Discount chain Dollar General announced last week it intends to pay hourly employees four hours salary if they receive the COVID-19 vaccine, becoming one of the first major companies to announce such an offer.
“We felt the right thing to do was to break down these barriers to vaccination,” Toss Vasos, the company’s chief executive, told The Wall Street Journal. Vasos said his company also considered workers who have child-care obligations.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said companies can mandate the vaccine for workers but they must make accommodations for medical or religious requests.
Trader Joe’s and Instacart Inc. also announced they would offer employees compensation to take the vaccine.
In a statement, Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta said, “Our goal with the introduction of our new vaccine support stipend is to ensure that, when the time comes, Instacart shoppers don’t have to choose between earning income as an essential service provider or getting vaccinated.”
CBS News reported that Trader Joe’s is offering workers two hours of pay to get the shot.
TRENDPOST: With the new Biden administration in power, the push for mass vaccinations will accelerate state and nationwide. According to a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, 46 percent said they will take the vaccine as soon as they can. Thirty-two percent said they will wait for others to get the shots before they do so themselves, while 20 percent said they would not take the jab.
