All home care workers have benefitted and will keep benefitting from these increased wages. Higher wages for home care workers, in the form of hazard pay, helped to stabilize the workforce by paying caregivers to continue to do their job through the shutdowns and by boosting income just enough to mitigate caregivers economic crises and hardships. As a result, the young teenager tells her mom she doesnt want to live anymore and she doesnt know if she can handle it anymore. If wages decrease again, the caregiver will have to take on more work hours, and her daughter will have to do even more child care, threatening her mental health. However, the average monthly cost ranges from $3,800 on the low end to $6,750 on the high end, based on one's geographic location. Before hazard pay, one in three (36%) of all caregivers said they always or often feared losing housing. But in January of 2021, with the money from hazard pay, we were finally able to get our own place. Malcom, most people just dont care, he said. Unfortunately, the short-term nature of economic relief for the home care workforce is proving unmatched to the outsized needs for future long-term services and supports. Photos. We will then be working this year through the new Rate Setting Board and through negotiations with Consumer Direct for a new contract starting July 2023 with the goal of establishing a starting wage of more than $20/hour and permanently increased wages for ALL caregivers. Despite a wide range in household size, including 18% of respondents in households with five or more people, 79% of respondents had a total annual household income below $60,000. This proposal would have applied a flat-rate hazard pay increase of $13 an hour paid for by $200 billion in federal funding. .agency-blurb-container .agency_blurb.background--light { padding: 0; } Senator Murray, caregivers,and senior and disability advocacy representatives online. .paragraph--type--html-table .ts-cell-content {max-width: 100%;} The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the Department of Health (DOH) are in charge of setting new deadlines for caregivers. On every indicator of economic security measured in the survey, hazard pay produced significant improvements in caregivers lives (see chart on Page 2 summarizing key indicators). Staying healthy in a job that requires providing intimate care to multiple clients also requires preventive measures and protective equipment. As Lauren Evans explains, We are people who give our lives to someone so that they can live theirs. With such work so undervalued in the labor market, it is no wonder the industry experiences high turnover and low retention. A 2021 state audit found caregivers on average make just 58% of a living wage for their counties. Interviewees were chosen to represent the demographic and geographic diversity of caregivers across Washington State. More than one in three caregivers (36%) had total household incomes below $30,000, and 13% of caregivers household incomes were below $20,000. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. There is free or low cost help for unpaid caregivers through the Family Caregiver Support Program. Although thousands of Marylanders received COVID-19 vaccines in the battle against the novel coronavirus pandemic, frontline medical workers, grocery store clerks and other essential workers face high levels of exposure. She cited, Before the pandemic, when one of my clients got the flu, I would bring it back home to my family. She explains, My friends see that I am happier now [and] ask what my secret is. Hazard pay is a temporary improvement in caregivers lives and in the quality and availability of home care, but it is not enough. WA APs: We will be bargaining over the extension of Hazard Pay with each agency. Hazard pay means additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship. Continuing Education. Yes, a caregiver can be a paid role. Ashley Duckman, vice president of governmental affairs for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, echoed that view and said the bill presents many unintended consequences for both employers and employees. These findings add recent and relevant information to a long-standing body of research showing that improving home care job quality is critical to addressing home care shortages. The State has extended the CE Training deadline until August 31, 2023. The .gov means its official. That increase is set to expire . Our first priority is PPEwe cannot win this fight if health care workers fall ill, and our members deserve to be protected as they work to help others recover. Black, Indigenous, and caregivers of color, as well as caregivers who speak a language other than English and caregivers raising children often experienced the most economic hardship before hazard pay and saw the biggest net improvement from higher wages. This allowed caregivers some ability to spend money beyond bills and the bare necessities. Since Ive started using masks, that hasnt happened., The extra money doesnt make up for the sacrifice we make every day, the risk with our clients, the possible exposure. But in view of the PPE shortages that have been going on for weeks on end, health care workers have earned more than our thanks. Visit our CDWA FAQ or email mrc@seiu775.org, Trouble logging in? Employers can apply for a grant to provide hazard pay for up to 500 eligible full-time equivalent employees per location ($600,000 maximum grant per location). It provides evidence that even a $2.50 increase in home care wages yields significant measurable improvements in caregivers' housing and food security, access to healthcare, mental health,. Hazard pay is a one-time infusion of economic relief that should only be the down payment. He needs me to stay alive. The failure to value home care work and invest sufficient public dollars in the industry compromises the availability of quality care for the elderly and people with disabilities who rely on them the most. For media inquiries, please contact press@seiu775.org. Providing care is challenging, physically demanding work and often lacks health insurance, retirement, paid leave, predictable work arrangements, or other protective workplace benefits. The survey, emailed and texted to 42,000 caregivers in May 2021, was conducted online in English, Spanish, Russian, and Korean, and was completed by 5,307 caregivers, a 13% response rate. Thats why Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-District 47) of Cheverly sponsors legislation for employers to provide hazard pay at $3 per hour for those workers with annual salaries of less than $100,000. Following the guidance in President Bidens American Jobs Plan, Congress should invest $400 billion in expanding Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) under Medicaid to both expand access to services and improve wages and benefits for home care workers. You can be paid as a family member to be a caregiver in Washington state, but only under specific circumstances. According to the legislation, some of the employees covered in different fields such as an internet service provider (communications sector), court reporters (government sector) and airline worker (transportation systems sector). These benefits are generally a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee's representative). Asian/Pacific Islander and Latino/a respondents made up the biggest non-White racial groups (14% and 11%, respectively), although Black/African American/African caregivers (7%) were represented at almost twice their rate in the general population. Heres what our SEIU 775 bargaining team won: This is the first step in our campaign to win permanent $20+ wages for all home care workers even after the temporary hazard pay ends: by winning an increase in our base wage scale. HEROES Act Hazard Pay Amount The original bill said that an essential work employer shall pay each of its essential workers $13 for each hour of work performed from Jan. 27, 2020 until 60 days after the last day of the COVID-19 public health emergency. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not address the subject of hazard pay, except to require that it be included as part of a federal employee's regular rate of pay in computing the employee's overtime pay. Janet Mills for some its health care and corrections workers to receive raises between $3 to $5 an hour, depending on their . Before hazard pay, 42% of caregivers often or always avoided going to the doctor, urgent care, or hospital because they could not afford it. December 21, 2021 Update: When the pandemic began, the federal government recognized the essential work of long-term care and temporarily increased funding for it. Such . Sen. Stephen Hershey, a Republican who represents parts of the Eastern Shore, voices opposition to the measure, insisting said the 76 sub-industries like automotive and energy covered in the bill are too widely varied to be effectively addressed in a single law. Other unions still hope for hazard pay July 01, 2021 5:25 AM Jeong Park 916-321-1697. Home care workers provide support to people with disabilities and older adults so that they may receive care and remain in their own homes. A 12.7% raise, bringing the base pay rate up to $17.77 over the next 15 months. .dol-alert-status-error .alert-status-container {display:inline;font-size:1.4em;color:#e31c3d;} [CDATA[/* >