Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature providing bonus pay for eligible COVID-19 frontline workers. Sign up here to receive updates about Frontline Worker Pay.

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Applications and assistance

It is anticipated the application will be open June 8 through July 22, 2022. These dates are subject to change. When the system is ready to accept applications, eligible workers will have 45 days to apply for Frontline Worker Pay.

Additional information will be added as it is developed, including informational handouts in multiple languages and other useful resources. After the application is ready, applicant support will also be available to assist applicants in multiple languages.

Information for employers

Within 15 days after the application period is opened, employers in the identified frontline sector must provide notice to all current workers who may be eligible for payments of the assistance available to them and how to apply for payments. An employer notice that meets this obligation will be available here as soon as the application dates are finalized.

Appeals

Those whose applications are denied may appeal the decision within 15 days of notice of denial.

Payments

After processing and verification of the applications, as well as a 15-day period for denied applicants to contest those decisions, the final list of eligible applicants will be determined. Each eligible applicant will be provided with an equal payment, not to exceed $1,500. All applications will move through the process at the same time and payments will be forwarded for processing together.

About Frontline Worker Pay

To thank those Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency, Gov. Tim Walz signed Frontline Worker Payments into law April 29, 2022, enabling those workers to apply for Frontline Worker Pay.

Eligibility criteria for Frontline Worker Pay are set forth in the Frontline Worker Pay law. If you are unsure if you are eligible, you should review the law and guidance and truthfully fill in and submit the application during the 45-day application period.

To be eligible for Frontline Worker Pay, the applicant:

• 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 year between Dec. 31, 2019, and Jan. 1, 2022 –
  • workers with direct COVID-19 patient care responsibilities must have had an adjusted gross income of 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 (Minnesota Statutes, section 268.085, subdivision 1, clause 6).

The frontline sectors include:

• long-term care and home care;
• health care;
• emergency responders;
• public health, social service, and regulatory service;
• courts and corrections;
• child care;
• schools, including charter schools, state schools and higher education;
• food service, including production, processing, preparation, sale and delivery;
• retail, including sales, fulfillment, distribution and delivery;
• temporary shelters and hotels;
• building services, including maintenance, janitorial and security;
• public transit;
• ground and air transportation services;
• manufacturing; and
• vocational rehabilitation.