Common use of Premium Pay Clause in Contracts

Premium Pay. Fiscal Recovery Funds payments may be used by recipients to provide premium pay to eligible workers performing essential work during the COVID–19 public health emergency or to provide grants to third-party employers with eligible workers performing essential work.95 These are workers who have been and continue to be relied on to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors, including those who are critical to protecting the health and wellbeing of their communities. Since the start of the COVID–19 public health emergency in January 2020, essential workers have put their physical wellbeing at risk to meet the daily needs of their communities and to provide care for others. In the course of this work, many essential workers have contracted or died of COVID–19.96 Several examples reflect the severity of the health impacts for essential workers. Meat processing plants became ‘‘hotspots’’ for transmission, with 700 new cases reported at a single plant on a single day in May 2020.97 In New York City, 120 employees of the Metropolitan Transit Authority were estimated to have died due to COVID–19 by mid-May 2020, with nearly 4,000 testing positive for the virus.98 Furthermore, many essential workers are people of color or low-wage workers.99 These workers, in particular, have borne a disproportionate share of the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Such workers include: • Staff at nursing homes, hospitals, and home care settings; • Workers at farms, food production facilities, grocery stores, and restaurants; • Janitors and sanitation workers; • Truck drivers, transit staff, and warehouse workers; • Public health and safety staff; • Childcare workers, educators, and other school staff; and • Social service and human services staff. During the public health emergency, employers’ policies on COVID–19- related hazard pay have varied widely, with many essential workers not yet compensated for the heightened risks they have faced and continue to face.100 96 See, e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker: Cases & Death among Healthcare Personnel, xxxxx://xxxxx.xxx.xxx/ covid-data-tracker/#health-care-personnel (last visited May 4, 2021); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker: Confirmed COVID–19 Cases and Deaths among Staff and Rate per 1,000 Resident-Weeks in Nursing Homes, by Week—United States, xxxxx://xxxxx.xxx.xxx/covid- data-tracker/#nursing-home-staff (last visited May 4, 2021). 97 See, e.g., The Lancet, The plight of essential workers during the COVID–19 pandemic, Vol. 395, Issue 10237:1587 (May 23, 2020), available at xxxxx://xxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx/journals/lancet/article/ PIIS0140-6736%2820%2931200-9/fulltext. 98 Id. 99 Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx et al., Xxxxx–19 and essential workers: A narrative review of health outcomes and moral injury, Int’l J. of Envtl. Research and Pub.

Premium Pay. Fiscal Recovery Funds payments may be used by recipients to provide premium pay to eligible workers performing essential work during the COVID–19 public health emergency or to provide grants to third-party employers with eligible workers performing essential work.95 These are workers who have been and continue to be relied on to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors, including those who are critical to protecting the health and wellbeing of their communities. Since the start of the COVID–19 public health emergency in January 2020, essential workers have put their physical wellbeing at risk to meet the daily needs of their communities and to provide care for others. In the course of this work, many essential workers have contracted or died of COVID–19.96 Several examples reflect the severity of the health impacts for essential workers. Meat processing plants became ‘‘hotspots’’ for transmission, with 700 new cases reported at a single plant on a single day in May 2020.97 In New York City, 120 employees of the Metropolitan Transit Authority were estimated to have died due to COVID–19 by mid-May 2020, with nearly 4,000 testing positive for the virus.98 Furthermore, many essential workers are people of color or low-wage workers.99 These workers, in particular, have borne a disproportionate share of the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Such workers include: • Staff at nursing homes, hospitals, and home care settings; • Workers at farms, food production facilities, grocery stores, and restaurants; • Janitors and sanitation workers; • Truck drivers, transit staff, and warehouse workers; • Public health and safety staff; • Childcare workers, educators, and other school staff; and • Social service and human services staff. During the public health emergency, employers’ policies on COVID–19- related hazard pay have varied widely, with many essential workers not yet compensated for the heightened risks they have faced and continue to face.100 96 See, e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker: Cases & Death among Healthcare Personnel, xxxxx://xxxxx.xxx.xxx/ covid-data-tracker/#health-care-personnel (last visited May 4, 2021); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker: Confirmed COVID–19 Cases and Deaths among Staff and Rate per 1,000 Resident-Weeks in Nursing Homes, by Week—United States, xxxxx://xxxxx.xxx.xxx/covid- data-tracker/#nursing-home-staff (last visited May 4, 2021). 97 See, e.g., The Lancet, The plight of essential workers during the COVID–19 pandemic, Vol. 395, Issue 10237:1587 (May 23, 2020), available at xxxxx://xxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx/journals/lancet/article/ PIIS0140-6736%2820%2931200-9/fulltext. 98 Id. 99 Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx et al., Xxxxx–19 Covid–19 and essential workers: A narrative review of health outcomes and moral injury, Int’l J. of Envtl. Research and Pub.