Molson Coors Beverage Co. is paying hourly brewery employees an extra $5 per hour for any onsite work.
The pay bump is part of a thank you pay incentive the company instituted for salaried and hourly employees that cannot work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. Salaried employees that have to work onsite are receiving an extra $200 per week.
The company has around 1,300 employees in Milwaukee, including 690 working in breweries. A company spokesman said the company is not disclosing the exact number of employees eligible for the benefit but most brewery workers are considered essential.
The thank you incentive was one of a number of actions the company announced Friday. It also withdrew its previous guidance issued in February, citing the uncertainty created by the coronavirus.
Molson Coors did note that federal guidance lists food and beverage manufacturing and distribution as essential, allowing its breweries and distribution operations to continue.
The other actions the company has taken include:
- Indefinitely extending a work-from-home recommendation for all employees and contractors not doing business-critical onsite activities.
- Creating a voluntary paid leave program for all of April for any employee at high-risk for severe coronavirus outcomes but whose job requires onsite work. Employees are able to elect to receive 60% of their regular wages.
- A new paid leave policy that gives 80 hours of paid leave to anyone who contracts the coronavirus or is forced to self-quarantine.
“These are challenging times for the world and our company, and our priority is to ensure the safety of our people and the stability of our business. I’m proud of how resilient our people have been during this time, including the people who brew, package and ship our quality beers and keep our breweries and business running. I can’t thank them enough. I am also proud of how our teams are stepping up to take care of our communities who need our help more than ever.”
Molson Coors has also donated $1 million to the United States Bartenders Guild, a nonprofit supporting bartenders and service industry professionals, provided 50,000 cans of water to the Denver branch of the Salvation Army and used its craft breweries to produce hand sanitizer for first responders and the health care industry.
