The online application portal for Minnesota’s Frontline Worker Pay program has been open for two weeks. Eligible workers still have exactly one month from today to apply as the portal will officially close on Friday, July 22, 2022, at 5:00 pm CST.
The Frontline Worker Pay Program was established earlier this spring as a way to “thank those Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency.” Frontline sector employees should have already been provided notice from their employers that they may be eligible for these benefits.
The fifteen frontline sectors that are part of this program include: 1) Building services (including maintenance and janitorial); 2) Child care; 3) Courts and corrections; 4) Emergency responders; 5) Food service; 6) Ground and air transportation services; 7) Health care; 8) Long-term care and home care; 9) Manufacturing; 10) Public health; 11) Social service and regulatory service; 12) Public transit; 13) Schools; 14) Temporary shelters and hotels; and 15) Vocational rehabilitation. For more information and a detailed list of all occupations included in these sectors, please access the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s (DLI) Frontline Worker Pay toolkit.
Those qualifying for Frontline Worker Pay:
- Must have been employed at least 120 hours in Minnesota in one or more frontline sectors between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021;
- For the hours worked during this time period the applicant –
- was not able to telework due to the nature of the individual’s work, and
- worked in close proximity to people outside of the individual’s household;
- Must meet the income requirements for at least one of the 2020 or 2021 tax years –
- workers with direct COVID-19 patient care responsibilities must have had an adjusted gross income* less than $350,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly, or less than $175,000 for other filers, and
- for workers in occupations without direct COVID-19 patient care responsibilities, the adjusted gross income* limit is $185,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly, or $85,000 for other filers; and
- Must not have received an unemployment insurance benefit payment for more than 20 weeks on a cumulative basis for weeks between March 15, 2020, and June 26, 2021
Please apply to Minnesota’s Frontline Worker Pay program no later than 5:00 pm CST, Friday, July 22, 2022. Applications are available in English, Hmong, Somali, and Spanish.
