Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone

Tag Archives: stipends for volunteers

Burning Question: Part-Time Fire Chiefs and Compensation

Today’s burning question: I am a town manager and we have a small volunteer fire department with a part-time paid fire chief. The chief receives a stipend and is expected to put in 20 hours a week. Can he qualify as an exempt executive like our police chief, even though he is a part-time employee?

Curt Varone has over 45 years of fire service experience and 35 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.

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