H-E-B doubles its temporary raises, makes them permanent

H-E-B is bumping up the temporary pay raises it gave employees early in the pandemic — and making them permanent.

In March, the San Antonio-based grocery chain raised wages by $2 per hour for all hourly store, manufacturing, warehouse and transportation workers.

The “Texas Proud Pay” initiative was a way to “thank them for their commitment” during the coronavirus pandemic, the company said at the time.

For the average employee, the raise, effective this week, is more than twice the temporary raise, topping $4 an hour. It’s the largest pay increase in H-E-B’s history, company spokeswoman Julie Bedingfield said.

The temporary raise, which the retailer extended in April and May, ended Sunday. In its place, H-E-B is making “permanent investments” in store and supply-chain hourly employees, Bedingfield said.

“We believe this crisis will be around for an indeterminate amount of time and our goal is to reward our partners for their hard work and dedication with more than temporary bonuses,” the company said in a statement.

The company also is extending medical leave for all employees.

“In the event that one of our partners is diagnosed with coronavirus, they will receive pay,” H-E-B said.

More than 50 of H-E-B’s San Antonio employees have tested positive for the virus

thus far this month. The company has been one of the few retailers to publicly report the number of employees who have contracted the virus.

“Transparency is important,” the company said in a recent statement. “H-E-B’s first priority is constant communication to our partners and helping them navigate during these unprecedented times.”

The company said it is “aggressive with constant sanitization, social distancing and mask-wearing.”

H-E-B employees are required to wear masks, and, as of this week, so are its customers.

Both Bexar and Harris counties ordered businesses to require customers and employees to wear masks effective Monday.

Early in the pandemic, H-E-B had required patrons to wear masks, but stopped after government officials dropped mandatory mask wearing.

Enforcing such a requirement without a local ordinance on the books would have been difficult, Campos said.

More than 40,000 people signed an online petition asking the company to require masks for customers.

The petition has been removed from the website Change.org.

Mark Mulligan / Staff photographer In addition to the permanent pay raise, H-E-B also said it’s extending medical leave to all of its employees.

Mark Mulligan / Staff photographer When H-E-B announced its $2-per-hour “Texas Proud Pay” initiative in March, the company said it was a way to thank its workers during the pandemic.