Dollar General Offers Workers Extra Pay For Getting COVID-19 Vaccine

What should retailers do to lure skittish customers back into their stores? Dollar General Corp. has reportedly come up with a solution: Offer employees the chance to get vaccinated on the company’s dime.

The retailer will give employees four hours of pay to go get vaccinated, according to The Wall Street Journal. Dollar General is one of the first large U.S. employers to offer such an incentive to its staff.

The move is a sign that retailers may come to view vaccines as the “shot in the arm” they need to make their way out of the mire of the pandemic crisis. With 157,000 employees, Dollar General has many “essential workers.”

In fact, the WSJ said, grocery stores, airlines and transit companies are trying to move up the line for the available vaccines. The hope is that having their workers vaccinated would reassure shoppers, fight the pandemic and boost their businesses.

Dollar General’s plan addresses some of the obstacles that many essential workers face in taking time off to get vaccinated, such as multiple jobs, the need for daycare, a lack of health insurance and the loss of pay to go to a medical appointment. Low pay and transportation challenges don’t help, either.

“We felt the right thing to do was to break down these barriers to vaccination,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive. “We believe as the vaccine continues to gain momentum, we’ve got to get it to rural America.” About 75 percent of Dollar General stores are in rural areas or small towns.

One big question: Will vaccination become a requirement for workers? Some companies that employ essential workers— such as Verizon Communications and CVS Health Corp. — are encouraging but not requiring vaccinations.

On the other hand, experts say, companies can require vaccines — with certain caveats. For example, a mandatory vaccine does not necessarily mean employees can be fired for refusing it. In many cases, it could mean employees would either have to sign a waiver or agree to work under modified conditions to limit the risk they present to themselves and the general public.