04-20-2021 Hazard Pay As you debate the necessity of a “hazard pay” ordinance before Council, the NW Grocery
Association wanted to provide you with detailed information of what our grocery stores have
provided to our associates throughout the pandemic.
Our grocers value the commitment of our employees to serve our communities every day
throughout the pandemic. Our work force is represented through labor unions. At the start of
the Governor’s emergency order, grocers negotiated with those unions for memorandums of
understanding (MOU) to cover the extraordinary circumstances beyond the scope of the
contract.
• An average of $2.00 per hour additional wage paid for several months. Some employers
continue to pay this benefit today.
• Lump sum cash benefit paid by some employers in addition to the additional per hour
wage increase.
• All available hours were offered first to our employees before hiring outside help
• To accommodate for the loss of child care and school closures, we offered short-notice
scheduling changes, temporary transfers to stores closure to home, and worked to find
available reduced cost child care for our staff
• Offered 80 hours paid leave with first day coverage for any employee with a positive
COVID-19 test or household positive test BEFORE required under federal rule; after 80
hours, an employee was able to use other available leave to cover additional time off
• Protection of health insurance while the employee was out especially if it were for an
extended time period
• Employees were allowed to utilize all leave options to cover for child care and care of
loved ones to ensure they were paid during any needed time off
• Free vaccines as soon as they were made available to our workers by the Governor; we
continue to offer vaccines to all our workers in our pharmacies
• Offering $100 for each worker to get vaccinated
How did this translate to workers’ wages in Federal Way? Here are the numbers for wages
within the City for just one of our members:
Store Current Average Wage –
Does not include COVID-19
additional wage paid
Additional wages paid during
2020
Safeway 0477 (Military Rd) $18.44 per hour $113,833 above normal
Safeway 1555 (S 320th) $19.75 per hour $224,014 above normal
Safeway 3501 (SW 336th) $18.21 per hour $131,962 above normal
In addition, retailers spent millions of dollars on PPE, including plastic barriers at check stands
and other locations in-store, social distancing methodology, and covering the increase in the
cost of goods to keep basic food product costs down for consumers. Employers provided PPE
for workers and partnered with FEMA and other federal agencies to acquire required facial
coverings to comply with state regulations.
As a final note, grocers continue to try and help our workers and our communities work
through this pandemic. Our union agreed to allow us to hire out-of-work restaurant employees
on a temporary basis to keep these employees working while restaurants and hotels were
closed. We donated tons of food to foodbanks and service groups to help those who needed
extra assistance. We also donated food to free lunch programs and other support services to
keep families in need fed.
Our stores are doing our part to protect our workers, pay them a good wage and benefits, and
provide them with immediate free vaccines to protect them not just at the workplace but in our
communities.
For questions please contact Holly Chisa (360)791-6647 hollychisa@hpcadvocacy.com