McDonald’s is combating the COVID-19 pandemic by paying its employees across the nation to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
The fast-food chain confirmed that it would give four hours of paid time to employees who receive the vaccine, reports Today.
“Vaccination is essential in the fight against the pandemic, and we are actively encouraging McDonald’s employees to take this important step,” Tiffanie Boyd, the U.S. Chief People Officer at McDonald’s, said in a statement. The paid time is available to Americans who work at corporate-owned restaurants and corporate employees.
However, McDonald’s said that employees would not be required to get the vaccine. The company will “encourage vaccination and connect employees to trusted, third-party experts” who can “provide important information and answer questions they have on the vaccine.”
While the chain supports and urges employees to get vaccinated, McDonald’s said it has “updated nearly 50 processes” in locations across the nation to help keep customers and employees safe.
The standards include:
• Following social distancing guidelines.
• Wellness checks.
• Adding protective barriers and making sure crew members wear face masks and gloves.
McDonald’s said it also provides an “ample supply” of personal protective equipment (PPE) to all restaurants and has given out 111 million face masks.
In August, McDonad’s stood firmly behind their face mask policy.
Related
Officials announced that the company would require all customers to wear a mask inside their restaurants beginning August 1.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinsk has since elaborated, saying the company felt it was “prudent” to implement the policy.
"We're spending a lot of time right now in our restaurants making sure we can keep our crews safe, making sure we can keep our customers safe," Kempczinski said. "We've for quite some time required our crew to wear masks, but we thought that in light of what we're seeing, it's prudent now that we also ask our customers to wear masks in the restaurant as well."
He also revealed their workforce was trained to "explain to customers why we have the requirement" and also with "deescalation” techniques should anyone refuse to wear a mask.
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