Dive Brief:

• H-E-B awarded a $500 bonus to each of its more than 120,000 full- and part-time employees this week, including store, warehouse and supply chain workers across its supermarkets, banner stores and Favor delivery service.
• Workers will receive the bonus this week via direct deposit. “In the face of many challenges this year, our partners have confronted each obstacle with grace, compassion, strength, and resilience,” H-E-B President Craig Boyan said in a statement.
• After wrestling with phasing out worker bonuses this summer, many retailers are offering bonuses at year’s end and offering perks timed to the holidays.

Dive Insight:

Like many grocers, H-E-B implemented a $2 hourly pay boost in the spring that was extended multiple times, ultimately ending in late June. It was around this time that numerous retailers began ending their temporary pay raises that began in the spring as the pandemic strained supply chains and threatened to dent worker morale.

Rather than phase out elevated pay entirely, H-E-B said it would make “long-term, permanent investments in our people,” including “accelerated and enhanced pay increases” for all employees that it said was the largest pay investment in company history — though it didn’t cite any numbers.

Now, the chain, whose sure-footed response to the pandemic has earned considerable praise, is adding another thank-you for workers and broadcasting its appreciation for their hard work.

In doing so, H-E-B joins a lineup of other retailers offering bonuses and other employee perks as 2020 draws to a close. Stop & Shop, Ingles and Target have all recently announced employee bonuses, with the latter doling out $70 million in total. Some grocers have implemented days off around the holidays, like Big Y, which will close on Thanksgiving Day and the day after.

H-E-B said its investments in employee pay have roughly doubled since 2014.