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Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Risk Allowance for Ebola Response Workers (ERWs)
Policy with effect from 1 April 2015
1. Duration of the policy
This policy is valid from 1 April 2015 to 31 July 2015. The NERC reserves the right to revise the policy at
any time. Any revisions will be published and communicated to District Co-ordinators (DCs) and District
Medical Officers (DMOs).
2. Eligibility
Staff in the following categories may be eligible for EVD risk allowance from 1 April 2015:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Staff of approved Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs) and Community Care Centres (CCCs)
Staff of approved Ebola Laboratories
Members of health screening teams
Members of burial teams
Surveillance officers
Contact tracers
Staff of approved Tertiary and Secondary Hospitals (but not PHUs) who may be exposed to
Ebola through the triage and isolation of suspect Ebola patients
Selected Staff in District Ebola Response Centres (DERCs)
The total number of staff for approved ETCs, Ebola Laboratories, CCCs, burial teams and contact tracers
will be capped at the 28th February 2015 levels. The NERC may at any time change the maximum limits
based on recommendations of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and World Health
Organization (WHO).
The number of staff at each approved Triage and Isolation Unit in Tertiary or Secondary Hospital will also
be capped based on staffing ratios agreed by the NERC following advice from MoHS and WHO.
The DERCs (DCs/DMOs) will be required to submit a list of surveillance officers, screening teams and
other essential staff with a detailed description of their functions. DCs/DMOs will provide clear written
justification for staff proposed for EVD risk allowance. The NERC reserves the right to cap the number of
staff at each DERC who receive risk allowance based on needs or incidence of EVD.
MoHS will provide an approved lists of the ETCs, CCCs, Ebola Laboratories and Tertiary and Secondary
Hospitals whose staff may qualify for EVD risk allowance. This shall be annexed to this policy. This list
may be amended by the NERC in consultation with MoHs/WHO.
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In the case of other Ebola Treatment Centres, Ebola Holding Centres, and Community Care Centres that
are still open on 31 March but scheduled for closure or transfer to non Ebola purposes, staff who were
paid hazard pay before 30 March will continue to be eligible for hazard pay at retainer rates until those
facilities close or until 15 April, whichever is earlier.
Eligibility for EVD risk allowance does not confer any right to be transferred to a permanent payroll once
the Ebola epidemic comes to an end.
Staff eligible for EVD risk allowance will be issued with contracts. These contracts may be terminated at
any time. If necessary, contracts may be extended beyond 31 July 2015. Only staff with valid contracts
will be paid EVD risk allowance.
Only staff on lists drawn up by their facility managers or team leaders and signed off by their DCs or
DMOs, and NERC will be eligible for EVD risk allowance (see Section 7).
3. Rates
EVD risk allowance rates are set to reflect the actual risk of exposure to Ebola.
The following rates will apply from 1 April 2015:
Categories
Sub-categories
Doctor/Midwife/nurses/nurse aide/CHO
Counselor
Approved Ebola Treatment
Centres and Community Care
Centres
Risk allowance/
week
500,000
500,000
Waste Zone Manager
500,000
Hygienist
500,000
Sprayer
500,000
Porter
500,000
Dresser
500,000
Ebola Lab Technician
400,000
Surveillance officers in treatment
400,000
Ambulance driver
400,000
Cook
300,000
Laundry worker
300,000
Cleaner
300,000
Logistics
300,000
Watchman/security/guard
300,000
Driver (non-ambulance)
300,000
Carpenter
300,000
Sensitisation/awareness
300,000
Support Staff/Admin
200,000
Radio operator
Staff on retainer (all staff in districts that have no
confirmed cases in a given week and whose facilities
200,000
200,000
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have also had no confirmed cases that week)
Approved Ebola Laboratories
Limited number of Staff at
approved Tertiary and
Secondary Hospitals who may
be exposed to Ebola through
the triage and isolation of
suspect Ebola patients
Lab Technician
400,000
Medical Lab Assistant
400,000
Swabbers
400,000
Dead Body Management
400,000
Documentation
400,000
Driver
400,000
Surveillance officers in Ebola Laboratories
400,000
Same sub-categories as ETC and CCC
Same rates for subcategories in ETC
and CCC
Screener
100,000
Checkpoint staff
100,000
Burial teams
All staff
500,000
District Ebola Response
Centre staff
Selected staff
100,000
Community surveillance officers
100,000
Contact tracers
100,000
Contact tracers - supervisors
200,000
Community mobilisers
Drivers
Checkpoint staff
Staff on retainer (eg contact tracers in a district with no
confirmed cases in a given week)
100,000
100,000
100,000
Screening teams
Community surveillance
teams
50,000
4. Termination and reassignment of ERWs
ERWs may have their contracts terminated if they are no longer required for the Ebola response, or for
any other reason at the decision of the DC, DMO or NERC. There will be no severance pay.
