Add, copy, edit, or delete an award program

You can create the award programs your agency or department offers to its personnel. The nature of these awards can vary as needed, from traditional LOSAP to unique state- or agency-specific awards.

Example: In Connecticut, if you participate the requisite amount of time in a specific award program, you can earn a $1000 abatement off your tax bill that year. In another department, for every incident that you go to, you get $1 credited towards a gas card, calculated on a quarterly basis.

LOSAP is a program used by many volunteer agencies to determine retirement or pension benefits.

Signed into law in 1998, LOSAP is “a system established to provide tax-deferred income benefits to active volunteer members of an emergency service organization.” An emergency service organization generally includes all forms of volunteer fire and first aid organizations. The tax-deferred income benefits come from contributions made solely by the governing body of the municipality or fire district, on behalf of those volunteers who meet the criteria of a plan created by that governing body. LOSAP rules differ from state to state. LOSAP is similar to a pension program, but is intended to assist emergency service organizations in retaining and rewarding volunteers.

Note: 

  • Award program functionality is available in both the full version of PM and PM Basic, but has reduced functionality in PM Basic because you must have the full version of PM to enter class credits, rank, and title information.

    For information on upgrading to the full version of PM, go to https://www.eso.com/pm-demo/ and fill out the fields to request a demonstration and speak with a sales representative.

  • Your PM module administrator must add the View Award Programs or Edit Award Programs security permission to one of your user roles for the Award Program tab to appear for viewing in personnel records. You must have the Edit Award Programs security permission added to make changes to award programs.

    Information on user accounts, roles, and permissions is available in Manage a user account.

For information on upgrading to the full version of PM, go to https://www.eso.com/pm-demo/ and fill out the fields to request a demonstration and speak with a sales representative.

  1. Which version of the module opens depends on whether your agency or department has purchased the PM Basic or full version of the PM module.

    1. Do one of the following.

      • (If you are already working in the ESO Suite) Click the Home icon in the upper left corner of the screen.

        1. In a web browser, go to https://www.esosuite.net/EsoSuite.

          The ESO Suite login screen appears.

        2. Enter your user name, password, and agency name, then click Let's Go.

          If MFA is enabled, the Multi-factor authentication dialog box appears, displaying one or more methods you can use to verify your login credentials. The number of methods that appear in the dialog box depends on what MFA methods your ESO Suite administrators enabled in the Admin module.

          Click graphics
          to open them.

          Information on enabling MFA and specific MFA methods is available in the Admin module online help, in Configure multiple-factor authentication.

          Note: If your ESO Suite administrators have disabled MFA ("opted-out"), this dialog does not appear.

        3. (If the Multi-factor authentication dialog box appears) Depending on which buttons appear in the dialog box, verify your login in one of the following ways.

          1. Click MFA verification via authenticator app.

            The dialog box updates with boxes for entering the numbers of the authentication code, and the ESO Suite sends an authentication code to the authenticator application installed on your device.

          2. Open your authenticator application and note the authentication code currently displayed.

          3. Enter the authentication code displayed in the authenticator application.

          4. Click Log In.

          SMS

          1. Click MFA verification via SMS.

            The dialog box updates with boxes for entering the numbers of the authentication code, and the ESO Suite sends an authentication code to the phone number recorded in your PM records and identified with MFA codes.

          2. Enter the authentication code sent to your MFA-registered phone number.

          3. Click Log In.

          1. Click MFA verification via email.

            The dialog box updates with boxes for entering the numbers of the authentication code, and the ESO Suite sends an authentication code to your agency or department email address, recorded in your PM records.

          2. Enter the authentication code sent to your agency or department email address.

          3. Click Log In.

      The ESO Suite landing screen appears.

      Click graphics
      to open them.

      Note: If MFA is enabled, you can access and manage your MFA options through the PM module, on the Settings > Account page, as described in Manage a user account. If your agency or department has enabled MFA but has not purchased the full-featured version of the PM module, you can access your own MFA settings by clicking Change my Multi-Factor Authentication settings on the landing screen, then using the Settings > Account page that appears. If your agency has not enabled MFA, the Change my Multi-Factor Authentication settings link does not appear on the landing screen.

