Governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York State has paid over $2 billion in bonuses to more than 800,000 health care workers statewide through the Health Care Worker Bonus Program. The program, which Governor Hochul launched in 2022, provided bonuses of up to $3,000 for eligible health care workers across New York.
New York’s Health Care Worker Bonus Program issued payments to workers who provide hands-on and patient-facing health care services. Workers receiving payments through this program must have an annualized base salary (excluding any bonuses or overtime pay) of $125,000 or less and can be full-time or part-time.
Bonuses payments were determined by specific “vesting periods,” or the number of hours worked during a consecutive six-month period between October 1, 2021, through March 31, 2024. Qualified employees received up to a maximum of $3,000 in total bonus payments over two vesting periods.