Workers get paid time off for shots

A growing number of restaurants are offering workers paid time off and other incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurant Inc., which also owns the Capital Grille and Longhorn Steakhouse chains, said this week it was offering as much as four hours of pay for workers to get the vaccination. The East Coast Pizza company is giving its more than 700 employees four hours of paid time off and subsidizing transport for the vaccine.

The company incentives come as some U.S. states start the second phase, in which frontline essential workers such as those preparing foods can receive a vaccine. Others were giving workers a financial incentive, including meatpacker JBS’s offer of a $100 bonus for workers who get it.

Darden will encourage its hourly workers to get vaccinated but won’t require them to do so, according to an email from CEO Gene Lee. Darden will offer up to two hours of pay for each dose as incentive.

Dollar General Corp. was one of the first companies to announce a similar initiative for vaccination. Companies have stopped short of requiring that their workers get the vaccine.