Minnesota Essential Workers Seek Back Pay for Quarantines

Thousands of essential workers in Minnesota including custodians were not compensated after being exposed to COVID-19 were forced to go through their vacation and sick-leave time during mandatory quarantines. These essential workers are pressing Minnesota lawmakers to pass a bill—the Essential Workers Emergency Leave Act—to provide up to 20 days of back pay to essential workers to make up for the time they spent in quarantines and caring for infected family members, KARE-TV reports.

State representative Cedrick Frazier of New Hope, Minnesota introduced HF41 in the Minnesota House of Representatives, where it passed in April. However, SF331—the state senate companion bill—has not been passed. Under the bill, essential workers would be eligible for up to 80 hours of back pay through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Furthermore, they will be eligible for an additional 80 hours of pay through the federal American Rescue Plan.

“Please move this bill forward. Take care of our essential workers,” Frazier said during a rally last week outside of the Minnesota capitol. “They are our heroes; they should be treated as such. We’re still in the midst of this pandemic. They are still showing up to do this work.”

Troy Bowman, a custodian and member of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), told reporters during the rally that his first quarantine occurred after a co-worker was exposed to COVID-19, and the second one began after he tested positive for COVID-19 himself.

“We’ve been treated as expendable workers,” Bowman said. “In the past year I had to quarantine two times covering over 30 days and I wasn’t paid for any of that time off. I can’t work from home!”

State senator Erin Murphy of St. Paul, Minnesota said the companion bill is stuck in the house-senate working group omnibus jobs bill because of objections from the health care industry.