DoC Staff Working In Hot Spots To Receive Hazard Pay
Mike Seals - September 22, 2020 12:10 pm
Oklahoma Department of Corrections staff working inside a facility designated a hot spot will receive additional compensation.
ODOC automatically declares a facility hot when at least 20 percent of the population in a facility with celled housing tests positive for COVID-19 or at least 15 percent in open bay housing. Beyond the number of positives, ODOC could declare a unit hot if it houses inmates with an increased medical acuity or a vulnerable population. That hot spot declaration immediately initiates the deployment of ODOC’s Rapid Response Team.
Staff working in hot spot areas put themselves and their family members at greater risk of contracting the illness. To compensate for this, ODOC will immediately beginning providing a $2 an hour hazardous duty pay supplement. The hazard duty pay ends when a facility is no longer considered a hot spot.
ODOC will use existing state appropriated funds for this initiative and will continue as long as the agency’s budget can sustain it.
