Many low paid essential employees receive “hero pay” during the pandemic and especially during periods of lockdown in appreciation for putting themselves at risk of catching Covid-19 whilst serving the public. Also known as “hazard pay,” many grocery store workers receive a couple of extra dollars per hour on top of their hourly pay. Most of these workers were already receiving less than minimum wage and so “hero pay” gave them a significant bump up in their wages. ShopRite, Stop & Shop, CVS, Amazon and other retail locations all gave their employees a bump in their hourly pay and most of these increase were instituted in March 2020.
Hero pay was sometimes referred to as Emergency Sick Pay and Compensation. On March 23, 2020 a Facebook post from ShopRite of Upper Deerfield in New Jersey said: “Our associates are going above and beyond in the face of the COVID-19 emergency. To show our support, we have implemented an Emergency Sick Pay and Compensation Program, that includes a $2 per hour increase in their wages at the following Bottino Supermarkets stores: ShopRite of Delsea-Vineland, ShopRite of Millville, ShopRite of Upper Deerfield and ShopRite of Washington Township.”
Recognizing that grocery store workers faced a much higher risk of infection and death from Covid-19 the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union which represents over 1.3 million workers announced an agreement with ShopRite that would give 50,000 union employees hazard pay across locations in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York:
The deal recognizes the ongoing risks ShopRite workers have faced as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and provides retroactive hazard pay ahead of the holiday season that covers all hours worked between July 26 and August 22…UFCW confirmed this week that there have been at least 109 grocery worker deaths and over 48,000 grocery workers infected or exposed since the pandemic began.
UFCW International President Marc Perrone released the following statement: “Grocery workers have been on the frontlines since this pandemic began and continue to put themselves in harm’s way to help families put food on this Thanksgiving. This new UFCW agreement is a powerful victory for ShopRite grocery workers across New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.”
UFCW
The extra money that these essential frontline workers enjoyed did not last. Once lockdown restrictions and mandates began to be lifted, grocery and retail stores ended hero pay. Radio station NJ1015 reported on July 15, 2020 that Stop & Shop was the latest grocery store to end “hero pay” for its employees. Many grocery stores extended this program through the months of April and May 2020:
Albertsons Companies, which owns Acme supermarkets, also offered a temporary $2 a hour increase for all non-union and union employees from March 20 to May 2.
Wegmans provided employees an additional $2 an hour at the height of the pandemic during the months of March, April and May.
As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Whole Foods workers received an additional $2 an hour for as least some of the spring, but that program ended June 1.
ShopRite continues to provide store employees “temporary emergency premium pay” of $2 per hour, also instituted March 22 as the public health crisis first gripped the state.
“As non-essential businesses start to reopen, we have begun the process of transitioning to pre-COVID-19 wages. We will discontinue the emergency premium pay effective August 2,” according to Karen O’Shea, spokeswoman for ShopRite parent company Wakefern.
Vogt
The Today Show ran a segment discussing how thousands of grocery store and other retail workers will see their paychecks get smaller as hero pay comes to an end.
Some “hero pay” raises had unintended effects. Legislation passed in California which implemented $4 or $5 hourly raises for grocery workers caused some grocery stores to close their doors. On March 12, 2021 an article published on Reason.com said that “Kroger has announced that it will be closing three stores in Los Angeles as a result of the county’s new hazard pay law” (Britschgi).
We are grateful to all the heros who went to work at their own risk to provide us with the things we need.
Social Media Trends as of November 24, 2022
Facebook #heropay: people are posting about this
Instagram #heropay: 465 posts
TikTok #heropay: 50,900 views
Google Trends: “hero pay” first appeared during the end of March 2020 as grocery and retail stores started paying their workers hazard pay in appreciation and acknowledgement of the risks they took to provide the public with essential items and services.
Sources:
Britschgi, Christian. “‘Hero Pay’ Requirement for Grocery Workers Results in Unemployed Heroes.” Reason.com. March 12, 2021. URL: https://reason.com/2021/03/12/hero-pay-requirement-for-grocery-workers-results-in-unemployed-heroes/#:~:text=Berkeley%2C%20Oakland%2C%20and%20San%20Francisco,an%20hour%20during%20the%20pandemic.
Emergency Sick Pay and Compensation Program. ShopRite of Upper Deerfield (NJ). Facebook. 23 March 2020. URL: https://www.facebook.com/ShopRite.UpperDeerfield/photos/a.901182593305461/2856153904474977/?paipv=0&eav=AfZrvYte-JEfUZXtkLRvYv5G6wKFST96ONJc_whPgY2qSnIC4tAmLK4NBGKH9NypHLY&_rdr,
“Hero Pay” meme. MakeAMeme. URL: https://makeameme.org/meme/hes-probably-thinking-386813f91f.
Today channel. “Thousands Of Grocery Store Workers Are About To Lose ‘Hero’ Pay.” YouTube. 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF60efCHps4.
“UFCW Announces COVID-19 Hazard Pay Deal for ShopRite Grocery Workers in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut As Pandemic Continues.” United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Nov 25, 2020. URL: https://www.ufcw.org/press-releases/ufcw-announces-covid-19-hazard-pay-deal-for-shoprite-grocery-workers-in-new-jersey-new-york-and-connecticut-as-pandemic-continues/.
Vogt, Erin. “Stop & Shop joins grocery stores ending ‘hero’ pay for workers.” NJ1015.com. July 15, 2020. URL: https://nj1015.com/stop-shop-joins-grocery-stores-ending-hero-pay-for-workers/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral.