5:55 p.m.
, March 21, 2020, modified at
6:42 p.m.
, March 21, 2020
To reward the “exceptional commitment” of its staff, Auchan grants them a tax-free and de-socialized lump sum premium. The device had been put in place by the State as part of the emergency measures post Yellow Vests.
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It is one of the first companies to respond to Bruno Le Maire’s invitation. Friday, the Minister of Economy had called the essential sectors to pay tax-free bonuses of 1,000 euros to “those who have the courage to go to their place of work”. Auchan Retail is preparing to do this for all employees of stores, logistics warehouses, online ordering platforms and drive (Auchan Drive and Chronodrive). Nearly 65,000 employees will receive a substantial boost in April of 1,000 euros, whether they are managers or non-managers. Last year, the distributor had paid 200 euros maximum, depending on the level of remuneration and working time. “With an exceptional situation, exceptional commitment … and exceptional bonus”, summarizes Edgard Bonte, the president.
Receptionists and cashiers, order pickers, department heads, store managers, etc. All have been on deck since the start of the crisis. Drive traffic jumped 40%. The fear of shortages with the coronavirus crisis has contributed to emptying supermarkets that have to be constantly replenished. And this, often by erasing his own fear of going to work.
The variation of a post-yellow vests device
“Our mission is to feed the French, says Edgard Bonte. We have a duty, with words of thanks but also financial gestures, to recognize the exceptional commitment of the teams who are at their posts despite the concerns.”
For the distributor, whose revenues in France fell by 2% in 2019 (for a turnover of 17.36 billion euros), the cost is far from neutral: 65 million euros. “While our economic model is strongly challenged, this effort is substantial but up to the mobilization of employees,” said the president.
The Auchan premium is a variation of the device born just after the yellow vests crisis. Nicknamed “prime Macron”, it aimed to boost purchasing power. There, it is above all a question of valuing the efforts provided by personnel who take risks by going to work daily. Tax-exempt and exempt from social security contributions, this wage gesture is now conditioned on the existence of a profit-sharing agreement.
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