Discount grocer Lidl giving $200 payments to workers who get COVID-19 vaccine
A greeter at Lidl welcomes a shopper at the West Babylon store in December 2019. Credit: Heather Walsh
Discount grocer Lidl is among the growing number of employers giving bonuses or other perks to front-line workers to encourage them to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Lidl will give $200 payments to workers who get the vaccine, the grocer said in a statement Wednesday.
"We are proud to provide our employees the resources they need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine free of any obstacles. From the outset of the pandemic, we have worked hard to put the health and safety of our employees first," Johannes Fieber, chief executive officer of Lidl US, said in the statement.
The payments will help offset the costs related to obtaining the vaccine, including travel costs and child care, Lidl said. The grocer will also accommodate employee schedules for vaccine appointments.
Based in Germany, Lidl has about 11,200 stores in 32 countries, including more than 125 supermarkets in nine East Coast states in the United States.
The retailer entered the local market in 2019 when it bought 27 supermarkets in New Jersey and New York, including all 24 on Long Island, owned by Bethpage-based Best Market. Lidl will finish converting the remaining local Best Market stores to Lidl supermarkets by the end of the year, when there will be 23 Lidl stores on Long Island.
Lidl has 257 employees in Nassau County and 361 in Suffolk County, spokeswoman Candace Butera said.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran commended Lidl’s new initiative, saying it "supports the public health and safety of our communities."
The plan to offer the bonuses to employees getting the vaccine is part of an ongoing effort to protect employees’ health, Lidl said in the statement.
"In March, Lidl developed a first-in-the-industry program with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to give all its employees access to comprehensive COVID-19 medical coverage at no cost," the grocer said.
As vaccinations are parceled out across the United States, more companies are offering financial incentives to encourage their workers to get the shots.
Instacart Inc., the grocery delivery service, announced last week that it would provide a $25 stipend for workers who get the COVID-19 vaccine. It joins others, including Trader Joe's and Dollar General, which plan to pay workers extra if they get vaccinated.
Grocery chain Trader Joe's, which has more than 50,000 employees, said it will give employees two hours of pay per dose for getting the vaccine. The Monrovia, California-based company said it will also shift around schedules to make sure employees have time to get vaccinated.
With AP
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Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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