Publix said Friday it would offer a $ 125 Publix gift card to each of its more than 225,000 vaccinated employees COVID-19. The supermarket chain is the latest major employer to commit its workers to immunizing themselves against a virus that has killed more than 495,000 Americans.
Gift cards are offered to current employees who submit an internal form and proof of vaccination, the company said in Lakeland, Florida. Publix said it is encouraging, but does not require vaccination of workers.
“We care about our partners and our customers, and we believe that vaccination can help us take a step closer to returning to normal,” said Todd Jones, CEO of Publix, in a press release. “We encourage our partners to get vaccinated when they become eligible and the doses are available.”
Publix operates 1,266 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, along with nine distribution centers and 11 production units.
No access for many
Despite the incentives, vaccination may be easier said than done for the nation’s 3 million food workers, as they are not at the forefront when it comes to prioritizing those who are vaccinated. Only 13 states – California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia – have begun inoculating supermarket employees, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents 800,000 US food workers.
“Essential workers in grocery stores and meat packing plants are not a priority for access to vaccines in many states and continue to face delays that endanger their health,” said Marc Perrone, the union’s international president. . “Simply put, failures in the early distribution of vaccines under the past administration have left millions of Americans and essential workers defenseless.”
According to the UFCW, there were 137 food deaths due to COVID-19, and more than 30,100 food workers were infected or exposed.
Carrots instead of chopsticks
The move to Publix comes two days later Tyson Foods – the largest poultry producer in the country – offered the 12,000 workers up to four hours of regular pay if they were vaccinated outside their usual exchange or through an external source. Others that offer up to four hours of additional payment for photos include Aldi, Darden Restaurants, Dollar General, McDonald’s and Target.
Target, with 350,000 workers, also said it would cover Lyft departures of up to $ 15 in each direction to reach and from vaccination schedules.
Yogurt maker Chobani pays workers up to six hours to be inoculated, while Amtrak spends $ 3 million to give employees the equivalent of two hours of extra pay once they show they’ve been vaccinated.
Kroger, the country’s largest supermarket chain and meat processing company JBS, is offering both workers $ 100 for vaccination. Lidl, which runs 125 grocery stores in nine states, offers $ 200 to employees who receive the vaccine; Petco is offering $ 75,000 to 26,000 workers, and Instacart food delivery is offering $ 25.
The idea of offering potentially reluctant employees a financial incentive for vaccination also extends to the medical industry. In Texas, the Houston Methodist plans to give the 26,000 workers an additional $ 500 next month as long as they are vaccinated.
Employers can generally require workers to be vaccinated, as they must provide a secure job in which “a person must not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of persons at work”, according to the Equal Opportunities Commission the work.