This story is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. Link to story: nj.com/coronavirus/2021/01/supermarket-chain-will-pay-its-employees-200-to-get-covid-vaccine.html
German discount grocer Lidl announced an initiative Wednesday aimed at encouraging its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The company will pay its employees an extra $200 to get the vaccine, with the extra money meant to help offset the costs associated with vaccine administration, including travel costs and childcare, according to a release from Lidl. Employees’ schedules will also be accommodated so they can make an appointment.
“We are proud to provide our employees the resources they need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine free of any obstacles,” said Johannes Fieber, CEO of Lidl US. “From the outset of the pandemic, we have worked hard to put the health and safety of our employees first. From offering free COVID-19 healthcare to our entire workforce, to installing hospital-grade air filtration in our stores and warehouses to assure cleaner and healthier air, Lidl has made it a priority to adapt our policies to work better for our people during this pandemic.”
Nearly eight out of ten Lidl employees said in an internal survey that they planned to get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available, the company said.
Grocery store workers are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine but likely will be in the coming weeks as they are considered to be frontline workers by the state.
Lidl has 14 stores in New Jersey (including one in Vineland) and plans to open more by the end of 2021.
The company operates around 11,200 stores which employ more than 310,000 employees globally.
