Tyson Foods Doubles Bonuses, Increases Disability Coverage

Mary Oleksiuk

Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale said Wednesday that it would double bonuses, increase short-term disability coverage and implement additional health screening measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company is now offering $120 million in “thank you bonuses” for 116,000 U.S. “frontline” workers and truckers, up from the $60 million announced in early April.

Tyson is moving up the first $500 bonus payment to early May; the second $500 bonus will be paid in July.

Employees who cannot come to work due to illness or lack of childcare options will continue to qualify, but bonus eligibility will depend on attendance.

Tyson is also increasing short-term disability coverage to 90% of normal pay until June 30 for employees who are unable to work due to illness.

In addition, the company will now:

• Screen workers for additional symptoms, such as coughing and shortness of breath
• Have designated monitors at each facility to help enforce social distancing
• Require the use of company-provided surgical-style face coverings

“This pandemic is ever-evolving, and the decision to make these changes reflects our desire to continuously explore new ways of supporting our team members through this crisis,” Mary Oleksiuk, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, said in a news release. “The safety and well-being of our people is our top priority as we work together to fulfill our critical role of feeding people across the country.”

The move comes a day after President Trump signed an executive order to keep meat processing plants open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply. The order uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure to try to prevent a shortage of chicken, pork and other meat on supermarket shelves.

Unions fired back, saying the White House was jeopardizing lives and prioritizing cold cuts over workers’ health. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 1.3 million food and retail workers, said Tuesday that 20 food-processing and meatpacking union workers in the U.S. have died of the virus. An estimated 6,500 are sick or have been exposed while working near someone who tested positive, the union says.

Tyson has had to temporarily closed some of its biggest meat processing plants because of COVID-19 cases among workers. On Wednesday, the company halted operations at a beef plant in Dakota City, Nebraska, until May 4 to complete a deep cleaning of the plant. About 4,300 people work there, but production had slowed amid high levels of absenteeism. Another plant in Robards, Kentucky, will be closed for at least four days. It employs 1,300.

Tyson had already waived the waiting period to qualify for short-term disability, so workers are immediately paid if they get sick. It has waived the co-pay, co-insurance and deductible for doctor visits for COVID-19 testing and eliminated pre-approval or pre-authorization steps; waived co-pays for the use of telemedicine through Doctor On Demand; and relaxed refill limits for 30-day prescriptions of maintenance medication.

The company formed its coronavirus task force in January to implement numerous measures to protect workers, including taking their temperatures with infrared walkthrough scanners, securing face coverings prior to the CDC recommending and requiring them, sanitizing facilities and more.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)