Exclusive: Amazon raises overtime pay for warehouse workers - Reuters

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Saturday it is raising overtime pay for associates working in its U.S. warehouses, as the world’s largest online retailer tries to meet the rapidly growing demand for online shopping from consumers stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

FILE PHOTO: Amazon logo is seen in front of diplayed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in this illustration taken March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

  Hourly workers at the warehouses will receive double pay after 40 hours for overtime, up from the 1.5-times rate, from March 15 to May 9, the announcement said.

“All hourly associates working in the U.S. Ops network will receive double their regular hourly rate for every overtime hour worked in a workweek,” the company said in a statement. “This temporary increased overtime pay is effective March 15, 2020 and will continue through May 9. 2020.”

This is the second time the e-commerce giant announced an improvement in pay for its workers in a week. On Monday, Amazon hiked the hourly rate for associates to $17 from $15 and announced plans to hire 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers in the United States as the virus outbreak boosts online orders.

As the virus spreads across the United States, Amazon has offered unlimited unpaid time off to encourage employees to stay home if they don’t feel well. It has also staggered workers shifts and prohibited employees from sitting next to each other in the lunchroom to limit contact.

But four Democratic U.S. senators, including Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders on Friday expressed concern in a letter to Amazon’s Chief Executive Jeff Bezos that the world’s largest online retailer has not taken enough measures to protect its warehouse staff. They specifically asked if the company would provide “time-and-a-half” hazard pay for its workers.

Amazon on Thursday reported its first warehouse employee in the United States tested positive for the virus, forcing the company to temporarily shutter a warehouse in New York.

As the virus spreads across the United States, several clothing retailers and department-store chains have shut stores and cafe and restaurant operators have closed down or limited services to delivery and take-away.

Online retailers and grocery stores are trying to capture rising demand as more Americans are ordered to stay at home to reduce the spread of the outbreak.

Rival retailer Walmart Inc said on Thursday it plans to hire 150,000 hourly associates in the U.S. and announced $550 million in cash bonuses to reward workers.

The highly contagious coronavirus has infected more than 274,800 people across the world and led to more than 11,300 deaths globally forcing governments across the world to issue mass lockdowns of people in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

(The story refiles to add dropped word in seventh paragraph to show Amazon reported first warehouse employee contracted virus on Thursday).

Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Rebekah Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Kenneth Li and Diane Craft

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-21 17:22:33Z
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Exclusive: Amazon raises overtime pay for warehouse workers - Reuters

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Saturday it is raising overtime pay for associates working in its U.S. warehouses, as the world’s largest online retailer tries to meet the rapidly growing demand for online shopping from consumers stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

FILE PHOTO: Amazon logo is seen in front of diplayed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in this illustration taken March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

  Hourly workers at the warehouses will receive double pay after 40 hours for overtime, up from the 1.5-times rate, from March 15 to May 9, the announcement said.

“All hourly associates working in the U.S. Ops network will receive double their regular hourly rate for every overtime hour worked in a workweek,” the company said in a statement. “This temporary increased overtime pay is effective March 15, 2020 and will continue through May 9. 2020.”

This is the second time the e-commerce giant announced an improvement in pay for its workers in a week. On Monday, Amazon hiked the hourly rate for associates to $17 from $15 and announced plans to hire 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers in the United States as the virus outbreak boosts online orders.

As the virus spreads across the United States, Amazon has offered unlimited unpaid time off to encourage employees to stay home if they don’t feel well. It has also staggered workers shifts and prohibited employees from sitting next to each other in the lunchroom to limit contact.

But four Democratic U.S. senators, including Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders on Friday expressed concern in a letter to Amazon’s Chief Executive Jeff Bezos that the world’s largest online retailer has not taken enough measures to protect its warehouse staff. They specifically asked if the company would provide “time-and-a-half” hazard pay for its workers. {nL1N2BE02N]

Amazon on Thursday reported its first employee in the United States tested positive for the virus, forcing the company to temporarily shutter a warehouse in New York.

As the virus spreads across the United States, several clothing retailers and department-store chains have shut stores and cafe and restaurant operators have closed down or limited services to delivery and take-away.

Online retailers and grocery stores are trying to capture rising demand as more Americans are ordered to stay at home to reduce the spread of the outbreak.

Rival retailer Walmart Inc said on Thursday it plans to hire 150,000 hourly associates in the U.S. and announced $550 million in cash bonuses to reward workers.

The highly contagious coronavirus has infected more than 274,800 people across the world and led to more than 11,300 deaths globally forcing governments across the world to issue mass lockdowns of people in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Rebekah Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Kenneth Li and Diane Craft

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-21 16:41:04Z
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Starbucks is closing its cafes due to coronavirus, with some exceptions - CNN

On its app, the coffee giant said "things are changing, but we're still here for you."

Workers will still be paid for the next month even if they choose to stay home, Rossann Williams, Starbucks' executive vice president and president of US business and Canada wrote in a letter published Friday. She noted, "Our cafés in some areas are experiencing high traffic, and we need to do more to prevent the spread of this virus."

