Here's What Comes Next for CT ‘Hero Pay' Program

Saturday was the deadline to apply for the Connecticut “Hero Pay” program and the state is going to start the process of reviewing submissions.

The state received around 190,000 completed submissions, which include uploading all documents and attestations, according to the Office of the State Comptroller.

They said another 169,000 provided their identity information but did not complete the document upload and/or attestation.

Officials from the state comptroller’s office said they are going to start the review process for all of the submissions.

The people whose application is approved will get an email to the account they used to register to let them know.

For those whose application was rejected, a notice that includes the reason for the rejection will be sent to the account they used. Anyone who gets this message would be able to request a reconsideration, according to the Office of the State Comptroller.

Some common reasons for rejection would be inadequate documentation, that the review shows they don’t meet eligibility requirements or that a signature is needed.

State officials said there were no sitewide outages or widespread server issues after the official launch of the program, but they did hear from people experiencing trouble finalizing their submissions at the times when the volume was heaviest.

Anyone who experienced technical issues with the attestation or signature will be able to complete those steps during the reconsideration and they will be approved if their submission meets the eligibility requirements.

The review process will happen over the next few months.

The state comptroller’s office said applicants should “hold tight and be on the lookout for that email from Public Consulting Group” on the status of their application.

The program is aimed at providing up to $1,000 in pandemic pay for eligible, private-sector essential workers who were employed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here Is Who Is Eligible for Hero Pay

• You were employed as an essential worker in Connecticut between March 10, 2020 and May 7, 2022
• You were not able to work from home
• You were not employed by a federal, state or municipal government agency
• You earned $149,999 or less

A link is available on the Premium Pay Program website.

Payments are expected to go out early in 2023, but how much workers will receive is not yet clear because that won’t be determined until all applications are reviewed.

Hero Pay Payment Calculations

Full-Time Employees:

• $1,000 if you earned less than $100,000
• $800 if you earned between $100,000 and $109,999
• $600 if you earned between $110,000 and $119,999
• $400 if you earned between $120,000 and $129,999
• $200 if you earned between $130,000 and $149,999

Part-Time Employees:

• $500

Note: If the amount in the Connecticut premium pay account is not sufficient to fully fund all approved applicants according to this formula, then all approved applicants' payments shall be reduced proportionally.