answer

Some of it. Backfill costs are eligible when the regular employee is away doing eligible emergency work, even though the backfill employee isn’t. Which hours count depends on who does the backfilling.

What FEMA requires

Overtime only when the backfill employee is budgeted or is called in from scheduled leave.
Regular hours too when the backfill employee is a contracted or temporary worker, or a permanent employee called in on a scheduled day off.
Backfill must be for a limited time based on the exigency, and you must track and document the added costs.
The trigger is the regular employee doing eligible emergency work, not being on leave or furloughed.

Documentation

Records linking each backfill shift to the employee being covered and that employee’s eligible emergency work.

Watch out · Govstar practitioner advice

Regular hours for budgeted backfill staff are not eligible, even when framed as an increased operating cost.

Govstar summarizes FEMA’s Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide in plain language and links to the official text. Govstar is independent and not affiliated with FEMA. This is general guidance, not legal advice.