Paid or unpaid, that is the question.
Beaver County officials are considering whether to pay firefighters who are given excused absences for responding to emergency calls under a proposed policy. After a September pipeline explosion in Center Township, Commissioners Chairman Daniel Camp requested the county develop a policy that would allow volunteer firefighters who work for the county to take unpaid time off without penalty if they respond to an emergency prior to their shifts. Last week, Camp asked that the human resources department consider allowing firefighters to receive pay for that time off.
“I would say we need to make the decision if it will be paid or not,” Camp said. “Maybe it would entice employees to become volunteer firefighters.”
The policy would not apply to departments when there is scheduled shift work, such as the 911 center or the county jail, but only to those who work in administrative offices at the courthouse. Firefighters wouldn’t be permitted to leave a shift to respond to a call, Camp said, unless it were a catastrophic event.