Supermarket hazard pay because of COVID-19 going away

Linden Hills Co-op, Eastside Food Co-op and Kowalski's Market are still adding $2 an hour hazard pay to their workers' wages for another month.

However, most of the temporary pay bumps put into effect as the coronavirus pandemic started to hit the U.S. have expired. Some retailers have permanently raised wages, but for the most part, as demand for grocery staples levels off, the hazard pay is going away as well.

"The hazard pay is an important acknowledgment from employers that employees are taking on additional health risks and workloads," said Matt Utecht, president of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663.

Seward Community Co-op workers, represented by UFCW 663, became the first unionized supermarket in the Twin Cities to negotiate a $15 an hour minimum wage. Nonunion Target, which had also added hazard pay in the spring, permanently raised minimum wage to $15 an hour in July, when the temporary bump ended.

Coborn's Inc. implemented an hourly "hero pay" increase for all front-line hourly employees and other incentives for exempt employees in March.

"While we have no current plans in place to remove those programs, we do review all our pandemic response programs monthly," said Dennis Host, vice president of marketing for Coborn's.

The $2 an hour hazard pay for Cub Foods workers, though, expired July 4. Cub workers also were given store gift cards worth anywhere from $100 to $400.

Lunds & Byerlys employees will receive a bonus of about 4% of eligible wages from April 13 to Sept. 27. The profit-sharing bonus will be paid in November.

Since March, Walmart has paid three rounds of $300 bonuses for full-time employees and $150 for part-time workers, with the most recent payout on Aug. 20.

Hy-Vee gave 10% bonuses in April and July to full- and part-time retail employees since the start of the pandemic.

The surge in spring sales at supermarkets is leveling off, according to data firms tracking the industry. Some attribute the change to the expiration of federal $600 stimulus checks. Others said online ordering and early panic buying are factors in the decrease.

"In the last six months, we've seen transactions in our stores decline as many more customers choose to shop online," said Lunds & Byerlys spokesman Aaron Sorenson. "We have still experienced positive sales trends in our stores, with fewer visits and larger purchases. We've seen much stronger sales growth through our online shopping service."

Another local retailer deemed essential, Best Buy, gave hourly retail workers "incremental hourly appreciation pay" from March 22 to Aug 1. The company also raised its starting hourly wage to $15 for all domestic employees in early August.

UFCW's Utecht believes Minnesota supermarkets have done nearly everything they can to minimize the risk for employees and customers, including mask policies, plexiglass shields, hand sanitizer stations, gloves and 6-feet distancing markers on the floors.

"Employees are not happy about losing hazard pay," Utecht said. "We're very fortunate there haven't been any fatalities, so to a degree the membership has some peace of mind, but they're still fearful for their own health and that of their families."

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633