Employers are encouraged to apply
On Monday, Aug. 3, Governor Phil Scott announced that beginning Tuesday, Aug. 4, public safety, public health, health care and human services employers whose employees worked to help mitigate or respond to Covid-19 may apply for hazard pay grant funds for their employees.
“It’s important for Vermonters to remember that the best way to support our health care heroes during this pandemic is to continue to limit the spread of this virus by wearing a mask, staying home when sick, washing our hands and following the state’s health guidance,” said Governor Scott. “We all have a role to play to limit the spread so we don’t overwhelm our health care system and can continue reopening our economy and schools.”
The Front-Line Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program was established in Act 136 of 2020 using Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars to pay eligible employees who worked during the Covid-19 public health emergency from March 13 through May 15, 2020.
The Hazard Pay Program allows covered employers to request funding to provide $1,200 or $2,000 in hazard pay to each employee who meets eligibility criteria. Eligibility is determined by conditions outlined by the Legislature in Act 136, including the risk of exposure to Covid-19, number of hours worked and employee’s hourly wage.
Grants will be awarded through an online application process and funds will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis until the program’s $28 million in funding is allocated. When employers who applied are approved, they will receive the award amount.
“We are pleased that we have developed a streamlined application process for employers to apply for the Hazard Pay Program,” said Human Services Secretary Mike Smith. “We are encouraging employers to apply to make sure these critically important employees receive recognition and compensation to reflect the work they did keeping Vermonters safe during the crisis.”
Covered employers eligible to apply on behalf of their employees are defined by Act 136 to include:
Ambulance service or first responder service
Assisted living residence
Dentist’s office or a dental facility
Federally qualified health center, rural health clinic, or clinic for the uninsured
Health care facility or a physician’s office
Home health agency
Homeless shelter
Morgue
Nursing home residence
Provider of necessities and services to vulnerable or disadvantaged populations
Residential care home
Residential treatment program licensed by the Department for Children and Families
Therapeutic community residence
Therapy provider contracted by a home health agency or nursing home
In addition, AHS is working with ARIS Solutions, the fiscal agent for the employers of Independent Direct Support Providers, to support the administration of grant funding to eligible Independent Direct Support Providers.
“Our frontline health care workers have done heroic work throughout this crisis, stepping up to serve their communities and the greater good, while putting their own health at risk,” added Governor Scott. “On behalf of all Vermonters, I thank them for their incredible service and sacrifice during this once-in-a-century health crisis.”
For more information, to apply using the online application and to sign up to receive periodic updates, please visit the Agency of Human Services’ website at humanservices.vermont.gov.
WOW way to kick every “essential worker” in the gut! First off, why is the money going to companies instead of directly to the workers themselves? Second, what about EVERY OTHER “essential worker”? Ya praise the health care workers who took on a job, that they knew when they started was a potentially hazardous job. But you say nothing about the people who continually put themselves at risk in jobs that were not potentially hazardous before this year. People who work in grocery stores and gas stations and other “essential” businesses who now have to deal with the stress of having to wear a mask all day every day which they did not have to before, and the fear of possibly catching such a highly infectious and deadly virus, which just a simple bandana will protect you from, and they get nothing. When health care workers sign up, they know that wearing a mask is a part of the job, but my wife who works for a grocery store did not sign up for that. She got all of about $40 a week in “hazard pay” which the company has since taken away. The “hazard” is not gone, she still has to wear a mask, and deal with the stress and anxiety of that, but who cares!? She can always quit right? As it is, she’ll make more money on unemployment, then she does right now on a managers salary.(for anyone reading, think about that) But I know there are those who are cheering for the unemployment, as it means more people relying on them. It’s disgusting what this country has become!