Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc. will provide a one-time $75 payment to each employee who completes a COVID-19 vaccination program as it becomes available. For each employee (“partners” in company parlance) who gets fully vaccinated, Petco will also contribute $25 to the Petco Partner Assistance Fund, which provides assistance to employees experiencing financial hardship.
“As part of our mission to improve the lives of pets, pet parents and our Petco partners, we are committed to protecting the health, safety and well-being of our partners, guests and the communities we serve,” said Ron Coughlin, Petco chairman and CEO. “We strongly encourage all of our over 26,000 partners to get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.”
Any employee who has already been vaccinated will be eligible for the payment and donation, and Petco will continue to support scheduling flexibility to accommodate vaccination appointments. To further support vaccination efforts, the company is also exploring potential vaccination clinic offerings.
To date, the Petco Partner Assistance Fund has provided more than $1.3 million in financial support to Petco partners in need since March 2020. The company has invested nearly $23.5 million in additional compensation for every Petco store, distribution center and field partner — including six cycles of COVID-19 appreciation bonuses totaling nearly $17 million — and plans to continue doing so.
