FR-T-203 Education Reimbursement

Employees may receive reimbursement for tuition costs of approved courses, including college level and certificate courses.

The Fire Rescue Administrator, along with the PPM Committee and Division Chief of Training and Safety, have the authority to update this policy.

This policy applies to bargaining unit employees only; non-bargaining unit personnel must use another policy for reimbursement.

Reimbursement for courses required for certifications and recertifications are not covered under this policy and follow a separate policy.

Courses leading towards a degree, including online and traditional formats, are eligible for reimbursement.

Certificate courses with no travel expenses and approved by the Division Chief of Training and Safety are reimbursable.

Non-required courses, seminars, and certificates are not eligible for reimbursement.

Courses taken to meet promotional requirements, like ITLS or Instructor certification, are eligible for reimbursement.

Tuition reimbursement is available for approved courses, but is limited to a certain amount per fiscal year.

Employees who receive tuition reimbursement over $850 must work for the county for two years after completing the course. Employees receiving less than $850 must stay for one year.

Courses required for Paramedic School are not subject to the annual reimbursement cap, but are only reimbursed once.

The Fire Rescue Administrator, after approval from the Division Chief of Training, can grant exceptions to the reimbursement policy.

Books, transportation, meals, and other related expenses are not eligible for reimbursement.

Employees who desire to enroll in degree-seeking programs must complete the Education Reimbursement for Degree Seeking Application (FR-T-203 Attachment A).

All approved degree-seeking courses must be pre-approved for education reimbursement.

The employee must submit a completed Application for Education Reimbursement for Bargaining Unit Employees, submitted online through the HRIS online system, before the course start date.

All documentation must be submitted within forty-five (45) days from course end date.

Failure to submit timely documentation will result in cancellation of reimbursement approval.

Employees seeking reimbursement for non-required courses, seminars, or certificates must receive pre-approval by submitting an Application for Education Reimbursement for Bargaining Unit Employees through HRIS.

The end date of any self-paced online course that does not have a predefined end date must be 60 calendar days from the date of the request submittal.

Only tuition costs, registration fees, laboratory fees, online fees, life experience credits and/or other mandatory related expenses are eligible for reimbursement.

The Training and Safety Division shall notify all applicants within ten (10) business days as to whether or not they meet the reimbursement criteria.

Employees are responsible for redacting any and all confidential and exempt information from the supporting documents prior to uploading them to HRIS.

Personnel who receive approval for education reimbursement must attend school on their own time (or schedule time off accordingly).

Upon successful completion of the course, employees must submit all required documents for education reimbursement.

Allow 6-8 weeks for receipt of payment after the request is fully approved in HRIS and forwarded to the County Finance Department for disbursement.

Courses directly related to the specific assignment of the employee that have been reviewed and pre-approved by Fire Rescue.

Those which are related to the employee's job responsibilities, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis.