Whole Foods Suggests That Workers Share Paid Time Off During Coronavirus: Really, Bezos?!

“...Whole Foods CEO John Mackey sent out an email to grocery store employees with a list of benefits and options for those who fall sick during the coronavirus pandemic. Among his six suggestions was an option for employees to ‘donate’ their paid time off (PTO) to coworkers facing medical emergencies.

“‘Team Members who have a medical emergency or death in their immediate family can receive donated PTO hours,’ Mackey wrote in an email reviewed by Motherboard, ‘not only from Team Members in their own location, but also from Team Members across the country.’

“In that same email, Whole Foods also said that it will offer unlimited, unpaid time off during the month of March and two weeks of paid time off for workers who test positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus—a policy announced this week for all Amazon employees and contractors that has also been adopted by tech companies like Uber, Lyft, and Instacart.

“As a subsidiary of [Jeff Bezos'] Amazon, the world’s biggest company, Whole Foods could easily afford to pay its hourly employees for sick days taken during the coronavirus outbreak without breaking the bank. Instead, the company has put the onus back on workers, and they're not happy about it…

“While these policies are a step-up from nothing, working people who fall ill and do not have access to coronavirus tests (there is a severe shortage of tests) or contract other illnesses, will still be forced to choose between taking unpaid time off, receiving donations from coworkers, or working while sick…”  

For the entire article, click here. 

P.S.

And Bezos is worth $111.7 billion! And who cares that Whole Foods offered a one-hour "Senior Only" time for shopping!