coronavirus in connecticut

‘Hero Pay' to Begin Going Out Next Week

NBC Universal, Inc.

The state’s “Hero Pay” payments will begin going out next week.

Comptroller Sean Scanlon said the payments will begin going out on Feb. 1.

"Hero Pay" or the Premium Pay program is meant to provide a bonus of up to $1,000 to essential workers employed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state comptroller held a news conference Tuesday morning to provide updated details on the distribution.

The payments will be sent out in batches of 20,000 per week and go first to the direct deposit accounts of 150,000 Connecticut workers who qualified for the program, Scanlon said.

Scanlon said 120,000 of the people eligible to receive the pay opted for direct deposit while the other 35,000 chose to receive checks.

The process is expected to take around six weeks.

The checks will be sent out the last week of February and the first week of March.

Scanlon said the payments will be processed in the order that people applied.

He said this is a small way to thank workers who put their lives on the line.

The application period closed Oct. 1.

To be eligible, workers must have:

  • Worked as an essential worker in Connecticut for the entirety of the time period between March 10, 2020, and May 7, 2022.
  • Not able to work from home.
  • Worked in a job categorized by the CDC as 1A or 1B.
  • Worked in the private sector.
  • Earned $149,999 or less.

Carol Carmichael, a longtime employee of the Stop and Shop in Middletown, remembers the days of being afraid for herself and her customers as COVID-19 spread and the world changed.

But with the power of positivity, she and her coworkers made it through and provided the services the community needed.

"At the beginning, I'll tell ya, it was scary," Carmichael said. "We would sing, we just got into the frame of mind, don't be afraid just come to work."

"It's nice to see that we're going to get something for it," she continued.

Contact Us