Corporate Social Responsibility
Kroger Announces $130 Million Thank You Pay for Associates, Continues Paid Emergency Leave
Kroger has announced a special Thank You Pay to hourly frontline grocery, supply chain, pharmacy, and call center associates to acknowledge what they have done to help stock, clean, and keep the store safe. This Thank You Pay will be $400 for qualified full-time associates and $200 for qualified part-time associates, and it will be paid in two installments on May 30 and June 18.
"Our associates have been instrumental in feeding America while also helping to flatten the curve during the initial phases of the pandemic. To recognize and thank our associates for their incredible work during this historic time, we offered special pay in March, April, and May," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO in a press release.
Unilever Launches Mental Wellbeing Program for 62,000 Employees
Unilever has announced a 14-day mental wellbeing program to help employee engagement and wellbeing of the brand’s 62,000 employees. The program, which was created by haircare brand Clear, uses tools by the Resilience Research Center and topics led by Dr. Michael Ungar, Dr. Phillip Jeffries, and Silja Litvin.
“This resilience training programme was first launched by our haircare brand Clear, in response to the coronavirus outbreak,” Jean-Laurent Ingles, executive vice president of Hair Care at Unilever said in the above article. “The very early stages of the pandemic were first experienced in Asia, where Clear is a market leader, and the team there quickly recognized the hugely negative impact coronavirus can have on our mental wellbeing.”
Loyalty Programs
JetBlue Rewards Its Most Loyal Customers with Offer to Gift Mosaic Status and Opportunities to Earn TrueBlue Points Even Faster
JetBlue has announced it is extending its Mosaic travel benefits until 2021. The extension period has been updated on the customer’s TrueBlue account. The brand has also reduced the qualifying point and segment requirements by 50 percent for Mosaic qualification.
“We’ve developed a comprehensive program to reward those who have been most loyal to us,” said Don Uselmann, vice president loyalty and personalization, JetBlue in a press release. “Our Mosaic members, in particular, are eager to restart their travel plans when the time is right. In order to support them, just as they’ve always supported us, Mosaic customers will be able to enjoy their current benefits through 2021. We’re also giving them an opportunity to give the gift of Mosaic to a recipient of their choosing.”
Virgin Australia Has Restarted Its Velocity Frequent Flyer Program Despite Still Being in Administration – Indicating It Could Soon Be Flying as Normal
Virgin Australia has announced that it will start allowing Velocity rewards members to redeem their points again after freezing them just weeks earlier. However, the airline has been in voluntary administration since last month.
"Velocity is pleased to resume offering Virgin Australia domestic flight redemptions for our members for travel to some of our most popular domestic redemption destinations from 1 September this year," a spokesperson said in the above Yahoo Finance article.
Innovation
Automated Delivery Cashes in On Pandemic-Driven Demand
According to Reuters, the pandemic has caused autonomous delivery services to become even more popular. “I think without a crisis, there would have been some skepticism as to whether this would have been used or not,” Christopher Bruno said in the above Reuters article. Formal approval for new businesses usually takes six to 10 months, he said, but “we did it in a week and a half.” Now 20 robots in Fairfax are delivering meals, groceries, and hair products.