The Clarksville City Council is going to further study COVID-19 premium hazard pay eligibility and requirements for city employees, after adopting a resolution last week that was sponsored by Councilperson Wanda Allen.
“I think the passage of this resolution is a step in the right direction,” Allen said. “People want to know, ‘is there anything we can do about this?’ and they deserve an answer to that question.”
An amended version of the passed resolution requires that the full city council meet in special-called working session at a date to be determined, to, as Allen stated, “come up with some type of solution for our former city employees,” who did not receive hazard pay mainly due to deadline restrictions for eligibility.
Originally, Allen had asked the council’s finance committee to study the measure, but after further discussion, it was decided to take it to the full council.
“I brought this resolution before you because several of our former city employees have been asking, ‘what can we do?'” Allen told fellow council members Thursday in monthly regular session.
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The council will be studying internal rules of eligibility for city employee premium hazard pay distributions under the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 2021 grant allocations.
Funds were distributed to city employees who were at risk of exposure to COVID-19 while on the job during the pandemic.
ARPA is a nationwide coronavirus rescue package designed to aid recovery from the economic and health effects of COVID-19, by guaranteeing direct relief to U.S communities.
The city of Clarksville did use some of its ARPA grant allocation to pay premium hazard pay to essential city employees who were at risk.
All regular full-time and part-time employees who worked for the city between March 1, 2020 and March 1, 2022, were paid premium hazard pay based on the number of months served.
Allen’s resolution said that city elected officials, seasonal and temporary employees, retirees, and former employees who left their position before March 1, 2022, did not receive premium hazard pay; and … “the given dates and employee eligibility definition may have excluded those employees who served during the pandemic but then retired, took a new position, or died of COVID-19 before March 1, 2022 … “
To “ensure fairness and equity among all city employees and the proper
expenditure of government funds,” Allen’s stance is that the council should study the criteria for premium hazard pay “including the dates of eligibility and the definition of an employee eligible for premium hazard pay, while giving consideration to payment
to department heads and directors up to the full amount of $7,500, payment to
documented surviving family members of city employees who died from COVID and
payment of pro-rated hazard pay for employees who worked for the city after March 1, 2020 but were not employed by the city on March 1, 2022.”
The resolution calling for a special work session of the council stipulates that it must be held by Sept. 25, Allen added.
Reach Jimmy Settle at jimmysettle@theleafchronicle.com or 931-245-0247. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to TheLeafChronicle.com.
