COLUMBUS, Ohio — More than 11,000 State of Ohio employees -- 22% of the state’s workforce -- will be paid $300 bonuses because at least 65% of their co-workers attested to getting coronavirus vaccinations, according to data released Wednesday.
Under an incentive program set up by Gov. Mike DeWine’s office, 37 of 56 participating state agencies, boards, and commissions met the threshold to have at least 65% of their workers sign forms attesting that they have received least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Melissa Vince, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.
Not surprisingly, agencies with smaller staffs were more likely to meet the 65% threshold. The only state agency with a 100% participation rate was the State Employee Relations Board -- which has 20 people on its payroll, according to OhioCheckbook.com.
Vince noted that that that number is only the number of workers who submitted a form to get the bonus. The number of state employees who are actually vaccinated, she stated, is likely higher.
For example, only 28.5% of the approximately 11,500 staffers at the state’s prisons agency, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, submitted forms to get the bonus, state data shows. But 58.4% of DRC employees have received a coronavirus vaccine, according to department spokeswoman JoEllen Smith.
The 11,127 employees who signed such a form don’t include workers at other branches of state government who opted into the program, including the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Court of Claims, and the Legislative Service Commission, Vince stated.
The $300 bonus comes on top of $100 bonuses offered to any state worker who gets vaccinated, as well as an additional $25 if their spouse gets immunized as well.
In all, the state has paid more than $6 million in vaccine bonuses to its employees and spouses, including nearly $3.4 million in $300 bonuses, according to state statistics.
The bonuses aren’t over yet. If 85% of a state agency’s active employees attest by Nov. 15 that they’ve received at least one shot, those workers will get an additional $600. That means many state workers could get a total of $1,000 in vaccine bonus money.
Here’s the full list of state agencies in order of their workers’ participation rate in the vaccine bonus program:
State Employment Relations Board: 100.0%
Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Compensation Board: 95.7%
Gov. Mike DeWine’s office: 93.9%
Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Athletic Trainers Board: 92.6%
State Library Board: 92.5%
Legislative Service Commission: 88.9%
Department of Aging: 87.1%
Broadcast Educational Media Commission: 86.4%
Office of Consumers’ Counsel: 83.9%
Tuition Trust Authority: 83.9%
Ohio School For The Deaf: 83.3%
Environmental Protection Agency: 82.5%
Department of Insurance: 82.4%
Casino Control Commission: 82.2%
Court of Claims: 82.1%
Facilities Construction Commission: 81.9%
Ohio School for the Blind: 81.4%
Court of Appeals: 81.3%
Unemployment Compensation Review Commission: 80.0%
Ohio Supreme Court: 80.0%
Counselor and Social Workers Board: 78.6%
Department of Education: 78.4%
Public Utilities Commission: 77.9%
Public Defender Commission: 76.7%
Department of Health: 76.4%
Civil Rights Commission: 76.4%
Lottery Commission: 76.3%
Board of Regents: 76.2%
Board of Pharmacy: 75.3%
Office of Budget and Management: 75.0%
State Medical Board: 75.0%
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities: 74.7%
Housing Finance Agency: 74.3%
Department of Medicaid: 71.5%
Department of Administrative Services: 71.3%
Bureau of Workers’ Compensation: 67.1%
Department of Agriculture: 65.0%
Ohio Expositions Commission: 63.5%
Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services: 61.9%
Department of Job and Family Services: 60.1%
Industrial Commission: 57.8%
Department of Taxation: 57.3%
Department of Development: 56.5%
Department of Commerce: 56.3%
Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board: 56.3%
Department of Veterans Services: 54.3%
State Cosmetology & Barber Board: 52.0%
Board of Nursing: 51.9%
Department of Youth Services: 47.5%
Adjutant General’s Office: 46.5%
Department of Developmental Disabilities: 44.5%
Department of Transportation: 42.8%
Department of Natural Resources: 41.7%
Department of Public Safety: 40.9%
Judicial Elected Officials: 37.7%
Department of Rehabilitation & Correction 28.5%
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