The Los Angeles Times reports that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors has voted 4-1 to adopt an urgency ordinance that will require national grocery stores, along with drug retail employers in unincorporated areas of the county to pay their workers (who are considered essential frontline workers) $5 additional per hour of hazard / "hero" pay.
The hazard pay will stay in effect for the next 120 days.
According to the report, the temporary ordinance would apply to union and non-union store chains that are publicly traded or have at least 300 employees nationwide and more than 10 employees per store.
This news follows Kroger's recent announcement that it would close down two Long Beach stores -- a Ralphs location and a Food4Less store -- in response to a Long Beach ordinance requiring a $4 "hero pay".
Additionally, the ordinance is structured so that employees can choose paid leave in lieu of the extra pay if the additional income would cause them to lose access to such benefits.
Workers or business owners seeking additional information can call the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs at 800-593-8222, email heropay@dcba.lacounty.gov or visit dcba.lacounty.gov/heropay.
To find out whether a store is in an unincorporated area of the county, residents can go to lavote.net/precintmap and select "District Map Look Up By Address."
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