LANSING — Pay bonuses for thousands of state employees working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic will end this week.
About 14,000 state employees who work directly with the public — including those stationed in state hospitals, prisons and veterans homes — were given an extra $750 each two-week pay period since early April.
The bonuses, called "premium pay," were designed to recognize employees' work during the pandemic and keep critical employees on the job.
They were paid by roughly $95 million of federal funding, not the state, which is facing a budget crisis as revenues tank because of the virus.
More: State revenues expected to plummet $3.2B, presenting 'enormous challenge' for Michigan
But they are going away. The last pay period with premium pay for front-line state workers ends Saturday.
The 12 weeks of premium pay coincided with the peak of COVID-19, Office of State Employer spokesperson Kurt Weiss said in an email.
"While we need to stay vigilant and continue to test and monitor, the duration of premium pay for 3 months was an appropriate time frame," he said. "We appreciate everything our front line state workers have done in response to the virus."
Michigan has seen a drop in daily positive COVID-19 cases and deaths since the height of the pandemic in April, but the threat isn't over, said Andy Potter, Michigan Corrections Organization executive director.
People are still contracting the disease. Corrections officers and other state employees are still reporting to facilities where COVID-19 is a threat.
"A lot of people think the pandemic is over because the state is moving forward with opening up," Potter said. "Every person who walks inside of one of those institutions runs a risk. COVID inside of prisons is still running like a brush fire."
There have been more than 4,000 coronavirus cases in Michigan's prisons and 68 deaths, state records show.
The state should continue paying premium pay to corrections officers and other front-line employees, some of whom are still living apart from their families to protect their loved ones in case they pick up the virus at work, Potter said.
"We view premium pay as an acknowledgement of not just the hard work and the dangerous work, but the sacrifice of being away from their families, being self-quarantined away from their families," he said.
About 10,000 of the 14,000 state workers who received premium pay work in corrections.
The state should continue to offer premium pay "until the last COVID-infected person that is incarcerated is cleared."
Furloughs net more money than premium pay
The premium pay for front-line workers broke down to $325 per week.
That's less than the unemployment benefits paid to more than 31,000 state employees who are furloughed one day per-week through late July.
More: Program gives employees more than $600 a week for working less
The state is participating in a federal workshare program that allows it to save money by furloughing employees and making those employees entitled to the $600 weekly federal unemployment payment through late July.
State workers, who are furloughed for just one day per week from May 17 to July 25, are eligible for the full federal benefit and a partial state benefit. Furloughs will save the state nearly $80 million.
The workshare program is designed to help employers like the state government manage payroll costs, Weiss said. He said the $600 weekly federal unemployment payment for temporarily furloughed workers as "quite comparable" to the $750 in biweekly premium pay for front-line workers.
It's unclear whether furloughs will be extended past July 25, Weiss said. It depends on whether the federal government sends additional stimulus aid to the state or assures officials they can use federal funds for pay.
"A $6.2 billion revenue loss over this fiscal year and next is going to require very difficult decisions if additional aid and flexibility is not received," he said.
Contact Carol Thompson at ckthompson@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @thompsoncarolk.
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Premium pay ends for state employees on the front lines of Michigan coronavirus pandemic - Lansing State Journal
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