Chapter 6 › III.A Labor Policies

Do we need a written pay policy for FEMA to cover overtime and premium pay?

FEMA term

Pre-disaster written labor policy

Short answer

Yes. FEMA decides which labor costs are eligible based on the written labor policy you had in place before the disaster. If your policy doesn’t meet FEMA’s three conditions, FEMA pays only your standard, uniformly applied pay rates.

What FEMA requires

The policy must:

Not make payment contingent on federal funding;
Apply the same way whether or not there is a presidential declaration; and
Set non-discretionary criteria for when each pay type is triggered.

“Pre-disaster” means before the incident start date in the declaration, so a policy adopted during the incident period does not count.

Documentation

Keep a dated copy of the labor or pay policy in effect before the incident start date, and show it was applied in non-declared events.

Watch out · Govstar practitioner advice

A policy that lets managers decide case by case when to pay premium rates fails the non-discretionary test.

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.