Penn State Health updates COVID-19 Special Pay programs
With COVID-19 vaccines now free and available to everyone ages 16 and above, Penn State Health will end one program it launched a year ago to help protect employees during the pandemic and alter another.
Effective Sunday, May 23, the CARE Pay program will end. Employees should discuss continued family care needs with their leadership and use other available paid time off programs and/or leave options as necessary. Family care resources are available through the health system’s employee assistance partner, Guidance Resources.
Also starting May 23, Penn State Health will modify its WELL Pay program in the following ways:
- WELL Pay will be capped at 16 shifts (14 shifts for quarantine/isolation events, two shifts for vaccine side effects events). Employees who have previously exhausted 16 shifts of WELL Pay will not have access to additional WELL Pay hours. Employees who do not have access to WELL Pay should use other available paid time off programs and/or leave options as necessary.
- The system will change eligibility criteria for WELL Pay, as well. Eligible employees are those who have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine within six months of infection or exposure.
Penn State Health launched multiple programs and resources starting in March 2020 to help employees cope, their families and colleagues cope with the pandemic, including the COVID-19 Special Pay Practices program ― WELL Pay and CARE Pay. To date, Penn State Health has paid $9.7 million into these pay programs, combined.
Full details on the changes can be found on mySolutions. For questions regarding these programs, contact human resources at 717-531-8440.
Employees and managers can continue to access Penn State Health’s BeWell Employee Wellness Resources.
Employees and students can visit the Employee Health COVID site to schedule their vaccination. To date, Penn State Health has administered more than 136,000 vaccines to employees, students, patients and the public at large.
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