When ERWs are reassigned to new responsibilities, their contract will be modified and risk allowance
rates appropriate to their new functions will be applied from the week they are re-assigned.
5. Retainer rates
In districts and health facilities that do not have confirmed cases of Ebola in a two-week period, the
Ebola hazard faced by some staff will be greatly reduced, but it may still be necessary to employ them.
Such staff may be moved onto ‘retainer rates’ of risk allowance, as described in the table above, applied
immediately in the week following the two-week period.
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6. Management and updating of the ERW List
The consolidated ERW list
All the ERWs who receive EVD risk allowance, including burial teams, contact tracers not paid by the
NERC, must be recorded on and managed through the online Payroll System (https://nercpay.sl).
Where staff are paid by organisations other than the NERC, those organisations must update the list not
later than the 20th of the payment month (or 10 days before payment).
Update and management of the list (for ERWs paid by the NERC)
Heads of ETCs, CCCs and response teams must update the Payroll System with the details of all ERWs
proposed for EVD risk allowance (name, ERW number, deployment/facility, sub-category, risk allowance
rate, bank account and/or phone number) not later than the 15th of the payment month (or 15 days
before payment);
o
To heads of ETCs, CCCs and response teams with internet access and trained staff, the NERC Risk
Allowance Management Team will provide limited user access rights to the on-line Payroll
System (https://nercpay.sl) in order that they can add, delete, and update the list using a unique
ID.
o
To heads of ETCs, CCCs and response teams without Internet, access to a smartphone based
data capture application will be provided along with a smart phone for offline data collection.
o
Any deletion or downward categorisation of staff will be allowed immediately.
o
In the case of any addition or upward categorisation, the system will allow the entry/change to
be done at the district level. However, the changes must be approved by the NERC head office
in the system before taking effect. This is to ensure that the NERC can perform a duplicate
check and verify the correctness of the upgrade.
o
For any additions, Pin Numbers and National ID numbers will be mandatory for existing
members of the Government payroll. For others, they should provide at least one valid ID
issued by the Government.
HR Officers (at least two per district) based in the DERC and employed by the NERC will hold meetings
with DMOs and DERC coordinators to review, update and sign-off the updated list in the Payroll System
by 20th of the payment month (or 10 days before payment);
o
The HR officers in the DERCs will be authorised to update the list
o
For lists submitted in a paper or Excel format by heads of ETCs, CCCs and response teams, Splash
Agents are responsible (and rewarded) for entering them into the Payroll System and reporting
to the HR officers for their clearance.
o
The HR officers in the DERCs will hold the ultimate responsibility for any delays in submission
and misreporting of the ERW list.
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Clearance of the list for payment
Reporting to NERC Risk Allowance Management Team/Fiduciary agent: After the lists have been
signed off by the Facility Heads, DC or DMO, the NERC Risk Allowance Management Team will review
them in the Payroll System for duplicates and conduct other data-cleaning processes, and will send them
to the fiduciary agent by 22nd of the payment month (or 8 days before payment).
Fiduciary agent/World Bank Clearance: The fiduciary agent (BDO) will review the list, clear it, and
submit for clearance by the World Bank no later than the 24th of the payment month (or 6 days before
payment). The World Bank will need to provide ‘no objection’ to the list before payment can take place.
7. Verification and audit
District verification and update of the list
Random monthly verification by HR officer at DERC and UNMEER district officials: they will check with
those in the list, interview with the administrator/medical director, randomly check selected staff to
verify the accuracy of the list, and check the daily attendance records of staff.
Central verification
Monthly random or risk-based verification by the fiduciary agent: The fiduciary agent for NERC will
randomly (or based on significance or risk) visit a set of facilities with the beneficiary list of the previous
month. They will check with those in the list, interview the administrator/medical director and staff,
verify the accuracy of the list, and check the daily attendance records of staff. The fiduciary agent will
report the results to NERC, MOFED and associated Development Partners contributing to the payments.
