Frontline worker Sheenagh Morrison walks with a little more pep in her step these days after finding out her pandemic pay won’t be clawed back by the province.
“It feels awesome, to feel that heard and listened to by the government and Ministry of Social Development,” the grocery store worker said.
Sheenagh came forward a month ago, telling CHEK News that her hero pay, officially known as pandemic pay, would soon be taken away from her.
READ MORE: Frontline worker hero pay could be clawed back from disability benefits
Sheenagh works at Thrifty Foods to help supplement her disability income. As a frontline worker, she qualified for hero pay, an extra cash boost for those working through this pandemic.
But to qualify for disability, she can’t earn more than $12,000 a year, and this added boost pushed her over the limit. Any income over the disability income limit would just go right back to the government.
“We were just kind of shocked,” said Douglas King, executive director of Together Against Poverty Society (TAPS). “Why would you say to somebody, you still have to work on the frontlines, you still qualify for hero pay, but you’re not able to keep it?”
But because Sheenagh spoke up, the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction decided to change its mind, making sure hero pay can say with the heroes, including those on disability.
“Effective Dec. 1, 2020, pandemic pay is exempt for people who were eligible for assistance or were designated as a Person with Disabilities (PWD) on April 2, 2020. This means that assistance payments for people will not be impacted as a result of receiving pandemic pay between October 2020 and June 2021,” said the ministry in a statement to CHEK.
Although this is great news for workers in this vulnerable community, the New Year brings more worry for anyone on disability, as they will be facing a loss of income.
“Hero pay is important, disability pay is important, but at the end of the day, what matters the most is that $300 the government has been giving to people on disability. It has to continue in the spring,” said King.
Back in April, the province added an extra $300 a month for those on disability to help with extra expenses related to COVID-19. But come January, the ministry has announced that amount will drop down to $150 a month. Then in April, there will be no bonus at all.
And the premier isn’t making any promises.
“We don’t think COVID will be with us next summer, in 2021. That’s the hope. I will be advocating for a permanent increase, but I’m only one voice at the table,” said John Horgan in a press conference on Tuesday.
With no concrete increase in sight, it’s a cause for concern for Sheenagh and others on government assistance.
“It makes me feel worried for people who don’t work as often as I do. Will they have enough money to live off of, without that extra $300? I wish they’d keep it on our cheques, because the pandemic isn’t over yet,” said Sheenagh.
For now, she’s excited for her hero pay, but looking into the New Year with unease.
READ MORE: B.C. health minister apologizes as more than 80,000 healthcare workers still without pandemic pay
Rebecca Lawrence
