Covid-19 Hazard Pay for PA Workers: Employers Must Apply by July 31

Covid-19 Hazard Pay for PA Workers

Healthcare workers. Public Transportation workers. Grocery store employees. These are just some members of Pennsylvania’s workforce who have been on the front-line during the COVID-19 crisis.

These workers are vital to all Pennsylvanians – and now help is available to keep them employed in the form of hazard pay grants.

A $50 million COVID-19 PA Hazard Pay Grant Program has been established to help employers provide hazard pay to employees in life-sustaining occupations during the pandemic.

Eligibility
Front-line employees themselves are not eligible to apply. This reimbursement-based grant is for employers offering hazard pay during the eligible program period. Applicants must be a business, healthcare nonprofit, public transportation agency or certified economic development organization (CEDO) located and operating in Pennsylvania in one of the following industries:

• Healthcare and Social Assistance – includes hospitals, residential care facilities and ambulatory health care services.
• Food Manufacturing – includes animal food manufacturing, animal processing, dairy product manufacturing and fruit and vegetable manufacturing.
• Food Retail Facilities – includes grocery, convenience and specialty food stores.
• Janitorial Services – includes services to buildings and dwellings.
• Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation - includes urban transit systems, bus transportation and freight trucking.
• Security Services for Eligible Industries Listed Above and Commercial Industries that were not closed as a result of the Governor’s Business Closure Order.

Employers must meet other guidelines including paying their employees at least federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and following current Center for Disease Control (CDC) workplace guidelines.

Use of Funds
Businesses may apply for up to $1,200 per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee which must then be paid to the employee over a 10-week period from August 16, 2020 through October 24, 2020 as a $3 per hour hazard pay increase to their regular pay rate. To qualify to receive hazard pay grant funds, full-time and part-time employees must earn less than $20 per hour excluding fringe benefits and overtime.

Employers can apply for a grant to cover up to 500 employees per location with an overall cap of $3 million per employer. In addition, CEDOs applying on behalf of employers may request an administrative fee, not to exceed 5% of the grant total.

How to Apply
Applications must be submitted online to the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) by July 31, 2020.

Click here to access the application link: https://www.esa.dced.state.pa.us/login.aspx or reach out to the Herbein team with any questions.

For additional information contact us at info@herbein.com.