On 11 January Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers decided to allocate EUR 773 634 to the Ministry of the Interior from the state budget for emergencies to ensure bonus pay for police and state border guards holding rank for increased workload and work under increased risk during Covid-19 pandemic, as BNN was told by the ministry.
EUR 440 154 will go to State Police, EUR 9 373 will go to the State Police College, EUR 322 657 will go to the State Border Guard and EUR 1 450 – to the State Border Guard College. The bonus pay for work under increased risk is intended for November 2021.
Bonus pay for overtime work is also planned for the State Police College to ensure control over compliance with measures to limit residents’ travel between 21 October and 14 November 2022.
The bonus pay amount for work under increased risk and workload per each hour is planned at 75% of the official’s normal hourly rate with respect of specific criteria and the level of involvement officials have and the number of hours worked.
Criteria for bonus pay remain unchanged: the official needs to work in close contact with Covid-19 infected persons or persons in risk groups who are not confirmed as infected but who nonetheless have to undergo self-isolation, or if the official is involved in activities related to regulation of public order and control over compliance with restrictions.
The government has also allocated funding of EUR 64 446 to help law enforcement institutions compensate the losses related to payment of bonus pay for work under increased risk and workload.
In total the Ministry of the Interior will receive EUR 838 080.
Police and state border guards to receive bonus pay for work during Covid-19 pandemic
