Supermarket’s u-turn on £500 Covid bonus
A supermarket giant has performed a u-turn on plans to deny workers a £500 Covid bonus.
Bosses at Morrisons had said they would not be passing on the thank you, announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, to its pharmacy staff.
But the firm has now been forced into a climbdown after the decision sparked a backlash.
Morrisons last week said it was opting out of the scheme, unveiled by Ms Sturgeon as a reward to all NHS and frontline care workers.
The company insisted a boost to staff bonuses had already been agreed, and pharmacy workers would not be receiving the top-up.
But the move was greeted with anger among affected workers and branded “the height of arrogance” by Scotland’s former health secretary Alex Neil.
MSP Mr Neil, who was alerted to the situation on a visit to his local Morrisons in Ayr this week, said: “Pharmacy staff should be entitled to claim this payment and will rightfully feel aggrieved.
“This is an offer from the Scottish Government and shouldn’t be for individual companies to decide what happens next.
“It certainly isn’t for Morrisons to step in and say no - it is the height of arrogance from them.
“We’re not living in the Victorian age any longer where staff simply have to ‘do as they’re telt.’
“They have rights and those should be honoured here.”
Morrisons initially pointed out that they had guaranteed a double staff bonus for this year which is worth more than £1000 to full-time workers.
But later, the firm said: “We’ve taken another look at the arrangements put in place by the Scottish Government to pay a oneoff ‘thank you’ to every NHS and social care worker, and can now confirm that we will process these government payments directly to eligible Morrisons colleagues.
“We would again like to confirm that we’re incredibly proud of the full part played by all our key workers, who continue to make a truly incredible contribution in these very challenging circumstances.”
Rules around the payment mean independent contractors, such as pharmacists, cannot receive the £500 payment directly from the government.
Instead, they must claim through their employer but there is no obligation around such claims being made.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are hugely grateful to the efforts over recent months of the many key workers in different sectors across Scotland, including those across the community pharmacy network, who have risen to the challenge of responding to the pandemic.
“Morrisons supermarkets have noted that all their workforce are key workers and supporting the communities’ response to the pandemic and as such have provided every member of staff with a with a bonus payment.”