Kroger, the national supermarket operator and one of the nation's largest retailers, has restructured its Covid-19 benefits for unvaccinated employees and will charge some of them if they remain protected, a spokeswoman for the company confirmed on Wednesday.
Two weeks of paid time off was offered to employees who contracted Covid-19. The spokeswoman said that Kroger told employees last week that the benefit wouldn't be available to people who weren'tvaccinated. The Wall Street Journal reported the news.
Unvaccinated employees will still be eligible for other forms of leave, but the special time off will now only be open to fully vaccine-vaccinated employees.
Kroger said it would charge $50 a month for unvaccinated workers if they continued to work for the company. The surcharge would not apply to unionized workers or associates who are in a company health care plan.
The spokeswoman said that they created and amended several workplace policies at the beginning of the Pandemic. The administration of the vaccine to our associates has been an important part of our efforts.
It was not clear how many of Kroger's 500,000 employees have been vaccine free.
Kroger said it would give a one-time payment of $100 to all associates who received the Covid-19 vaccine, joining a wave of companies, cities and states in offering similar incentives. Kroger said it would keep that program going.
Three vaccine mandates were issued by the Biden administration in September, one for federal contractors, another for health care workers, and a third for companies with more than 100 employees. The mandates affecting the private sector have been put on hold because of legal challenges.
Employers and governors in Republican states have opposed President Biden's mandates that employees of large companies must either be vaccine or tested weekly.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said during a news briefing on Tuesday that different private sector companies and entities are going to take different steps to encourage people to get vaccinations. She said that the company's new policy was not from the federal government.
Kroger has more than 2,500 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia under a number of brand names, according to its website.
