In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, states and localities are saying thank you to front-line workers in the form of bonus payments this year. Connecticut, Minnesota, New York state, Denver and Columbus, Ohio, are among the jurisdictions that have allocated "hero pay" to thousands of front-line workers recently. In June, California announced it will give $1,500 pandemic bonuses to state law enforcement officers and hospital workers.
Employers had to determine if they were a front-line-sector employer and, in some cases, comply with notice requirements related to the program.
"I haven't found employers having a lot of angst about complying," said Tanya Bovée, an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Hartford, Conn. "The analogy is like trying to comply with the paid-sick-leave requirements. You have to know what they are and then what the different requirements are. There is definitely variety here in what's being provided and to whom."
"Hero-pay laws are generally enacted to provide financial remuneration to front-line-sector workers because the governmental bodies enacting them recognize the importance of the work provided by such workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when COVID-19 was a new experience for the country, and businesses were scrambling to help provide critical products and services," said Barbara Jean D'Aquila, an attorney with Fisher Phillips in Minneapolis.
Connecticut
Essential employees who worked in Connecticut during the COVID-19 pandemic may...
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