Amazon offers frontline workers a $ 300 vacation bonus



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An Amazon warehouse

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Amazon is providing frontline workers with a one-time bonus to share its appreciation for their work toward “the height of the holiday season,” the company announced Thursday.

In a blog post, Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of retail operations, said that full-time operational staff employed by the company from December 1 to December 31 will receive a $ 300 bonus. Part-time workers employed during the same period will receive a $ 150 bonus.

“I’ve been on Amazon for 22 holiday seasons and this is downright unique, to say the least,” Clark said. “I am grateful to our teams who continue to play a vital role in serving their communities.”

Amazon said it will spend more than $ 500 million on one-time vacation payments. In June, Amazon also spent $ 500 million in “Thank You” bonuses for frontline employees who continued to work amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has spent billions of dollars since March on coronavirus-related investments, including wage increases, safety equipment and improved cleaning measures, as well as developing testing capabilities. Amazon issued temporary wage increases and double overtime pay at the height of the pandemic, but both incentives ended in June.

Since then, warehouse workers have expressed frustration that their risk pay had been reduced even as the pandemic persisted and they still face increased health and safety risks in the workplace. In October, Amazon revealed that more than 19,000 of its frontline workers in the United States contracted the coronavirus between March 1 and September 19.

Amazon defended its decision to end wage increases and double overtime pay, saying these awards were announced to “help meet increased demand” from online ordering, which has since stabilized.

Retailers, including Walmart and Target, have also paid bonuses to their workers as the holiday shopping season increases.

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