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8.A. - Page 6 of 73 <br />Business Feedback <br />Feedback from grocery stores on adoption of a hazard pay ordinance was mostly positive, with a few <br />stores signaling it would be a challenge for their business. <br />To date, the City councilmembers and City staff conducted outreach to a number of businesses, and we <br />received responses from the following: Chavez Market, Costco, Delucchi's Market, Dollar Tree, Key <br />Market, Lucky's, Nob Hill, Rite Aid, Safeway, Smart & Final, Target, and Whole Foods. <br />Some grocery store representatives believed adoption of a hazard pay would throw off their budgets, but <br />that they can adapt, and others expressed that hazard pay would create stability for their team and ease <br />the pressure to work multiple jobs. A select number of grocery stores have provided bonus pay in varying <br />amounts, $100-$200, either quarterly or a few times a year. One large grocery store already provided <br />hazard pay in varying amounts, from $2.00 per hour on a temporary basis, to now $1.00 per hour on a <br />permanent basis. <br />A smaller number for grocery stores indicated that a $5.00 per hour increase would be significant, and <br />with the additional requirement to provide employees 80 hours of COVID-19 related sick time off with no <br />federal assistance, it would jeopardize the grocery store's ability to remain open. <br />Some of the larger grocery/drug stores have provided hazard pay throughout the entire pandemic, or for <br />only a few months. In these instances, the hazard pay was not as high as the proposed hazard pay of <br />$5.00 per hour, but adoption of a hazard pay ordinance was welcomed by two large grocery/drug stores, <br />one of the large/drug grocery stores indicated it would not likely have a significant impact on their budget, <br />while one other large grocery/drug store signaled it may lead to reduced staffing or layoffs. <br />Furthermore, it is noteworthy that some of our smaller grocery stores, who would not be subject to the <br />proposed hazard pay ordinance since they are not considered a covered employer, have voluntarily <br />provided bonuses and/or hazard pay to their employees during the pandemic. On the other hand, one of <br />our smaller grocery stores was not interested in providing hazard pay, while some other small grocery <br />stores did not provide an opinion on how adoption of a hazard pay ordinance would impact their business. <br />The City also established a dedicated email address (hazardpay@redwoodcity.org) to receive public <br />comments from the community at large, and all comments that staff received via email are included as <br />Attachment G. <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />The consideration of an ordinance and/or adoption of the urgency ordinance will not have a material <br />impact on the City's budget. It is expected that staff resources would continue to be needed to field <br />anticipated questions from the community and explain the different provisions of the ordinances. Staff <br />resources, including attorney services, could also be required should the City be faced with a legal <br />challenge if Council adopts either or both of the ordinances. <br />Page 6 of 8 <br />AL . <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.ore <br />365 <br />