The House and Senate just agreed to provide every Florida Law Enforcement Officer, Correctional Officer, Correctional Probation Officer, and Institutional Security Specialist with a one-time $1,000 bonus for the pandemic response.

PAYMENTS TO PANDEMIC FIRST RESPONDERS

The nonrecurring sum of $208,437,432 from the General Revenue Fund is appropriated to the Department of Economic Opportunity to distribute a one-time bonus payment of $1,000 to each essential first responder. An essential first responder is an individual who is a first responder, considered an essential frontline worker in responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and employed by a state or local government who is a sworn law enforcement officer, emergency medical technician, firefighter, paramedic, Institutional Security Officer, Chief, Specialist, or Supervisor of the Department of Children and Families or Agency for Persons with Disabilities, or Department of Corrections’ Certified Correctional Officer, Certified Correctional Probation Officer, or IG Inspector. The bonus payment shall be adjusted to include 7.65 percent for Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) tax. Each bonus payment shall be pro-rated based on the full-time equivalency of the employee’s position. Employees classified as being other personnel services (OPS) New Language or temporary employees are not eligible for the bonus payment.

Impacted collective bargaining units are not precluded from bargaining over wages; however, the funding allocation for the one-time bonus payment must be used solely to comply with the requirements of this section.

Matt Puckett
Executive Director