Centre County stores add employees, reward front-line workers during COVID-19 pandemic
Employers have taken steps to show appreciation for staff members who have been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including bonuses for Centre County grocery store workers and new hires at local stores.
While many businesses closed following Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide shutdown, grocery stores remained open as employees provide life-sustaining services. In March, companies took precautions to protect staff and customers by shortening hours, increasing cleaning and providing PPE to associates.
To thank their front-line workers, Walmart and Wegmans announced increased pay and thousands of new hires to meet community needs amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Wegmans increased pay by $2 an hour during the months of March, April and May. In addition to the pay increase, Wegmans enhanced its paid sick leave policy for all employees.
“Our COVID-19 disability paid sick leave goes a step further by offering employees a fully paid leave that starts on day one and eliminates the need for medical documentation from the healthcare provider,” spokesperson Marcie Rivera said. “Our paid time off plans are more generous than traditional vacation plans and give our employees the flexibility to use the time how they choose whether it’s for vacation, sickness, or caring for a family member.”
Employees were also given the option to move into a different store role or take unpaid time off it they were uncomfortable being at work, Rivera said.
The State College Wegmans — located at 345 Colonnade Blvd. — hired 29 new employees since mid-March, Rivera said.
“We’ve implemented a number of measures to help keep our employees safe, including adding additional hand sanitizer stations throughout our stores, installing plexiglass shields at our registers and pharmacies and providing masks for all employees,” Rivera said.
Pennsylvania Walmart associates received a bonus to their paychecks, totaling to more than $6.4 million statewide. The company also announced that it hired an additional 200,000 staff members nationwide over a six-week period.
“We’ve seen firsthand our associates’ unwavering focus to take care of customers and members while providing a vital service to communities during this time,” Chief People Officer Donna Morris said in a statement.
Walmart shared plans to accelerate the payout for its quarterly incentive, which store, club and supply chain associates received last month.
“With this, we paid nearly $180 million in cash bonuses to hourly associates, with more to come next month on our originally scheduled quarterly payout date,” Morris said. “This is in addition to the special cash bonus for all U.S. hourly associates earlier this month — which was $300 for full-time hourly and $150 for part-time hourly — a total of more than $365 million paid to our associates.”
Walmart has not released market or county-specific hiring numbers, but the grocer has hired more than 5,400 new employees in Pennsylvania.
“We are humbled to be able to give an opportunity to so many Americans to work, often serving as a bridge for employment, while helping Walmart better serve customers during this time of increased demand,” Morris said.
Weis Market and Giant are also hiring at select Centre County locations, but representatives did not return requests for comment.
