Infected Employees

As the number of VA patients with COVID-19 has risen, so has the number of infected employees. By the end of July, nearly 3,500 VA employees had tested positive. Of those, 445 were still active cases, and 45 had died.

As more VA employees have become ill, missed work and experienced the lasting impacts of the disease, more are filing claims under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA). A Labor Department report released last month shows that 2,866 COVID-19 claims were filed by June 16. The report predicts that number to hit 6,000 claims by early August. VA, along with employees in the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, represent 78% of those claims filed, with VA containing the largest number of positions that are considered “high-risk employment.”

Despite the rising number of infected employees, however, there is no guarantee in place that VA employees will receive hazard pay. Hazard pay for front-line federal employees was included in the stimulus package that passed the House in May, but Senate Republicans have resisted keeping that provision in the bill.

In the meantime, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has filed a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of the employees of a number of agencies, including VA. The suit argues that under U.S. Code General Schedule (GS) employees regularly exposed to the coronavirus as part of their duties are entitled to a 25% hazard pay bump, with non-GS employees due an 8% increase.

Some legislators are pleading with VA not to wait for the lawsuit or legislation and to proactively offer hazard pay to its staff. In a June 6 letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, Senate Democrats posed a number of questions regarding VA staff safety and payment.

“We remain concerned to hear reports that VA frontline medical employees still do not feel adequately supported to conduct their jobs safely, including having access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE),” the letter states. “Employees have also noted a lack of hazard pay in recognition of their daily risk of working in hospitals with COVID-19 patients.”

The letter quotes an article wherein a VA spokesperson argued that risk to employees at hospitals is “reasonably mitigated,” making them unqualified for hazard pay.

The legislators cited VA’s own employee infection and death statistics as evidence that the risk to employees is real.

“We will continue to advocate for hazard pay for workers on the front lines of this pandemic to recognize their service, bravery and risk in this unprecedented time,” the legislators wrote. “Given VA was appropriated more than $19 billion in the CARES Act for the COVID-19 response, we urge you to implement hazard pay for VA healthcare employees regardless of current incentives unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic they may also be receiving.”