Force Account Labor and Equipment in FEMA PA

"Force account" is FEMA's term for an applicant's own labor forces and equipment. Under the Public Assistance program, force account labor is reimbursed at the employee's actual hourly pay rate plus actual fringe benefits, and force account equipment is reimbursed at hourly equipment rates — FEMA's published Schedule of Equipment Rates or, in defined situations, state, tribal, territorial, or local rates. The rules sit in PAPPG v5, Chapter 6 (Cost Eligibility) and 44 CFR § 206.228.

The single most consequential rule: whether straight-time pay is eligible depends on the category of work and whether the employee is budgeted. For permanent work (Categories C–G), both straight-time and overtime are eligible for budgeted and unbudgeted employees. For emergency work (Categories A–B), straight-time for budgeted employees is generally ineligible — only overtime is — while unbudgeted employees can claim both. This split is easy to get wrong.

How FEMA pays force account labor

FEMA reimburses force account labor based on actual hourly rates plus the cost of the employee's actual fringe benefits, calculated as a percentage of the hourly pay rate. Because some benefits (health insurance, for example) don't scale with hours worked, the fringe percentage for overtime is usually different from the straight-time percentage — so applicants should calculate and document the two separately. Eligible fringe benefits under an established written policy can include holiday leave, accrued sick and vacation leave, Social Security and Medicare matching, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, retirement, health/life/disability insurance, and administrative leave.

Eligibility is anchored to the applicant's pre-disaster written labor policy — the policy in effect before the incident start date. The PAPPG sets three tests: the policy must not condition payment on federal funding, must be applied uniformly regardless of a presidential declaration, and must set non-discretionary criteria for when each pay type is activated. If those tests aren't met, FEMA limits funding to the applicant's non-discretionary, uniformly applied pay rates. Separately, costs for employees on leave of any kind — including administrative leave for staff sent home due to emergency conditions — are ineligible.

Straight-time vs. overtime by category of work

The statutory basis for the permanent-work rule is Stafford Act § 406(a)(2)(C) and 44 CFR § 206.228(a)(2)(i); the emergency-work bar on budgeted straight-time comes from 44 CFR § 206.228(a)(2)(iii). "Unbudgeted" hours include temporary hires, reassigned employees funded from an external source, essential employees called back from furlough, and part-time or seasonal employees working outside their normal hours or season. See the Category A–G overview for how work is classified.

Two important wrinkles:

• Debris removal exception. Straight-time for budgeted employees performing eligible Category A debris removal is eligible under the alternative procedures authorized by Stafford Act § 428(e)(2)(D) — see Section 428 alternative procedures.
• Power restoration. Where power restoration qualifies as either emergency work (Category B) or permanent work (Category F), claiming it under Category B forfeits budgeted straight-time labor — and hazard mitigation funding is only available when it's claimed as Category F.

Special labor situations

• Reassigned employees: eligible at the employee's normal pay rate (that's the applicant's incurred cost), not the rate typical for the work performed — a police officer clearing debris is claimed at police pay.
• Backfill: when an employee is pulled to eligible emergency work, backfill costs can be eligible even though the backfilling employee isn't doing eligible work. If the backfill employee is budgeted or called in from scheduled leave, only their overtime is eligible. Straight-time is eligible only for a contracted/temporary backfill or a permanent employee called in on a scheduled day off — and only for a limited period, with the added costs tracked and documented.
• Furlough call-backs: straight-time for essential employees recalled from a budget-related furlough is eligible if unbudgeted.
• Supervisors: overtime for second-level supervisors and above (chiefs, directors, mayors) is usually ineligible unless the applicant shows direct involvement in a specific project, normally charges that person's time to projects regardless of federal funding, and pays under a compliant labor policy.
• Premium pay: call-back pay, night/weekend differentials, and hazardous-duty pay can be eligible only for essential employees performing eligible emergency work, and only when paid hourly under a compliant pre-disaster written labor policy. Bonuses and incentive pay are ineligible — FEMA treats them as discretionary rewards, not premium pay tied to hours worked.
• Standby time: labor standby is eligible only intermittently and only for staff conducting eligible evacuation or sheltering, search and rescue, or emergency medical care, under the applicant's normal policy or a contract requiring it. Portal-to-portal firefighter shifts are reimbursable where required, capped at what is reasonable and necessary and no more than 14 calendar days from the start of the incident period.

Force account equipment rates

FEMA funds applicant-owned equipment — including permanently mounted generators — based on hourly equipment rates under 44 CFR § 206.228(a)(1), or on mileage for vehicles if mileage is documented and cheaper. If an applicant justifiably purchases equipment to respond to the incident, FEMA can fund the purchase price (subject to disposition requirements) plus either rate-based usage or actual fuel and maintenance.

Which rate applies

• FEMA rates: FEMA publishes a national Schedule of Equipment Rates covering any item powered by fuel (or attached to one). The rates bundle depreciation, overhead, overhaul, maintenance, lubrication, tires, ground-engaging components, and fuel — everything except operator labor. Because fuel and maintenance are baked in, an applicant cannot also claim fuel costs or a mechanic's maintenance labor on top of FEMA rates.
• State, tribal, or territorial rates: rates established under STT guidelines for day-to-day operations are funded up to $75 per hour. Above $75, the applicant must demonstrate each rate component is comparable to current market prices.
• Local rates: FEMA generally pays the lower of the local rate or the FEMA rate. If the local rate is lower but the applicant certifies it doesn't capture all operating costs, FEMA may pay the FEMA rate; a higher local rate requires a documented basis and FEMA approval. Applicants can also elect a whole-schedule comparison (FEMA Headquarters determines which schedule is lower) instead of item-by-item.
• No established rate: the FEMA rate applies. If FEMA has no rate either, the applicant may submit one for approval — with market-price support for each component — or ask FEMA to develop one. Rental rates can't be the basis, since they include profit.

Operating time only

Equipment rates apply only while equipment is actually operating. Standby time is ineligible — unless the operator uses the equipment intermittently for more than half the working hours in a given day, in which case the intermittent standby is eligible. Costs to transport equipment to an eligible site are eligible.

Documentation FEMA expects

Requirements scale with project size — see small vs. large projects. For labor on small projects, an itemized summary suffices: number of employees, budgeted and unbudgeted hours, and average straight-time and overtime rates with fringe. For large projects, FEMA expects the pay policy plus a per-employee record: name, job title and function, employee type, dates and hours worked, pay and fringe rates, work descriptions with daily logs or activity reports, timesheets, and fringe calculations.

For equipment on small projects: an itemized summary by equipment type with total usage hours and cost. For large projects: type and attachments (year, make, model, size, capacity, horsepower, wattage as applicable), locations used, the FEMA equipment code (if claiming FEMA rates) or the rate schedule with its components (if not), and the operator's name with date and hours used each day. Purchased equipment needs invoices or receipts. At closeout, large-project packages must include force account labor and equipment support — timesheets, trip tickets, work orders, and personnel pay policies. Build these records as the work happens; the PA documentation checklist covers the full set.