Quarterly random verification by internal auditor of MOHS and MOFED: Internal auditors will evaluate
and obtain a sufficient understanding of the internal controls related to the transactions, assess control
risk, and identify reportable conditions, including material internal control weaknesses. All material
instances of non-compliance and all indications of illegal acts should be identified and reported to the
Minister of Finance, NERC, and the financiers. The internal auditor will also attend the payment where
there are issues in data/numbers.
End of year audit
Annual audit by external auditor: An appointed external auditor (eg Audit Service Sierra Leone: ASSL,
partnering with an audit firm) will visit selected facilities and categories, review registration forms and
rosters and gather appropriate evidence to support its assertions. The external auditor will produce an
external audit report and provide the report to the NERC, MOFED, and associated Development Partners
contributing to the payments. This report will be made public.
8. Re-Verification, Contracts, and IDs
Re-Verification
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The ERW database re-verified from January to March 2015 will be the basis for the list of ERWs after 1
April 2015.
In order to avoid the risk of exclusion (eligible ERWs not paid) and inclusion (ineligible ERWs paid or
ERWs dual-paid) errors and to re-classify ERWs as necessary, all ERWs will be re-verified by the NERC
verification team facilitated by DMOs and DERC coordinators in April 2015.
This re-verification will cover not only ERWs on the NERC risk allowance but also ERWs paid by partners
such as burial teams and contact tracers.
Contract
During the re-verification period, all eligible ERWs will enter into a contract with DMO/DERC
coordinator, witnessed by the manager of the health center/team – this will be used for verification for
payment (a sample contract is attached in Annex 1).
The payment information (ie bank account number and phone number) will be cross-checked (if in the
Payroll System) or provided (if not in the Payroll System) by the ERWs during the re-verification.
ID Cards
Together with or after the above contracting, a national ID will be issued by the National Registration
Service (NRS), to those who do not have the national ID. This will not only serve for the verification for
risk allowance, but also help the ERWs open bank account, and enter into social services (if eligible).
9. Payment mechanisms
EVD risk allowance will be paid monthly. To be eligible for risk allowance in a given month, staff must
have worked for at least two weeks during that month.
ERWs on the Government payroll
All payments will be made through the bank transfer. ERWs on the Government payroll must provide
their correct bank account number during re-verification. Those who do not provide the bank account
number will not be paid.
ERWs not on the Government payroll
All those who have bank accounts will be paid through by bank transfer. ERWs must provide their
correct bank account number during re-verification.
Those who do not have bank accounts are encouraged to open a bank account, especially after
obtaining the national ID.
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o
o
In the meantime, those who have mobile phone will provide correct phone numbers for epayment through the mobile agent. ERWs will be required to show the agent the Contract or
ERW ID to cash out.
For those without bank account and mobile phone, a mobile agent will liaise with the Heath
Center/Team to communicate to the ERWs about the cash-out point. Contract or ERW ID will be
required for ERWs to receive cash at the cash-out point.
10. Taxation
EVD risk allowance will be exempt from taxation.
11. Penalties
The NERC, DC, or DMO can terminate risk allowances to personnel in case of fraud and corruption
through the manipulation of the beneficiary list. These cases will be referred to the Sierra Leone AntiCorruption Commission for further action.
The NERC can work with the Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Commission and the Attorney General to put
in place penalties backed up by the existing law within the country to deal with corruption cases that
involve manipulation of the list of ERWs for EVD risk allowances.
The Government of Sierra Leone will refund any ineligible expenses, including payment to ghost or
fraudulent staff to financiers (ie World Bank, AfDB).
12. Complaints
A hotline will be established for each district (2 persons hired by NERC per district), and at the central
level (4 persons hired by NERC). ERWs will call the Hotline at the districts. For complaints that cannot
be resolved at district-level, ERWs can call the central hotline. Each complaint will be logged and its
resolution status recorded and compiled by districts for district-level complaint; and by the Payments
Team for other complaints.
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Annex 1: Approved Facilities Post-March 2015
A. ETCs, CCCs and Ebola Laboratories
ETCs
Western
Area
6 x Core ETCs with 144 beds, scalable to approx.
