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8.A. - Page 21 of 21 <br />• Modest hazard pay for more essential workers: Policymakers could also explore <br />opportunities to widen eligibility by including more essential workers in additional <br />mandates with less generous hourly pay, in addition to the more targeted grocery and <br />retail worker hazard pay. For instance, to expand eligibility to workers outside of the <br />most profitable companies, policymakers could consider a more modest wage <br />increase (such as $1 or $2 per hour) for a larger pool of essential workers, perhaps <br />with either exemptions for small businesses and certain struggling industries or <br />grants to reimburse them. <br />More local governments should mandate hazard pay <br />While not addressing the needs of all essential workers, the new local ordinances in Long <br />Beach, Santa Monica, and Seattle are paving a new approach for how cities and counties <br />can address the needs of their frontline essential workers, despite inaction by Congress <br />and the unwillingness of some large companies to share their pandemic profits. By <br />focusing on some of the companies that do have the means to provide extra hazard pay, <br />policymakers will make an immediate and meaningful difference for some of the workers <br />risking the most on the COVID-19 frontline. <br />The case for more local hazard pay mandates may become even more urgent in the coming <br />weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecasted that the more highly <br />transmissible U.K. variant of COVID-19 will become the dominant strain in the country by <br />March, foreshadowing a potentially worsening pandemic ahead. While frontline essential <br />workers are prioritized for vaccines, their sustained exposure to COVID-19 at work could <br />continue to jeopardize the health and safety of family members in their household who <br />may have to wait months or longer to be vaccinated. <br />There are essential workers in every community across America who are performing jobs <br />vital to their neighbors and the country, at great risk to themselves and their families. <br />Hazard pay is one way that employers and policymakers can recognize their sacrifices and <br />honor their essential value. New hazard pay mandates are a promising model for other <br />local governments across the country to replicate and build on, ensuring that we not only <br />praise essential workers in our communities, but also pay them. <br />X <br />