May 18, 2020 • 7 mins
Some companies are getting rid of hazard pay for essential workers even as the dangers of working on the front lines persists. As businesses were shutting down, many companies offered bonuses or pay bumps to compensate people for the risk of working at supermarkets and other crowded workplaces, but that is no longer the case. Kroger is walking back a $2 raises to employees, Target and Amazon are following suit later this month. Anders Melin, reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for why hero pay is going away.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Monday, May eighteen. I'm Oscar Mirrors from the Daily
Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily
coronavirus update. Some companies are getting rid of hazard pay
for essential workers, even as the dangers of working on
the front lines persist. Many companies offered bonuses or pay
bumps to compensate people for the risk of working at
supermarkets and other crowded workplaces, but that is no longer
(00:22):
the case. Kroger is walking back a two dollar raise
to employees. Target and Amazon are following suit later this month.
Ander's Melon, reporter at Bloomberg News joins us for why
hero pay is going away. Thanks for joining us andres So,
of course, I wanted to talk about a lot of
the essential employees that have been getting us through this
(00:44):
pandemic so far. There's thousands of workers that for a
long time they were being called heroes because they had
to keep everything going while a lot of us were
staying at home. So things like people working at supermarkets, hospitals,
other crowded workplaces and where houses, things like that. A
lot of them were even getting extra pay, hazard pay
(01:04):
or bonuses, things like that, But those things are starting
to go away. In particular, Roger this past weekend they
took away a two dollar raise that they gave to
store and warehouse workers. Target and Amazon are going to
be doing the same later this month, and just tell
us a little bit about this. What's so interesting to
me with this story is that it really brings to
(01:26):
the four that these workers that society clearly cannot function without.
They're kind of stuck in these jobs, would less than
ideal conditions and with relatively low pay. It's not like
we didn't know that before, but it's just becomes so
much more pronounced now. And when these bonuses and pay
increases were starting to be granted in March, than I,
(01:49):
since I cover a compensation, immediately got curious about what's
going to happen when society starts opening up again, because
it just seems to me that these were very temporary nature,
and it's really hard for companies to pair back somebody's
pay when you've given it out to somebody in the
first place. We've seen that in the past few weeks,
(02:12):
and I think we'll continue to see it throughout this month,
that there's a ton of outrage about this because people
are asking the questions you called me essential last week,
and presumably I'm still essential now and I'm still at
risk of contracting the virus, but you're not giving me
the same amount of money that you gave me last week.
What's going on here? And at the beginning of all this,
(02:33):
these were the incentives for people to want to go
to work. Obviously, everybody was very spooked about this, and
we're learning more every day, but this was very early,
when we knew very little about the disease and how
it was spreading and how quickly and all. So these
were these incentives. But right now we're seeing what's happening
with the economy, there's really no other choice but to
(02:55):
keep working. And yeah, you're right, you're they're taking these
things away from them at this point. Now. We spoke
to two experts about this, and one of them made
the point that when company started granting these it was
because there were some people that needed to still be
in the workplaces for things to go around, or they
couldn't do their jobs from home, so they were grants
the extra money. But now others are coming back, so
(03:17):
now you don't really have to offset them for coming in.
And there is also the point that there's not a
whole lot of other options out there, and many workers
that I talked to for this story, they feel stuck
between fearing for their lives and their families health, but
they can't really afford to lose their paychecks and health
insurance because it's really hard to find another job now.
(03:38):
So you kind of stuck between a rock and a
hard place in a really just horrific way. And that's
just really tormenting to a lot of people, and there's
a lot of angst out there. On the flip side
of things, there's a lot of people that could probably
make more money on unemployment with that six dollar in
extra supplemental pay that they're offering right now. I think
(03:58):
that ends at the end of July, but there's still
a lot of people that could probably make more money
going that route than staying at their work, especially if
they're going to be taking some of this pay away.
I've been getting reader and emails about that over the
past few days as well. There's a lot of frustration
that there are people sitting at home, presumably and making
(04:19):
more money, but that's only really an option if workers
actually get laid off by their companies. But if they
choose to quit on their own milition, then you generally
can't file for unemployment benefits, so you kind of unless
your company lays you off, then you kind of stuck
between neither keep coming in or you quit on your
own volition, and you might be totally out of luck.
