German discount retailer Lidl on Wednesday announced an initiative aimed at encouraging its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The company will pay its employees an extra $ 200 to get the vaccine, with the extra money intended to reimburse the costs associated with vaccine administration, including travel and childcare costs, according to a statement from Lidl. Employees’ schedules will also be housed so they can make an appointment.
“We are proud that our employees are providing the necessary resources to receive the COVID-19 vaccine without any barriers,” said Johannes Fieber, CEO of Lidl US. “From the beginning of the pandemic, we have worked hard to put the health and safety of our employees first. From the free COVID-19 healthcare to our entire workforce to the installation of hospital air filtration in our stores and warehouses to ensure cleaner and healthier air, Lidl has made it a priority to adjust our policies during this pandemic to work better for our people. . ”
Nearly eight out of ten Lidl employees said in an internal survey that they plan to get the vaccine as soon as it is available, the company said.
Grocery store workers are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine, but are likely to be in the coming weeks because they are considered by the state as frontline workers.
Lidl has 14 stores in New Jersey and plans to open more by the end of 2021.
The company has approximately 11,200 stores employing more than 310,000 employees worldwide.
Thank you for trusting us to provide the journalism you can trust. Consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
Chris Sheldon can be reached at [email protected].