Evacuation, Medical Care, and Sheltering, Force Account Labor & Equipment Costs

Appeal Brief

Appeal Letter

Appeal Analysis

Background

From September 23 to November 4, 2022, strong winds and torrential rain from Hurricane Ian caused damage throughout Florida.^[1] The Shell Point Retirement Community (Applicant), a Private Nonprofit organization that serves as an elderly retirement residence, sheltered its residents, employees and some of their family members at the Larsen Health Center (LHC) from September 27, 2022 to October 2, 2022. The Applicant requested $884,003.09 in Public Assistance (PA) for force account labor costs associated with employees setting up and operating the LHC shelter, as well as costs for food supplies and contracts to provide therapy and temporary air conditioning for sheltered individuals. FEMA created Grants Manager Project 710000 to document the costs.

FEMA issued multiple Requests for Information, asking the Applicant to provide additional documentation to substantiate its claims for force account labor, food supplies and contract costs. The Applicant replied by submitting its 2022 Hurricane Plan, which states that incurred labor costs for essential employees during a hurricane are considered extraordinary work costs, a letter from Lee County approving its Hurricane Plan, and timecards for labor. The Applicant stated that approximately 1,100 people sheltered at the LHC, and that there are no individual activity logs because all the employees were performing the same activities, maintaining and caring for the shelter.[2] Additionally, the Applicant provided invoices to support claimed food supply costs and explained that contracted therapy costs were for additional staffing during the sheltering period to assist with its special needs residents, primarily with group activities and any medical/therapy issues that came up during the sheltering period.

On June 10, 2024, FEMA issued a Determination Memorandum, denying $884,003.09 for force account labor, food supplies, and contract costs. FEMA found that the Applicant did not demonstrate that (1) employees performed eligible emergency protective measures, (2) the pay costs are associated with overtime labor costs and/or are extraordinary costs for essential employees called back to work during administrative leave to perform eligible emergency work, or (3) the claimed food supply and contract costs were eligible costs instead of increased operating costs.

First Appeal

On August 9, 2024, the Applicant submitted a first appeal reiterating that the costs for force account labor, food supplies and contract costs to open and operate the LHC shelter should be reimbursed. The Applicant submitted timecards and stated that its employees were not performing their normal duties but, instead, were helping set up and operate a Hurricane-related shelter, that all of the Applicant’s employees would have been put on administrative leave had they not staffed the shelters, and that the employees in question chose to work in exchange for the hazardous pay outlined in the Hurricane Plan. The Applicant stated that costs should be eligible as extraordinary premium pay as outlined in its Hurricane Plan, which complied with FEMA criteria for labor policies.[3] The Applicant stated that the analysis FEMA used in a prior second appeal determination to reimburse extraordinary costs for employees called back from administrative leave to perform emergency work should be applied in this case, and FEMA should grant the requested costs.[4] Alternatively, the Applicant stated that it should at least be reimbursed for overtime costs. The Applicant also stated that costs for food supplies, therapy, and temporary air conditioning were tied to emergency protective measures essential for the operation of the LHC shelter. In a letter dated September 25, 2024, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (Recipient) transmitted the Applicant’s first appeal with a letter stating its support. 

On January 27, 2025, the FEMA Region 4 Regional Administrator denied the first appeal. FEMA found that the Applicant did not show that the claimed force account labor costs are directly tied to the performance of eligible emergency protective measures. FEMA stated that the Applicant only provided a general description of work performed, such as setting up and operating the LHC shelter. It also stated that the Applicant’s timecards did not link claimed work to hours worked by specific employees or to the performance of eligible work. FEMA also found that the Applicant did not show that its employees were placed on administrative leave and called back from such leave. Regarding the food supply and contract costs, FEMA found that these were services provided to patients of the LHC on a routine basis and, therefore, represented an ineligible increased demand on normal operating costs. 

Second Appeal

On March 27, 2025, the Applicant submitted a second appeal, reiterating previous assertions. In addition, the Applicant stated that the LHC shelter was closed as a medical facility during the hurricane, and that the only persons in the LHC shelter during this time were evacuated residents and staff. On May 2, 2025, the Recipient transmitted the Applicant’s second appeal with a letter stating its support.

Discussion

FEMA may provide PA for emergency protective measures to save lives, protect public health and safety, and protect improved property.[5] For emergency protective measures to be eligible, the applicant is responsible for showing the work is required due to an immediate threat resulting from the declared incident.[6] For emergency work, generally only overtime labor is eligible for budgeted employees; except in limited circumstances, the straight-time of an applicant’s budgeted employees performing emergency work is ineligible.[7] Overtime is time worked beyond an employee’s scheduled working hours as defined by the applicant’s predisaster pay policy.[8] FEMA may reimburse extraordinary costs (such as call back pay and hazardous duty pay) for essential employees who are called back to duty during administrative leave to perform eligible emergency work if costs are paid in accordance with a labor policy that meets certain criteria.[9] For costs to be eligible, they must be directly tied to the performance of eligible work and adequately documented.[10] If the applicant does not provide documentation to support its claim as eligible, FEMA cannot provide PA funding for the work.[11]

Here, the Applicant stated that, regardless of titles and duties, generally all the employees for which it requested force account labor costs were setting up and operating the LHC shelter from September 26, 2022 to October 3, 2022. The Applicant did not submit documentation to show the actual tasks performed by those employees. Instead, the Applicant provided copies of unsigned timecards with the employees’ names without details of the work performed. The Applicant also provided a spreadsheet with employee names, titles, pay designations and rates, dates total hours worked, and amount paid. However, this spreadsheet does not include a description of the work performed and does not link the requested costs to eligible emergency work. Regardless of the type of force account labor costs claimed (i.e., overtime or straight-time), the Applicant has not demonstrated that the employees performed eligible emergency protective measures, and therefore, the claimed costs are not eligible for PA funding.

In addition, the Applicant’s claim includes straight-time for budgeted employees it claims were performing emergency work, which is not eligible for PA. The Applicant argues its claimed costs are eligible as extraordinary costs in accordance with the Applicant’s Hurricane Plan, stating employees were “essential to ongoing operations” and were “required to shelter on site” and work during a hurricane.[12] However, despite the Applicant’s description of these costs being considered “extraordinary,” the situation does not meet the definition in FEMA policy to fund the costs. Here, the employees were not placed on administrative leave and then called back. Rather, the employees worked their regularly scheduled hours, without ever being “called back” to work.[13] Therefore, the claimed cost are not eligible as extraordinary costs.

Lastly, the Applicant has not demonstrated that the costs associated with purchasing food supplies, providing therapy and temporary air conditioning are eligible for PA funding. The Applicant has provided invoices with only general descriptions of the food supplies purchased and work performed, but has not demonstrated how those costs are directly tied to the performance of eligible work required due to an immediate threat as a result of the declared disaster.

Conclusion

FEMA finds that the costs for force account labor, food supply purchases, therapy, and temporary air conditioning were not tied to the performance of eligible emergency work due to an immediate threat as a result of the disaster. Therefore, this appeal is denied.