J.D. Irving Gives $150 Bonus To Vaccinated Employees
SAINT JOHN – A spate of cheques is coming for J.D. Irving employees who got their Covid-jabs.
J.D. Irving Ltd. says it will be paying “more than 3,000” of its employees $150 vaccine bonuses in the hopes of bolstering Covid-19 immunization among its workforce.
In a November 1 announcement, J.D. Irving said employees at 45 of the company’s locations across Atlantic Canada qualify for its $150 vaccination bonus.
Jim Ramsay, J.D. Irving VP of health and safety, said the approximate $450,000 bonus payout is exclusive to workplaces with 95 percent or greater rates of vaccination.
Those qualifying for the bonus include 860 people at J.D. Irving’s Saint John headquarters on 300 Union St.
Announced in the fall, the program required employees to show proof of vaccination before October 29 to qualify for the bonus.
Ramsay said the vaccine bonus was offered to all employees, including affiliates and those with Irving Shipbuilding, adding that many of J.D. Irving’s work sites were 100 percent vaccinated and that the unions the firm works with “have generally been supportive of encouraging employees to get vaccinated.”
“We took this team-based approached because a high level of vaccination is important for protecting each other and we know that our teams respond well to having a target and a goal,” Ramsay said.
Ramsay noted J.D. Irving monitors what other companies are doing to mitigate the pandemic, but stressed the bonus is to encourage a proven, safe and effective means of preventing COVID-19 transmission.
“We have been encouraging all employees to become vaccinated and some of our customers require proof of vaccination,” Ramsay said, adding that J.D. Irving has worked with a New Brunswick-based pharmacy to provide vaccination clinics across the province for employees and their families.
Uncommon practice
Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce CEO John Wishart said companies providing financial incentives for employees isn’t common practice among Moncton businesses.
“I’ve heard about it in other jurisdictions… and I think it’s a fairly progressive idea from J.D. Irving, but they obviously have the financial capacity to offer something like this,” Wishart said.
Wishart told Huddle he likes the fact that a vaccination bonus program opens a dialogue, and is gauging vaccination rates on departments, rather than individuals.
“It sort of promotes peers talking to peers and encouraging vaccination, so I would applaud them for what they did,” he said.
Although he sees the program as nobly intentioned, Wishart said the province has reached a point in overall vaccination rates – 85 percent fully vaccinated – where those who are holding out are likely a “harder core of anti-vax individuals,” and if anyone isn’t vaccinated yet, they’re not likely to be swayed by dialogue or facts.
“I’m not sure a monetary amount will be enough to sway them. I think it’s more philosophical for the remaining people at this point,” Wishart said.