    2. On the top side of the home screen, click PM.

      Tip: If your screen or browser window is too narrow to display all your agency's ESO Suite module icons, an options icon appears on the right side of the icon bar. If you click the options icon, a menu appears containing additional module icons.

      A list of all the personnel in the PM module appears, displayed in a grid format.

      PM (full version) PM Basic

      Note: If you can access the full-featured PM module, you can view all your own information in it. The amount of information you can edit in the PM module depends on what roles and permissions your ESO Suite administrator assigned to your user account.

      Information on user accounts, roles, and permissions is available in Manage a user account.

  2. In the navigation bar on the left side of the screen, click the Award Programs () icon.

    The Award Programs screen appears, displaying a list of the active award programs currently in the PM module.

  3. Work with an award program in any of the following ways.

    You can add a new award program with no existing criteria, and specify the details for the award program as needed.

    1. In the upper right corner of the screen, click Add Award Program Definition.

      The New Award Program Definition dialog box appears.

    2. In Award Program Name, type a short name for the program you are creating.
    3. In Description, type a longer description of the award program.

    4. For Effective Date, click the calendar icon on the right end of the field and select the appropriate date from the calendar that appears and specify the date the award program was adopted.

      Note: This is not the date of the participation period for the participants.

    5. (If applicable) For End Date, click the calendar icon on the right end of the field and select the appropriate date from the calendar that appears and specify the date the award program ended.
    6. (If applicable) In Minimum, type the lowest total number of hours or points a participant can earn during the participation period, to obtain credit for the award program.
    7. (If applicable) In Maximum, type highest total number of hours or points a participant can earn during the participation period for the award program.

    8. Click Save.

      The new program definition appears in the list.

    The PM module applies the filters you select in the steps below in a logical AND construction, to reduce the matches with each additional criteria you use.

    1. In the upper right corner, click Filters.

      The Filters dialog box appears on the right side of the screen.

    2. For Status, click the field or the list icon to the right of the field, then select the appropriate single option from the menu that appears to indicate whether you are looking for active and/or archived award programs.

    3. Click Done.

      The list of programs on the screen reduces to only those that match the filter criteria you specified.

    If you have an award program already defined in the program list that is similar to one you want to add, it may be more efficient to copy the existing award program and edit the copied details and criteria to fit the new award program you want to add.

    Note: The participants list is not copied. While you are not currently able to copy comments, attachments, and links, that capability may be available in a future release.

    1. On the right side of the listing for the award program you want to copy, choose Actions > Copy.

      The Copy Award Program dialog box appears, with the Name field automatically populated with the name of the award program, and the prefix Copy of as part of the name.

    2. In Name, change the name of the program as needed for the new program you are creating.

    3. For Effective Date, click the calendar icon on the right end of the field and select the appropriate date from the calendar that appears and specify the date the award program was adopted.

    4. Click Save.

      The award program's page appears, set to the Award program details section. The fields in this section are populated with information from the award program you copied.

      Tip: To return to the listing of all award programs, click the left-pointing arrow beside the program name.

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    5. Supply details such as the end date for the program, the minimum and maximum points or hours, and status, as described in Specify award program details.

    6. Add criteria participants must meet for the award program, as described in Add, edit, or delete award program criteria.

    7. Add personnel to the list of program participants, as described in Add, view history for, print a report for, or delete award program participants.

    1. Click the listing for the award program you want to edit.

      The award program open, displaying the information already specified for the program.

    2. For the section containing the information you want to change or add, click Edit.

      A dialog box containing the information already specified for that section of the award program appears.

    3. Change the information in the fields as needed.
    4. Click Save.

    Caution: Deleted award programs are not recoverable, and participation in a deleted program no longer appears on participating personnel records. Consider archiving a program instead of deleting it, to preserve the program's historic record.

    1. On the right side of the listing for the award program you want to delete, choose Actions > Delete.

      A confirmation dialog box appears.

    2. Click Yes.

      The award program disappears from the list on the Award Programs screen, and participation in it is removed from personnel records.