So it's really not an easy position to be in.
(04:42):
What kind of comments have these companies such as Kroger, Amazon,
and Target who are kind of eliminating this type of
pay what kind of comments have they made about this
so far? They've said just like what other retailers and
restaurant companies and other really all other companies are saying,
which is, we're taking this very serious, see and we
are reinforcing security and safety precautions for workers and for
(05:06):
customers because if the economy is not going to come
back unless people really feel safe, and this is something
I think many companies are taking very seriously, which is
good and necessary, of course, But then there's still the
question that remains of we saw how essential this cohorted
workers were in the past few weeks, and that society
(05:27):
doesn't function without them, and many of them still are
at the bottom or close to the bottom of the
pay scale. We should look at it overall in the
nation and why is it supposed to be like that?
Why can we not pay those people a little more?
And in the meantime, House Democrats unveil the new Coronavirus
Relief Bill. I think that was clocking that three trillion dollars,
(05:48):
but there's a big portion of that that will go
to boost pay for essential workers. So there's other plans
that are being worked on by the government at least
to help in this arena. Three trillion dollar proposed bill
is the latest, and it includes the two billion dollars
so called Heroes Fund that is meant to help fund
(06:09):
hazard pay for essential workers by as much as thirteen
dollars per hour on top of what they already make.
Problem is with this proposal, just as well as others
that have been put forth in a few weeks, that
there's a lack of bipartisan willingness to push anything of
this kind through, And at least among Republicans, there's a
(06:31):
lot of hesitancy for the spending because there's already been
a lot of spending, and there are many there are
concerned about clearing additional stimulus bills that will increase the
deficit even more. Well, for now it looks like hazard
pay for essential workers could be going away. Who knows
what will happen in the next few weeks, but just
(06:52):
something to know about the workplace going on right now.
And there's melon reporter at Bloomberg News. Thank you very
much for joining us, Thanks for having me. I'm Oscar
Ramirez and this has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't
forget effort today's big news stories. You can check me
out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday.
So follow us on I Heart Radio or wherever you
(07:14):
get your podcasts.
It's Monday, May eighteen. I'm Oscar Mirrors from the Daily
Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily
coronavirus update. Some companies are getting rid of hazard pay
for essential workers, even as the dangers of working on
the front lines persist. Many companies offered bonuses or pay
bumps to compensate people for the risk of working at
supermarkets and other crowded workplaces, but that is no longer
(00:22):
the case. Kroger is walking back a two dollar raise
to employees. Target and Amazon are following suit later this month.
Ander's Melon, reporter at Bloomberg News joins us for why
hero pay is going away. Thanks for joining us andres So,
of course, I wanted to talk about a lot of
the essential employees that have been getting us through this
(00:44):
pandemic so far. There's thousands of workers that for a
long time they were being called heroes because they had
to keep everything going while a lot of us were
staying at home. So things like people working at supermarkets, hospitals,
other crowded workplaces and where houses, things like that. A
lot of them were even getting extra pay, hazard pay
(01:04):
or bonuses, things like that, But those things are starting
to go away. In particular, Roger this past weekend they
took away a two dollar raise that they gave to
store and warehouse workers. Target and Amazon are going to
be doing the same later this month, and just tell
us a little bit about this. What's so interesting to
me with this story is that it really brings to
(01:26):
the four that these workers that society clearly cannot function without.
They're kind of stuck in these jobs, would less than
ideal conditions and with relatively low pay. It's not like
we didn't know that before, but it's just becomes so
much more pronounced now. And when these bonuses and pay
increases were starting to be granted in March, than I,
(01:49):
since I cover a compensation, immediately got curious about what's
going to happen when society starts opening up again, because
it just seems to me that these were very temporary nature,
and it's really hard for companies to pair back somebody's
pay when you've given it out to somebody in the
first place. We've seen that in the past few weeks,
(02:12):
and I think we'll continue to see it throughout this month,
that there's a ton of outrage about this because people
are asking the questions you called me essential last week,
and presumably I'm still essential now and I'm still at
risk of contracting the virus, but you're not giving me
the same amount of money that you gave me last week.
