While vaccinations continue in the United States, some companies offer financial incentives to encourage their workers to receive the shots.
Instacart Inc., the grocery delivery service, announced Thursday that it would provide a $ 25 expense for workers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. He joins others, including Trader Joe’s and Dollar General, which plans to pay workers more if they get vaccinated.
“Our goal with the introduction of our new vaccine support fellowship is to ensure that, when the time comes, Instacart shoppers do not have to choose between earning income as an essential service provider or getting vaccinated.” said Apoorva Mehta, CEO of Instacart. statement.
San Francisco-based Instacart has nearly doubled its workforce to 500,000 to meet the growing demand for online grocery shopping since the pandemic erupted in the U.S. last spring.
Food chain Trader Joe’s said Thursday it will give employees two hours of pay-per-dose to get the vaccine. The Monrovia, California-based company said it will also change schedules to ensure employees have time to get vaccinated.
Dollar General said Wednesday it will give employees the equivalent of four hours of pay if they receive the vaccine. The retailer based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, said it employs 157,000 people.
A vaccine advisory group at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control voted in late last month to recommend vaccine distribution. The committee said grocery store workers (which would include Instacart and Dollar General employees) should be part of the second group to receive shots after health workers and residents of the residences.
It is up to each state to decide how and when to adopt the CDC recommendations. Some states have already opened requirements for the second group, which also includes firefighters, police, teachers, correctional workers, postal employees, and people 75 and older. There are about 50 million people in this group.
Companies can demand mandates that workers receive COVID-19 vaccines as a requirement for employment, even though they must make accommodation for medical or religious reasons, according to the guidelines of the Federal Commission for Equal Employment Opportunities.
However, most companies are reluctant to impose such mandates, said Sharon Perley Masling, a partner at law firm Morgan Lewis, which has advised its clients on labor issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergency nature of the FDA’s approval of the vaccine makes it practical for many companies to require it, as shots are not available to the majority of the population, he said.
Still, Masling said the companies he works with are taking a number of steps to firmly encourage their workers to get vaccinated, including internal public relations campaigns showing senior executives who are eligible to receive the shots. Other incentives include free child care, free rest and gifts such as pizza delivery and other gifts, he said.
“It’s good for employees, it’s good for their communities, and it’s good for ensuring the continuation of business operations,” Masling said.
The push to vaccinate comes amid signs that some people, even health workers – are reluctant to get the shots, contributing to a slower-than-expected deployment of the massive US holiday effort. internal surveys.
Not all companies offer incentives. The delivery app DoorDash, another great platform for concert workers, said it has called on the CDC and governors to prioritize delivery workers over vaccine distribution. But it does not plan benefits for workers who get vaccinated.
Target Corp. it also has no incentives in place, but said it will make the vaccine free and accessible to its 350,000 employees. Target said 1,700 of its stores have a CVS pharmacy on site that will offer the vaccine to staff when available.
Albertsons, a grocery chain with 2,250 U.S. stores and 300,000 employees, also does not allocate financial incentives. Like DoorDash, it calls on state and local authorities to make sure their workers have priority for the vaccine.
Many large companies have faced criticism over how they have treated their employees throughout the pandemic, from low-disease policies to poor working conditions in factories and warehouses. Companies, from meat packaging plants on Amazon, have suffered absences and outbreaks of workers that have forced the temporary shutdown of their factories and warehouses. There is also an upcoming debate in Congress about whether employers should be exempt from legal responsibilities related to coronavirus exposure, as more people remember their employees in offices and other workplaces.
These challenges provide a strong incentive for companies to vaccinate their workers and leave the pandemic behind them, said Laura Boudreau, a professor of economics at Columbia Business School who specializes in labor rights.
“Many of them have had to defend their reputation in terms of how they treat their employees throughout the pandemic,” Boudreau said.
Instacart is among several companies that have pushed for their workers to be prioritized for vaccines. The company has faced criticism and some riots from workers over allegations it did not do enough to protect its workers, who do not have health insurance through the company or guarantee sick leave.
The company says it has distributed 620,000 free security kits to its workers, including face masks and hand sanitizers. It introduced a new policy in March to provide 14 days of paid leave for concert workers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or ordered to be quarantined due to potential exposure.
The workers and rights group said there was still not enough to discourage people with symptoms from staying home. Later, the company began offering telemedicine appointments for workers with symptoms of COVID-19.