Scottish prison officers are being offered emergency pay worth up to £1750 to cover a staffing crisis during the coronavirus outbreak.The “exceptional payment” fund covers additional hours worked over a 12-week period.Details of the special pay deal, seen by the Record, also show prison officers are being offered an extra £20 per shift to escort prisoners with suspected coronavirus to hospital.Absence rates are already running high with about one in four unable to work in Scottish jails.
The number includes the usual absences from maternity leave and sickness.Last week, more than 100 prisoners at a dozen sites were self-isolating.As part of the new scheme, extra emergency pay is capped at £1750 for working nine more hours a week over 12