As many as 15,000 front-line workers are still waiting for temporary pandemic pay top-ups of $4 an hour, promised by the B.C. government last spring.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said 203,000 people have been paid and the Finance Ministry has informed him the remaining cases should be resolved within the next two to three weeks.
The province’s temporary pandemic pay website says $300 million has been paid out to date and it is processing payments as quickly as possible. “It’s been estimated that a further 10,000 to 15,000 people may still qualify and each receive their pandemic pay,” Dix said Monday. “And while we agree that’s too long, 203,000 have received it, and I think that what we’re seeing are positive steps forward.”
The $4-an-hour lump-sum payment was promised to about 250,000 front-line workers in health, social services and corrections in mid-May for work done between March 15 and July 4.
On its website, the government says the delays are “largely due to administrative complexities associated with distributing a new program to an estimated 250,000 employees working for hundreds of different employers.”
The site, last updated Feb. 3, suggests more than 15,000 are yet to receive the pandemic pay. That’s down from 120,000 in mid-December.
Many of those could be characterized as contracted-out support workers in hospitals and extended care facilities, “among the lowest paid in the sector,” said Mike Old, interim secretary-business manager of the Hospital Employees’ Union.
Many have been paid only in recent weeks, and while that’s disappointing, Old said, “we’re glad most of them have got it now.”
The HEU workers still waiting work for for-profit and non-profit care home operators, he said. “So the people who needed the pandemic pay the most are now having to wait the longest.”
Old acknowledges the administrative financial framework is complex but said more resources could have been added to better deliver on the promise.
Dix expressed appreciation Monday for everybody on the front lines and experiencing difficult times in the fight against COVID-19. “Our expectation is that this pandemic pay question will be resolved shortly.”
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
