The Municipality of Anchorage will spend over $190,000 so that each employee can take four hours of paid leave in order to get a Covid-19 vaccine.
In an analysis done by the director of internal audit at the request of Assembly member Jamie Allard, the vaccine leave cost projection was based on a average salary of $30 an hour and would cover all city workers who are part of a union, including Anchorage Municipal Employees Association; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1547; Public Employees, Local 71; International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 302; United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, Local 367; and Teamsters, Local 959. More than 1,000 workers would be covered by the special dispensation.
“Instead of paying an employee $120 to work for four hours (4 x $30 an hour), the employee will be paid the same $120 for four hours of non-cashable leave (4 x $30 an hour). Therefore, whether the employee works or uses non-cashable leave the monetary value is the same,” the audit said.
The leave premium will be in effect if the Assembly passes it at next Tuesday’s meeting, according to the agenda.
