Wikimedia Commons/Virginia Retail
Wikimedia Commons/Virginia Retail
Fry's Food & Drug workers were given a bonus by its parent company to help them during the novel coronavirus outbreak, Phoenix Business Journal reports.
Kroger Co. is the parent company of Fry's and wants to help keep grocery stores open across the country and its hourly workers protected, the news agency reported.
The bonus includes $300 to full-time workers and $125 to part-time workers. Fry's is the fourth largest employer in Arizona, with a total of more than 16,000 employees, according to the news agency.
"Grocery workers are on the frontlines, ensuring Americans have access to the food and products they need during this unprecedented pandemic," Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said in a statement, the news agency reported.
Kroger announced the one-time bonus last weekend, stating it would go to all hourly frontline employees, including grocery, supply chain, manufacturing and customer service workers, according to the news agency.
While Fry's is ranked No. 4 on the Business Journal list of the state's largest employers, Kroger is the world's largest grocery chain. It has 2,757 grocery stores worldwide and 500,000 employees.
The news agency reported that the bonuses could amount to tens of millions of dollars out of Kroger's pockets, but the news agency was not able to get a comment from the grocery store chain.
The grocery store chain also expanded its paid sick-leave policy, including two weeks of paid leave for employees who must self-quarantine and are having symptoms of COVID-19 that have been verified by a physician, according to the news agency. Previously, the chain had announced its sick-leave policy only included those diagnosed with COVID-19.
Earlier this month, Gov. Doug Ducey deployed the National Guard to help grocery stores restock their stores via an emergency order because of the demand in people stocking up groceries, leaving stores bare.
Fry's currently has 94 stores in the greater Phoenix region and had sales of $3.92 billion last year in the Valley, the news agency reported.
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