The COVID-19 pandemic has put many essential workers directly in harm’s way Doctors, nurses, grocery clerks, transit operators, and other frontline personnel have continued showing up day after day despite the health risks In response, there have been growing calls at both the state and federal level for additional “hazard pay” to compensate these workers for their sacrifice.
In this article, I’ll provide an overview of hazard pay, unpack the details of the federal HEROES Act related to hazard pay, and discuss the debate around providing additional compensation for frontline workers during the pandemic. My goal is to break down this complex issue into clear, everyday language
What is Hazard Pay and Who Qualifies?
Hazard pay refers to additional compensation for workers performing hazardous duties that involve physical hardship. It is generally a higher hourly wage or bonus on top of regular earnings.
Traditionally, hazard pay has been given to military personnel and first responders But the COVID-19 pandemic has expanded the definition of hazardous work Bus drivers, nurses, meatpackers, and other frontline roles now carry increased risk of virus exposure.
However, no federal standards exist mandating hazard pay. Hazard pay must be taken into account when figuring out overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, but employers are not required to give it. This lack of formal requirements has sparked the push for legislation.
Details of the Proposed Federal HEROES Act
The $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act was passed by the House of Representatives in May 2020, with Democrats in charge. It has yet to pass the Republican-majority Senate.
A key provision of the HEROES Act is the “COVID-19 Heroes Fund”, which would provide $13 per hour in hazard pay to essential workers, capped at $10,000 total per employee. This would apply retroactively from January 27, 2020 until 60 days after the pandemic ends.
Covered workers would include:
- Healthcare workers
- Grocery store employees
- Transit workers
- Janitors and sanitation staff
- Truck drivers
- Warehouse workers
- Any other frontline roles
The Heroes Fund would be funded through a new “Heroes Credit” and other mechanisms. Employers could claim credits on their payroll tax payments for hazard pay distributed to employees.
The Debate Around Federal Hazard Pay Requirements
Proponents of hazard pay legislation like the HEROES Act say:
- Compensates frontline workers for virus risks they face
- Helps recruit and retain essential employees
- Stimulates economy through higher consumer spending
Opponents argue:
- Too costly for small businesses already hurting
- Challenging for employers to implement retroactively
- Uneven handed-out based on which roles qualify
This debate has played out through a series of temporary hazard pay measures at the state level as well. For example:
- Michigan provided $120 million in lump sum “thank you pay” to frontline workers.
- Vermont mandated hazard pay for essential retail and grocery staff.
- Several other states have proposed similar bills, but they have not passed yet.
These state actions put pressure on legislators to enact a federal standard as well.
Who Supports the HEROES Act Hazard Pay Provision?
The hazard pay component of the HEROES Act is strongly supported by the following groups:
- Labor unions like the AFL-CIO
- Progressive Democrats
- Workers rights organizations
- Some large grocery chains like Kroger
Key arguments made by supporters:
- Compensates workers for health risks they are undertaking
- Helps retain essential staff critical to managing the pandemic
- Brings pay parity between frontline and remote workers
- Stimulates the economy as hazard pay gets spent
However, the Act still faces major hurdles to becoming law, given Republican opposition.
What to Watch Going Forward
The path forward for federal hazard pay legislation remains uncertain. Here are some key points to monitor:
- How the HEROES Act evolves in the Republican-controlled Senate
- Whether hazard pay provisions survive in any final approved stimulus deal
- Implementation issues if requirements do get approved
- Ongoing state-level hazard pay developments
My hope is this article provides a helpful overview of this complex issue and the debate around compensating frontline workers during COVID-19. Hazard pay helps highlight the risks many are taking to keep our economy running during this pandemic.
Low-wage frontline workers deserve hazard pay
The case for hazard pay is especially urgent for the millions of frontline essential workers who earn low wages. From certified nursing assistants to housekeepers to farm laborers, the essential jobs that are vital to the country and require workers to risks their lives are disproportionately low-paying. We calculate that, as of 2018, nearly half (47%) of all frontline essential workers earned less than a living wage that can sustain a family.
Daryll Cox, a poultry plant worker in Virginia, is one of the nearly 19 million frontline essential workers who earn less than $15 an hour. In an interview this summer, Cox, who is Black, discussed the hardships of his job during the pandemic.
“It’s been a challenge for everybody,” Cox said. “We work around 600 people a night in a packed environment. You just have to pray and believe and hope that the person that you’re working next to is not infected.” He said the “fear of not knowing” causes great anxiety, “wondering if the person working just inches away from you has it, being scared if somebody coughs or sneezes.”
Cox said he enjoys his job, but laments the low wages he earns. Workers at his plant typically make $12 to $14 an hour—considerably less than a living wage. After paying taxes and insurance, Cox said there is little left to pay bills and support a family. He said that even a small hazard pay increase would make a difference.
“We’re not making much,” Cox said. “If you add $2 to $3 an hour, you’d get at least $15. To be in this environment with all the money that we know the company makes, I don’t think it would set back the company at all to at least show us appreciation by giving us a $2 to $3 raise. This is the sentiments of at least 85% of other employees.”
Hazard pay is one way to immediately correct the financial injustice for frontline essential workers who risk their lives—and their families’ lives—without the dignity of wages that can support them. But it is ultimately a stopgap measure—essential workers’ low wages reflect long-standing policy failures and illustrate the need for permanent reforms.
For over a decade, the federal minimum wage has remained stuck at $7.25 per hour, a wage so low it would put workers earning it below the poverty line. Meanwhile, there is overwhelming public support to raise it to $15 per hour. Frontline workers earning paltry wages deserve permanent pay increases and lasting changes to these policy failures. In the interim, hazard pay can make an immediate difference in their lives during the pandemic.
Part 1: Why workers deserve hazard pay
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended traditional notions of what jobs are considered dangerous—and essential—as well as what workers who hold those jobs deserve to earn. Hazard pay is additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship; previously, it was associated with dangerous jobs in military service, construction, or mining. Today, jobs as diverse as bus driving, warehouse jobs, and grocery work now expose employees to the deadly risks of COVID-19. Our colleagues Adie Tomer and Joseph W. Kane calculated that there are 50 million frontline workers who are in essential jobs and must physically report to work, making them vulnerable to COVID-19.
Hazard pay is a popular response to the risks that frontline essential workers face. In a May survey, more than three-quarters of Americans surveyed supported providing hazard pay or additional compensation to workers in essential jobs.
Hazard pay is also popular among frontline essential workers themselves. “I believe that people who have sucked up their fear every day and marched through that door, not knowing whether today would be the day they would catch it, deserve recompense for that,” said Lisa Harris, a 32-year-old cashier at a Kroger supermarket outside Richmond, Va.
Since the start of the pandemic, we spoke with dozens of frontline essential workers from a range of industries who expressed a strong desire for hazard pay while putting their lives on the line every shift. Many workers said they deserved hourly wage increases, and preferred predictable pay increases in each paycheck similar to overtime or holiday hours, rather than occasional bonuses that fail to compensate workers for each additional hour worked.
“It should be an hourly raise for the duration of the pandemic,” said one Walmart associate who preferred to remain anonymous, reflecting on the periodic bonuses Walmart workers receive. “Because for a lot of these people working out there, four or five days a week, eight hours a day, risking their lives so much given how the virus is spreading in the country, $2 to $3 extra an hour is a start. I don’t know if it is the answer, but it is a lot better than what we are getting now.”