Published July 20. 2021 8:19PM | Updated July 20. 2021 9:49PM
JENNA CARLESSO, The Connecticut Mirror
Employees in nursing homes, home health care, residential care homes, assisted living centers and other health care settings who were not fingerprinted as part of a state-required background check will be able to keep their jobs, but will be barred from providing direct care to patients until the mandate is fulfilled, the state Department of Public Health said Tuesday.
Gov. Ned Lamont suspended the order that workers in those sectors be fingerprinted when the pandemic hit Connecticut. Employees hired from March 23, 2020, to May 19, 2021, were able to start work without completing that leg of the background check. The requirement was waived to avoid further spread of COVID-19, officials have said.
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Health care workers who aren t fingerprinted can keep jobs, but are barred from providing direct care
Jenna Carlesso, CTMirror.org
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Employees in nursing homes, home health care, residential care homes, assisted living centers and other health care settings who were not fingerprinted as part of a state-required background check will be able to keep their jobs, but will be barred from providing direct care to patients until the mandate is fulfilled, the state Department of Public Health said Tuesday.
Gov. Ned Lamont suspended the order that workers in those sectors be fingerprinted when the pandemic hit Connecticut. Employees hired from March 23, 2020, to May 19, 2021, were able to start work without completing that leg of the background check. The requirement was waived to avoid further spread of COVID-19, officials have said.
Group home workers said they won't strike Friday after agreeing to a $184 million state funding package for the next two years, a union spokesman says.
Credit Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont says his administration has received copies of strike postponement notices at 26 nursing homes from District 1199 SEIU and New England Health Care Employees Union.
The unions had planned to lead thousands workers on a strike Friday morning over staffing shortages and low-pay. The Democratic governor detailed the agreement Thursday afternoon.
“Which is a four-year deal that puts front and center our nurses who have been there at the nursing homes taking care of our seniors through thick and thin over the last of 14 months,” Lamont said. “They’ll be getting a significant raise over the next four years. We originally had a two-year deal, now it’s a four-year agreement.”
We have a basic agreement which is a four-year deal, the governor said. Put front and center our nurses who have been there at our nursing homes taking care of our seniors through thick and thin over the last 14 months.
An agreement reached with Icare facilities Thursday sets a $20 minimum wage for certified nursing assistants and $30 for licensed practice nurses, according to a spokesperson for the unions. Workers will also have a pension and receive funding to cover health insurance costs and wellness programs.
“I want to acknowledge and thank the leadership of Gov. Ned Lamont, Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, Chief of Staff Paul Mounds and OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw in making it possible to meet the goal of a Long-Term Care Workers’ Bill of Rights for nursing home caregivers,” Rob Baril, president of District 1199, SEIU, said in a statement.