$1,000 incentive replaces county’s vaccine mandate

County Executive Steuart Pittman announced Wednesday his administration will pay county employees $1,000 to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 30.

The incentive will replace an approaching requirement that county employees must be vaccinated for COVID-19 or show proof of a negative test for COVID-19 by Saturday. Employees no longer have to follow that requirement as the county tests how successful a monetary incentive will be at convincing employees who are holding out on getting a vaccine to change their minds.

Weekly COVID-19 tests are delayed until the conclusion of the incentive program on Nov. 30. The incentive program will help the county determine where vaccination rates are lagging among staff and adjust messaging and outreach through departments based on the data, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Pittman has said the option for workers to routinely prove they tested negative for the virus was offered as an alternative to vaccination to prevent staff from quitting or being fired.

“We have departments where we can’t afford to lose people right now. We don’t want to cost ourselves services, important services,” Pittman said in an August media call explaining the vaccination requirement that would have started this Saturday. “We believe it contributes to safety in the workplace to slowly spread the virus while accommodating some folks who we may not

agree with, but we don’t want to lose them.”

Whether the effort of getting tested for coronavirus each week was enough to motivate people to get vaccinated will remain unknown as the county doles out payments instead. County employees who received a COVID-19 vaccine by Nov. 30 are eligible to receive the $1,000 payment, along with employees that have already been vaccinated.

There are about 5,200 employees, including temporary and contractual. The county will use federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for the incentive.

“Our hope is that the increase in vaccinated employees will ultimately reduce the excessive costs, as well as the staffing and scheduling burdens associated with implementing a testing regimen for unvaccinated employees,” Chief Administrative Officer Matt Power said in a statement. “With a finite amount of resources and a clear public health goal — to get all eligible staff vaccinated as soon as possible — we’re focusing our efforts on increasing vaccinations and protecting our workforce.”

Beginning the week of Sept.13, county employees can start entering their vaccination verification into a secure web portal. Those who upload their vaccine verification by Sept. 20 will receive a $1,000 off-cycle payroll check or direct deposit on Oct. 15. For employees of quasi-governmental agencies not on the county payroll, the date of payment will be determined by the respective

agency head, a county spokesperson said in a statement.

Employees on county payroll who upload verification after Sept. 20 but before Nov. 30 will also receive an off-cycle payroll payment of $1,000 prior to Dec. 24. The payment date for the second round of payments for quasi-governmental agencies will also be at the discretion of the respective agency head.

Temporary or contractual employees who worked more than 1,000 hours in FY 2020 and are still on payroll the week of Sept. 13 will also eligible for the vaccination incentive payment.