May 19, 2020 - BC's Temporary Pandemic Pay Program Announcement

Overview

On May 7^th, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that all provinces and territories have confirmed, or are in the process of confirming, plans to cost share wage top-ups for their essential workers. The Government of Canada committed to provide up to $3 billion in support to increase the wages of low-income essential workers. Each province or territory is individually responsible for determining eligible workers within the available funding envelope.

Today the Province announced and provided details on how BC employees, including those working in community social services, can access the federal and provincial governments’ cost-shared plan that will provide temporary pandemic pay for essential workers.

BC’s approach focuses on:

• Frontline workers in health, social services and corrections who provide a range of in-person, clinical and supportive services to vulnerable populations where physical distancing is difficult or impossible.
• Pandemic pay will be equivalent to $4 per hour and delivered in lump sum payments.
• The start date of the 16-week period is March 15th to reflect the height of the province’s pandemic response.

The program will provide temporary $4 per hour pandemic pay to individuals working on the front lines of our sector. Eligibility criteria include the following:

• Employees must have worked straight-time hours at any point during the 16-week period starting March 15^th.
• It does not apply to excluded management staff, fee for service providers or employees on leave.
• It does not apply to employees who received additional compensation as part of BC Housing’s Safe Staffing Strategy.
• Programs that have been closed or transitioned to a primarily virtual model are not eligible for pandemic pay.

CSSEA is working with the Province and will be able to answer questions on eligible job classifications.

Process for Receiving Funds

CSSEA will work with employers and funding ministries to determine a process to report eligibility and transfer funding in the coming days. It is likely that many employees will receive their pandemic pay in one lump sum at the conclusion of the 16-week period, after employers have reconciled hours worked with their funders. The funding for temporary pandemic pay is available for provincially-funded programs only, and only for the portion of workers who are funded by the province. For more information, consult the Province’s news release and webpage.