Walmart Enacts Emergency Leave Policy in Response to Coronavirus Outbreak Walmart has announced the deployment of a new emergency leave policy for their 1.4 million hourly U.S. workers.
The decision comes on the heels of the retailer’s recent confirmation of a store associate testing positive for COVID-19 in Kentucky.
As part of the new policy, hourly workers will be able to receive up to two weeks of paid leave if they’re required to quarantine.
The paid leave also extends to workers who have a confirmed case of the coronavirus.
If unable to return to work after the two weeks, both full-time and part-time workers can receive additional pay replacement for up to 26 weeks.
This is a significant change for the retailer, as full-time associates were previously only allowed 80 hours of paid leave.
Part-time associates were previously only allotted 48 hours of paid leave.
According to Senior VP of Walmart U.S. Benefits Adam Stavisky, Walmart's decision to implement the policy is critical in this "unprecedented time." Adam Stavisky, to CNBC