Nicole Page Quoted in Bloomberg Law Discussing Hazard Pay for Essential Workers

On April 13, Bloomberg Law published an article entitled, “Hazard Pay Plans Poised to Outlast Virus with Bipartisan Push,” discussing the new drive to provide hazard pay for workers deemed essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, hazard pay is not required for any private workers, and it has become a decreasingly prevalent provision within union contracts in recent years. However, lawmakers are now considering measures to provide variations of hazard pay, or “Pandemic Premium Pay,” for workers on the frontlines in both public and private-sector jobs to both mitigate the personal hazard endured by them and acknowledge their tireless work throughout the coronavirus period with more adequate compensation.

RPJ Partner Nicole Page provided comment for the article, suggesting that whatever lawmakers decide now could have lasting effects for future pandemics. She said, “I do think that because this will unfortunately not be the last time that workers may be exposed to a potentially deadly virus, that whatever policies are enacted now will be precedent setting for the future.”

Read the full article on Bloomberg Law here.