The pay hike is projected to cost the health system $6 million a year, as part of a multi-phase 2020-2021 compensation plan for all employees.
More than 3,000 frontline, fulltime, parttime and contingent workers at Henry Ford Health System will get a "living wage" pay raise of $15 an hour starting on Monday, the Detroit-based health system announced Friday.
"There is a strong association between financial health and security and overall health, a reality that has been driven home over the last eight months for our team members who are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19,'" Wright Lassiter, III, President and CEO, Henry Ford Health System, said in a media release.
"We are passionate about the need to do this and are thrilled to be able to make it happen, especially now," he said.
The minimum wage in Michigan is $9.65 an hour but will increase to $9.87 an hour in 2021.
For a 40-hour work week, $15 an hour amounts to more than $31,000 annually, which represents a 55% increase over the $20,000 annual earnings of minimum wage employees in Michigan.
The pay hike is projected to cost the six-hospital health system about $6 million a year. It's part of a multi-phase 2020-2021 compensation plan for all employees, including a general increase in the fourth quarter of 2020, and market adjustments for other positions.
Henry Ford had planned to provide the pay raises earlier this year until the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the health system's elective and nonurgent services, resulting in layoffs for more than 2,800 employees in April, most of whom have since been brought back.
Employees in more than 100 job descriptions will get the raise, including janitors, maids, nurse assistants, food service workers, health screeners and clinic services reps, about 400 of whom are unionized.
“There is a strong association between financial health and security and overall health, a reality that has been driven home over the last eight months for our team members who are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.”
Wright Lassiter, III, President / CEO, Henry Ford Health System
John Commins is the news editor for HealthLeaders.
Photo credit: James R. Martin / Shutterstock: The Henry Ford Health System is one of the largest medical providers in the Detroit area. This is the original hospital where it was founded by Henry Ford.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Employees in more than 100 job descriptions will get the raise, including janitors, maids, nurse assistants, food service workers, health screeners and clinic services reps, about 400 of whom are unionized.
For a 40-hour work week, $15 an hour amounts to more than $31,000 annually, which represents a 55% increase over the $20,000 annual earnings of minimum wage employees in Michigan.
Henry Ford had planned to provide the pay raises earlier this year until the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the health system's operations, resulting in 2,800 layoffs.