Tri-City Best Buy Employees Get Vaccination Incentive, Bonus Pay

NEWARK, CA — Best Buy employees who work at the Tri-City store will soon be rewarded if they get a coronavirus vaccine— in more ways than one, the company announced this week.

Any hourly employee who gets a vaccine will be offered additional sick time for potential side effects experienced from the vaccine shots, Best Buy officials said. They’ll also get some extra paid leave.

In addition, all U.S. hourly workers employed by the company as of Feb. 15 will get “a one-time bonus for the incredible work they’ve performed” during the last year.

"This has been a year like no other," a spokesperson from Best Buy said. The vaccine benefit and bonus are to "show gratitude for the resilience shown by our employees.”

Best Buy has over 1,000 large-format stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In the East Bay, Best Buy stores are located in:

• Union City
• Oakland
• Dublin
• Pleasant Hill

Best Buy does not require that employees get vaccinated. However, the megastore chain says that they “strongly encourage” workers to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine for their own safety and the safety of their loved ones.

"The vaccine benefit is a thank you for employees who take the time to get vaccinated, not just because it helps keep them safe, but because it does the same for everyone they work with," a news release from the company says.

Part-time employees will get 4 hours of paid leave, and full-time employees will get 8 hours, they said.

The "one-time" bonuses will range from $200 to $500.

— Written by Patch editor Ashley Ludwig with additional reporting by Bea Karnes