Payments to employees hired to perform ”emergency services” are not considered Social Security wages. The exclusion applies only to an unusual emergency in the nature of an Act of God or disaster such as flood, tornado, disastrous fire, or abnormal snow storm.
The exclusion applies only if:
The hiring is necessitated by the emergency,
The employee is hired for a short period and is released when the emergency is over, and
The emergency is an unforeseen event calling for immediate action.
This exclusion does not apply to short-term or part-time workers hired for peak loads, or as substitutes for ill or vacationing employees. Regular employees’ earnings during an emergency, whether regular pay or overtime, are Social Security wages.