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Members of the Durham Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to approve hazard pay for 1,100 employees funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. Eligible employees will receive differential pay at 10% up to $13 per hour or $25,000 per year.
Employees serving in healthcare settings who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to Covid-19 and employees who are essential to maintain critical county services qualify. Durham County will receive $62,906,808 from the American Rescue Plan Act. Nationally, $50 billion goes directly to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Durham County Public Health Director Rod Jenkins told county commissioners, during the March 22 board meeting, he would be remiss not to stand in support of employees who work hard in life-threatening circumstances.
“We have been forward facing, on site every day. We have not missed a beat. We have found that any additional incentive diffenently drives us a little bit more,” Jenkins said. “We’re professionals. We want to do this work, we’re entrusted to do this work, but it’s a little bit easier to do this work when you got a little more skin in the game.”
On March 14, 2020, Durham County Manager Wendell Davis approved hazard pay for essential employees who provide emergency services or support services that couldn’t be performed remotely. County finance staff maintained FEMA would reimburse 75% of the county cost.
Some members of the board questioned the staff’s interpretation of FEMA’s reimbursement guidelines. They also expressed concerns about Davis implementing hazard pay without board approval. Davis highlighted Durham County policy authorizing the county manager to give a 10% differential to “non-exempt, and essential employees” for hours worked during emergency situations. The board paused hazard pay on December 1, 2020.
Jim Groves, director of Emergency Services, says his employees have faced physical and emotional challenges since the beginning of the pandemic.
“In 11 months, they have responded to 5,500 Covid positive dispatches. We have confirmed that 840 of those were Covid positive cases,” Groves said. “With that we’ve been fortunate that we’ve only had 11 providers become Covid positive.”
Sharon Davis, Durham register of deeds, said the citizens of Durham county kept knocking on their door wanting documents during the pandemic and following a serious malware attack. By law, the register of deeds is required to remain accessible and the services they provide can’t be offered remotely.
“We leave our families each and every day. We don’t know what we are going to be exposed to when we are speaking or helping that person across the counter, and we really hope that we don’t take anything back home to our family,” Davis said. “I think they [employees] would truly appreciate knowing that our county, our commissioners, care about them by providing this increase for hazard pay.”
Sheriff Clarence Birkhead noted the challenges his department faces during the pandemic. He mentioned the 356 people under his care and custody at the detention center. He said the pandemic didn’t stop crime. Last year, there were over 900 shootings in the city and county, with 35 homicides. Birkhead said the city and county in the first two months of this year are on track to surpass those numbers.
“Tragically, we’ve lost three members of the Durham County Sheriff Department family to this pandemic. We have felt the grief firsthand here inside the Sheriff's office, and many of us and our families circles as well,” Birkhead said. “Yet, we still come to work.
After being questioned about options for employees beyond Covid, Davis (county manager) said he plans to bring forward a recommendation in his budget to include something across the board for all county employees considering what they have experienced over the past year.
“We have figured out a way to put books in citizens hands at our libraries, although our library doors were closed to the public. We have employees redirect their responsibilities and take on work of feeding the hungry and placing themselves in harm's way. We have reassigned job duties and responsibilities, and all those employees need to be recognized and consequently properly compensated,” Davis said. “It’s one thing to recognize people, but, at the end of the day in the environment that we live in, thank you doesn’t put a loaf of bread or food on the table or a gallon of milk in the refrigerator.”
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