300 beds
 PTS 1 (30 beds, scalable to 100)
 34 Mil (30 beds)
 Goderich (30 beds, scalable to 80)
 ADRA (30 beds, scalable to 62)
 Jui (22 beds, scalable to 32)
 Kerry Town (10 functional beds scalable to 50-60
beds)
CCCs (or other holding
capacity)
0 CCCs
Labs
5 x Labs (2 in the
East, 2 in the West
and 1 back-up):
 Goderich
 Chinese Jui
 Lakka (NICD)
 EU lab Hastings
 Kerry Town
Specialist capacity:
 Kerry Town MOD to remain for international
HCWs
 PTS MSF, operated by MSF Spain, will provide 14
Ebola Maternal Delivery suites, located on the
former PTS 2 site following closure of Kissy ETS
Port Loko
2 x Core ETCs:
 GOAL ETC (30 beds, scalable to 80)
 IMC Lunsar (30 beds, scalable to 80)
1 x CCC:
 Gbaneh-Lol
1 x lab:
PHE Port Loko
Kambia
0 ETCs
8 x CCCs:
 Mafari
 Kanku Bramaia
 Kamasasa
 Dintilipan
 Kychom
 Mambolo
 Bamoi Munu to be relocated
to enable safe reopening of
schools by 14 April
 Kabaya to be relocated to
enable safe reopening of
schools by 14 April
1 x lab:
Nigerian lab agreed to
be placed near the
border
Bombali
1 x Core ETC:
 IMC Makeni (30 beds, scalable to 80 beds)
2 x CCCs:
 Sambaya
 Makonri
1 x lab:
PHE Makeni
Tonkolili
0 ETCs
4 x CCCs:
 Roruks
 Masingbu
 Rochen
 Mamansosamka
1 x lab:
Magbaruka
(Canadian)
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Kono
1 x Core ETC:
 IFRC Koidu (30 beds, scalable to 48)
N.B. This requires confirmation from IFRC –
Either IFRC needs to be asked by GOSL to
maintain this ETC as a Getting to Zero priority,
and they confirm they are capable of delivering
it, or the facility must be handed over to
another partner
2 x CCCs:
 Gbane
 Fiama
1 x lab:
Dutch lab
Koinadug
u
0 ETCs
2 x CCCs:
 Kumala
 Kasumpe
0 labs
Kailahun
0 ETCs
1 x lab
Details tbc
Pujehun
0 ETCs
3 x EHCs:
 Daru
 Bued
 Koindu
1 x EHC:
 Zimmi EHC
Bonthe
0 ETCs
1 x EHC:
 EHC at Mattru Jong
0 labs
Kenema
0 ETCs
1 x holding facility:
 Current facility at IFRC ETC
to be re-purposed into an
isolation and holding
facility.
N.B. Subject to MSF-OCB
agreeing to operate Bo as a
Core ETC
0 labs
Bo
1 x Core ETC
 MSF Belgium (30 beds, scalable to 80)
N.B. MSF-OCB has been officially requested to
operate as a Core ETC
0 CCCs
1 x lab:
CDC Bo
Moyamba
1 x Standby ETC
 MDM (10-15 beds, scalable to 80)
0 CCCs
0 labs
0 labs
All facilities not listed above have been identified for closure.
B. LIST OF TERTIARY AND SECONDARY HOSPITALS
To be provided by Ministry of Health and Sanitation
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Annex 2: Sample Contract for EVD Risk Allowance
Name of Ebola Response
Worker
Title
Center/Unit Name
ERW Identification Number*
Center Description (check
one of the options)
Treatment and Care
Center
Laboratory
Burial Team
Screening Team
Triage/Isolation Unit in
Government Hospital
District Ebola Response Staff
Surveillance Team
Others (specify)
Role & Responsibility (short
description)
Hazard Pay Category**
Start Date
End Date***
Signed:
Signed:
Ebola Response Worker
DMO/DERC
Witnessed:
Health Center/Team Manager
* The ERW Identification Number is issued by the Payment System https://nercpay.sl
** Hazard Pay Category refers to the level of risk: High, Medium, Low
***The Government of Sierra Leone may stop paying Hazard Pay anytime that the Government decides,
based on prevalence of Ebola in country. Hazard pay is an incentive associated with the risk of the Ebola
virus. It is not to be considered as salary.
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Annex 3: Paper/Excel Format of Hazard Pay Beneficiary List
ERW #
Name
Design
ation
PIN
Telephone
District
Facility
Staff
Category
Bank
Bank
Acco
unt
Contract
Start
Date
Contract
End
Date
Operation
(Add/Update
/Delete)
To be
generat
ed by
NERC
Payroll
System
Note:
A manual on how to update/add/delete will be provided to ensure stepby-step guidance by the NERC/UNDP Payments Team for both online
and offline Centers/Units
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