Salt Lake County employees — all 7,000 of them — can get Christmas cash for being vaccinated.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson announced Tuesday that the county’s entire workforce can get up to $500 per person if they get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu.
Each employee can get $300 if they show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 3. If the employee also has received a flu shot, they become eligible for another $100. An employee can also receive an extra $100 if all members of their household aged 12 and older are vaccinated.
“Having a vaccinated workforce is in the best interest of the county, our employees, and the community we serve,” Wilson said in a statement, in which she encouraged private employers “to take appropriate measures to vaccinate their workers.”
According to the mayor’s spokeswoman, Chloe Morroni, details on how the incentive will be funded are still being worked out. The money, she said, likely will come from federal money allocated to the county through the American Rescue Plan Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in March.
Wilson presented the incentive plan — with the tagline “Kick COVID to the Curb” — to the Salt Lake County Council during a work session Tuesday, Morroni said. She added that the council passed a resolution approving the incentive.
Employees who have already been vaccinated are eligible, as well as those who get their shots between now and Dec. 3, and will be able to apply for the incentive via an internal county website, Morroni added.
Incentives should be distributed, Morroni said, with the regular Dec. 17 paycheck — just in time for holiday spending.
