The most valuable supermarket chain in the United States is offering some of its employees a reward for working during the novel coronavirus outbreak: a $25 stipend they can use to buy groceries within the store.
Kroger, which owns a number of grocery stores including Harris Teeter, Ralphs, and Dillons, has maintained sick leave politicizes that encourage ill employees to keep showing up to work, refusing to offer paid leave for a majority of its more than 450,000 workers unless they test positive for the coronavirus. But it can be unclear whether or not someone has been infected as testing kits slowly roll out across the nation.
Sonya Hostetler, who oversees 91 stores across northern Alabama, eastern Tennessee, and southern Kentucky, used her blog to announce the stipend this week.
“To show how much Kroger appreciates and acknowledges you, every associate in the company will receive a $25 stipend towards groceries on their Kroger loyalty card effective Tuesday, March 17th,” wrote Hostetler. “This credit will be valid for 60 days.”
It was unclear whether the stipend is exclusive to workers in her region or if the policy is meant for all Kroger employees across the country.
On Sunday, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen announced that two employees, in Washington and Colorado, had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. McMullen clarified that any employee who is confirmed positive for the coronavirus will receive two weeks of paid sick leave.
A New York Times piece published earlier this week estimating the largest companies to not offer paid sick leave to all employees ranked Kroger at number three. The article also included a graphic showing that more than 180,000 Kroger employees are not eligible for paid sick leave.
Kroger is not the only supermarket or retailer that is refusing to provide the benefit companywide as the novel coronavirus outbreak tears through global economic infrastructures. Wegmans, McDonalds, Target, and Walmart are among the largest American companies to not offer paid sick leave to a majority of its employees.
Grocery stores are struggling to keep stocks supplied and employees at work. President Trump declared yesterday that the public should not gather in groups of larger than 10 and that people should only leave their homes for essential goods, including trips to the grocery store.
Part-time employees across the country, some who have worked for Kroger for more than five years, are not offered paid sick leave. One employee from a North Carolina subsidiary said almost everyone in their store is a part-time worker.
“I work at a Kroger grocery store north of Seattle,” a part-time employee told Popular Information. “[I]t’s been nuts. I came down with a cold last week, self-isolated and asked if they would pay me for the time I was scheduled. Nope. I hadn’t earned enough hours and people come into work sick all the time, per a manager … Saw [doctor] this morning. [I] still have cold (not Covid) and he told me to self-isolate until I was better. But if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. It’s a [minimum] wage cashier job.”
Kroger did not immediately return a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