What's going on here? And at the beginning of all this,
(02:33):
these were the incentives for people to want to go
to work. Obviously, everybody was very spooked about this, and
we're learning more every day, but this was very early,
when we knew very little about the disease and how
it was spreading and how quickly and all. So these
were these incentives. But right now we're seeing what's happening
with the economy, there's really no other choice but to
(02:55):
keep working. And yeah, you're right, you're they're taking these
things away from them at this point. Now. We spoke
to two experts about this, and one of them made
the point that when company started granting these it was
because there were some people that needed to still be
in the workplaces for things to go around, or they
couldn't do their jobs from home, so they were grants
the extra money. But now others are coming back, so
(03:17):
now you don't really have to offset them for coming in.
And there is also the point that there's not a
whole lot of other options out there, and many workers
that I talked to for this story, they feel stuck
between fearing for their lives and their families health, but
they can't really afford to lose their paychecks and health
insurance because it's really hard to find another job now.
(03:38):
So you kind of stuck between a rock and a
hard place in a really just horrific way. And that's
just really tormenting to a lot of people, and there's
a lot of angst out there. On the flip side
of things, there's a lot of people that could probably
make more money on unemployment with that six dollar in
extra supplemental pay that they're offering right now. I think
(03:58):
that ends at the end of July, but there's still
a lot of people that could probably make more money
going that route than staying at their work, especially if
they're going to be taking some of this pay away.
I've been getting reader and emails about that over the
past few days as well. There's a lot of frustration
that there are people sitting at home, presumably and making
(04:19):
more money, but that's only really an option if workers
actually get laid off by their companies. But if they
choose to quit on their own milition, then you generally
can't file for unemployment benefits, so you kind of unless
your company lays you off, then you kind of stuck
between neither keep coming in or you quit on your
own volition, and you might be totally out of luck.
So it's really not an easy position to be in.
(04:42):
What kind of comments have these companies such as Kroger, Amazon,
and Target who are kind of eliminating this type of
pay what kind of comments have they made about this
so far? They've said just like what other retailers and
restaurant companies and other really all other companies are saying,
which is, we're taking this very serious, see and we
are reinforcing security and safety precautions for workers and for
(05:06):
customers because if the economy is not going to come
back unless people really feel safe, and this is something
I think many companies are taking very seriously, which is
good and necessary, of course, But then there's still the
question that remains of we saw how essential this cohorted
workers were in the past few weeks, and that society
(05:27):
doesn't function without them, and many of them still are
at the bottom or close to the bottom of the
pay scale. We should look at it overall in the
nation and why is it supposed to be like that?
Why can we not pay those people a little more?
And in the meantime, House Democrats unveil the new Coronavirus
Relief Bill. I think that was clocking that three trillion dollars,
(05:48):
but there's a big portion of that that will go
to boost pay for essential workers. So there's other plans
that are being worked on by the government at least
to help in this arena. Three trillion dollar proposed bill
is the latest, and it includes the two billion dollars
so called Heroes Fund that is meant to help fund
(06:09):
hazard pay for essential workers by as much as thirteen
dollars per hour on top of what they already make.
Problem is with this proposal, just as well as others
that have been put forth in a few weeks, that
there's a lack of bipartisan willingness to push anything of
this kind through, And at least among Republicans, there's a
(06:31):
lot of hesitancy for the spending because there's already been
a lot of spending, and there are many there are
concerned about clearing additional stimulus bills that will increase the
deficit even more. Well, for now it looks like hazard
pay for essential workers could be going away. Who knows
what will happen in the next few weeks, but just
(06:52):
something to know about the workplace going on right now.
And there's melon reporter at Bloomberg News. Thank you very
much for joining us, Thanks for having me. I'm Oscar
Ramirez and this has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't
forget effort today's big news stories. You can check me
out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday.
So follow us on I Heart Radio or wherever you
(07:14):
get your podcasts.
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