ATLANTA, April 1, 2020
/PRNewswire/ -- The Home Depot®, the world's
largest home improvement retailer, today provided an update on
several temporary changes to its business in response to
COVID-19.
"As our communities battle COVID-19, The Home Depot is committed
to providing the essential needs required to maintain homes and
businesses while doing our best to protect our valued customers and
associates. This has resulted in several temporary changes to our
business as we look out for your safety and the safety of our
associates," said Craig Menear,
chairman, CEO and president of The Home Depot. "We want to thank
our associates and our customers for their patience and cooperation
as we work through this challenge together."
Safety Measures
The company has instituted several measures for the safety
of its customers and associates, including:
- Closing stores early at 6:00 p.m.
to allow more time for sanitization and restocking
- Limiting the number of customers allowed into stores at one
time
- Promoting social and physical distancing practices in stores by
marking floors and adding signage to help customers and associates
maintain safe distances
- Eliminating major spring promotions to avoid driving high
levels of traffic to stores
- Limiting services and installations to those that are essential
for maintenance and repair needs in impacted markets
- Distributing thermometers to associates in stores and
distribution centers and asking them to perform health checks
before reporting to work
Expanded Benefits for Associates
The Home Depot has introduced several benefits enhancements to
take care of its associates. To-date, the company has:
- Added 80 hours of paid time off for all full-time hourly
associates and 40 hours of paid time off for part-time hourly
associates to be used at their discretion at any time in 2020 and
paid out at year-end if not used
- For associates who are 65 years of age or older, or determined
to be at higher risk by the CDC, added 160 hours of paid time off
for full-time hourly associates and 80 hours of paid time off for
part-time hourly associates to be used at their discretion at any
time in 2020 and paid out at year-end if not used
- Providing paid time off for any associate who has contracted
COVID-19 until released by a doctor
- Providing up to 14 days paid time off for any associate
required to be quarantined by a public health authority or the
CDC
- Providing additional bonuses to hourly associates in stores and
distribution centers -- $100 per week
for full-time hourly associates and $50 per week for part-time hourly associates
- Providing double pay for overtime hours worked by hourly
associates
- Extended dependent care benefits and waived co-pays
- Asked all associates in store support functions who can work
from home to do so while continuing to support our frontline
associates
Supporting Communities
- Weeks ago, voluntarily froze pricing nationwide across product
categories in high demand due to COVID-19
- Executed a "Stop-Sale" on all N95 masks in stores and
HomeDepot.com and redirected all shipments to be donated to
hospitals, healthcare providers and first responders around the
country
- Donating millions of dollars in personal protective equipment
(PPE) and other products to hospitals, healthcare providers and
first responders
- Prioritizing order fulfillment for hospitals, healthcare
providers and first responders
- Marshalling the resources of our merchandising and supply chain
teams to globally source quality products and expedite the
availability of needed items
About The Home Depot
The Home Depot is the world's
largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,292 retail
stores in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico,
U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. In fiscal 2019, The Home Depot had
sales of $110.2 billion and earnings
of $11.2 billion. The Company employs
more than 400,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow
Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.
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SOURCE The Home Depot