Morrisons has set out a number of measures to support colleagues and customers during the Coronavirus outbreak.
As a British family business, Morrisons will do its bit during the emergency and today sets out a plan to protect and help colleagues and expand home delivery to many more households at a time of national need. In doing so, Morrisons will create an extra 3,500 jobs.
These measures follow on from Morrisons announcement last week that it would be implementing immediate payments for its smaller suppliers, supporting their cashflow during this very difficult time for the British economy.
The key elements of the plan announced yesterday are:
- Colleague hardship fund – to support colleagues who are in financial difficulty as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak we will create a colleague hardship fund. Colleagues will be able to apply for funds if they experience a financial setback and are struggling to make ends meet.
- Helping colleagues – Morrisons colleagues are very highly valued and the company is introducing the following measures if they are affected:
* Those who are sick with the Coronavirus will receive sick pay whether or not they would normally be eligible.
* Colleagues who are affected either because of self isolation, or by playing their part in looking after close family members or the vulnerable in their local community, will also be eligible for sick pay, alternative shifts or holiday. - Protecting colleagues – Morrisons will protect highly valued colleagues by:
* Asking customers at the checkout to pay, if possible, by card or smartphone to reduce cash handling.
* Issuing hand sanitiser to checkouts at all stores and significantly increasing cleaning on places that colleagues and customers touch.
* Redeploying colleagues who are vulnerable to the virus, where possible. - Expanding home delivery – Morrisons is to introduce new ways of delivering groceries and more slots for customers, which will also help vulnerable people and those affected by the virus. New measures include:
* Launching a new range of simple-to-order food parcels, including options for vegetarians, from March 23rd.
* Making more delivery slots available to customers both through Morrisons.com and the Morrisons Store on Amazon Prime Now. Morrisons will use 100 further stores to pick customers’ shopping over the coming weeks.
* Launching a customer call centre for orders to be taken over the phone so that people who do not shop online can still order food.
* To support the roll-out of these expanded home delivery methods, Morrisons will be recruiting around 2,500 pickers and drivers. - New Jobs – The outbreak of coronavirus will affect businesses across the UK and Morrisons will be offering jobs to people that are impacted. In addition to around 2,500 pickers and drivers to expand home delivery, Morrisons will be recruiting around 1,000 people to work in the company’s distribution centres. The vacancies will be advertised through a campaign on radio and social media and the Morrisons jobs website morrisons.jobs
David Potts, Chief Executive of Morrisons, said: “We expect the days, weeks and months ahead to be very testing and we are determined to do our bit.
“These measures will support our very hard-working colleagues, enable us to provide more food to more people in their homes and create opportunities for people whose jobs are affected by the coronavirus.”
