Asda has announced it will not open its stores on Boxing Day and give ‘thousands’ of its workers the opportunity to stay at home with family and friends.
Asda president Roger Burnley confirmed that all of Asda’s 631 stores would close for two days over the Christmas break, in recognition of the “hard work” of the supermarket’s staff.
This will give workers the opportunity to spend time with friends and family during the five day lifting of Covid restrictions.
Asda also confirmed that colleagues who were contracted to work on Boxing Day will be paid. In addition, the retailer said that all eligible hourly-paid colleagues are guaranteed to receive 100 per cent of their bonus entitlement – which will be paid in February 2021.
The recognition follows a ‘Thank You’ payment made to colleagues in June who had worked throughout lockdown, during which time Asda says it also shielded thousands of vulnerable colleagues on full pay and without furloughing any colleagues.
In his message to colleagues, Roger Burnley said:“This has been a challenging year and you have all done an incredible job, continuing to serve our customers and communities while juggling so many other commitments.
“As you know, the strict guidelines set out by the government will change between 23rd and 27th December and more households will be able to gather together. This is of course our busiest time of year but it was important for us to give as many of you as possible the opportunity to spend this time with those loved ones that you may not have not seen for many months so, uniquely for this year, we will not reopen our stores until December 27th.”
All Asda stores will close from 7pm on Christmas Eve and reopen on 27 December.
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