Norton Asks Bureau of Engraving and Printing to Give Police Officers Hazard Pay
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the letter she sent today to Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) Director Leonard R. Olijar asking him to allow BEP police officers hazard pay while working during the coronavirus. Norton sent her letter after receiving notification from the Fraternal Order of Police that BEP officers were not receiving hazard pay.
"Bureau of Engraving and Printing police officers are putting their lives on the line every day, not just through their normal duties that already involve policing, but especially because they are working during the coronavirus," Norton said. "There is no reason the agency should deny these employees hazard pay while they are doing this public service."
Norton's letter follows:
April 1, 2020
Leonard R. Olijar
Director
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Department of the Treasury
14th and C Streets SW
Washington, D.C. 20228
Dear Director Olijar:
I understand that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has written to you requesting that you deem the work of Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) officers during the coronavirus as qualifying for hazard pay. I further understand that you have denied this request, even though the officers are working during the worst pandemic in more than 100 years in the United States. I ask that you reverse this decision and give the officers hazard pay, or explain why this unprecedented situation would not qualify for such pay.
As you know, and as the FOP has pointed out to you, under 5 CFR Appendix A to Subpart I of Part 550, entitled "Schedule of Pay Differentials Authorized for Hazardous Duty Under Subpart I," employees are entitled to hazard pay when "[m]aterials of microorganic nature which when introduced into the body are likely to cause serious disease or fatality and for which protective devices do not afford complete protection." I appreciate that BEP has done some work to protect officers from the coronavirus. However, it is not enough. There is almost no protective gear that can completely protect an officer during this pandemic. I therefore see no reason why you should deny them hazard pay under this provision of the CFR.
I ask that you provide hazard pay to the officers and that you respond to this letter, in writing, within three days.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Holmes Norton