HB 2015

Abstract

Essential workers; hazard pay; personalprotective equipment; civil penalty. Requires, that followingthe declaration by the Governor of a state of emergency that includesor is followed by any additional executive order in furtherance ofsuch declaration that includes a stay-at-home or shelter-in-placeorder, employers shall (i) compensate each of their essential workersat a rate not less than one and one-half times the essential worker'sregular rate of pay for any hours worked during the closure orderand (ii) provide their essential workers with personal protectiveequipment related to the state of emergency and recommended for therelevant work site or job task by the Virginia Department of Laborand Industry, the State Department of Health, the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Prevention, or the federal Occupational Safetyand Health Administration. The bill defines "essential worker" as an individual employed as a health care provider, home care provider,or airport worker or by an essential retail business, as specifiedin the bill. The bill subjects violators to the same civil penalties,and provides the same cause of action for an employer's failure topay the required hazard pay, as are currently imposed for failing to pay wages generally.