Starbucks is keeping some of its grocery and drive-through locations open and said cafes serving in or around hospitals and health care centers will remain open "in our efforts to serve first responders and healthcare workers." It's also still offering delivery via Uber Eats in select cities.

"Let's be real. Lattes aren't 'essential.' But in times of crisis, the government asks convenient food and beverage outlets to remain open when possible for pickup, Drive Thru, or delivery," Williams wrote in the letter.

Earlier this month, Starbucks announced measures including limiting seating its stores and suspending the use of personal cups in response to the global pandemic.

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2020-03-21 15:58:00Z
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Starbucks is closing its cafes due to coronavirus, with some exceptions - CNN

On its app, the coffee giant said "things are changing, but we're still here for you."

Workers will still be paid for the next month even if they choose to stay home, Rossann Williams, Starbucks' executive vice president and president of US business and Canada wrote in a letter published Friday. She noted, "Our cafés in some areas are experiencing high traffic, and we need to do more to prevent the spread of this virus."

Starbucks is keeping some of its grocery and drive-through locations open and said cafes serving in or around hospitals and health care centers will remain open "in our efforts to serve first responders and healthcare workers." It's also still offering delivery via Uber Eats in select cities.

"Let's be real. Lattes aren't 'essential.' But in times of crisis, the government asks convenient food and beverage outlets to remain open when possible for pickup, Drive Thru, or delivery," Williams wrote in the letter.

Earlier this month, Starbucks announced measures including limiting seating its stores and suspending the use of personal cups in response to the global pandemic.

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2020-03-21 15:03:59Z
52780677378541

How to get your Starbucks fix now that coronavirus has closed US stores - CNET

Uber Eats is one delivery option.

Starbucks

Starbucks announced on its COVID-19 blog on Friday that it's closing the doors of nearly every store in the US as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Starbucks cafes are closed in the UK as well. This is the latest step that the coffee chain has taken in limiting the spread of infection. Starbucks said in a statement to "partners" (employees) that stores will remain closed for two weeks or longer.

"We are temporarily closing access to our company-operated cafés and reducing our service to Drive-Thru only in the U.S. for at least two weeks starting Mar. 20," the company said in a blog post. On March 6 Starbucks stopped filling customers' reusable cups and on March 15 it began temporarily shutting retail stores and shifting to a to-go model in the US and Canada. Starbucks will continue to pay employees for the next 30 days even if they stay home. 

If the closure of thousands of stores across the US leaves you wondering how you'll get your next venti extra-hot oat milk hazelnut latte with extra foam, relax. Here's how you can still buy your Starbucks coffee.

You don't have to kick your frappuccino habit yet.

Starbucks Mexico Twitter

Starbucks drive-through windows

While you can't walk into a Starbucks store to order or pick up your drink, you can get it from a location with a drive-through window. Roughly 60% of all Starbucks stores in the US have a drive-thru option, according to a company representative. 

You can either order ahead on your phone's Starbucks app or order when you get to the drive-through. 

To find out where your closest Starbucks Drive-Thru location is, consult the store locator website, which will zero in on your location, or search the Starbucks app. Once you open the app, tap Stores, then Filter (in the top right corner), and select Drive-Thru. Then tap Show stores.

Delivery apps and services

In January, Starbucks announced a partnership with Uber Eats to bring delivery to 49 markets across 33 US states. There's even a dedicated Starbucks mini site within UberEats.com where you can check if delivery exists in your location.

Here are some delivery sites that will bring Starbucks menu items to your doorstep. You'll need to check your area for eligibility and delivery fees may apply. During the coronavirus outbreak, we recommend tipping your delivery driver more.

Now playing: Watch this: Pandemic: Here's what's changed about the coronavirus

5:54

Find the exceptions to the rule

Although most of the country's Starbucks coffee shops are closing, a smattering of shops will remain open. "Some exceptions will be made for those cafes serving in or around hospitals and health care centers in our efforts to serve first responders and healthcare workers," Starbucks wrote in the statement published online.

Non-Starbucks operated stores

It isn't clear if Starbucks stores that aren't operated by the company -- but which use its name and products -- are still be open for take-out orders, for example Starbucks shops in hotel lobbies. If you're nearby one and jonesing for a cappuccino while practicing safe social distancing, it could be worth checking just in case.

Remember that if you do leave the house during the coronavirus crisis, take these 10 practical precautions to help avoid the virus. Stay up to date on the latest news through phone alerts, and keep from feeling lonely with these seven ways to connect with community while you're staying at home.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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2020-03-21 13:23:38Z
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Google launches Covid-19 page and search portal with safety tips, official stats and more, US-only for now - TechCrunch

Google says Coronavirus has become its biggest search topic by a country mile this year, and to continue its efforts to harness that attention in the best possible way, late on Friday the company launched a new information portal dedicated to the pandemic as well as an improved search experience for desktop and mobile.

The search experience, Google says, was updated in response to “people’s information needs expanding,” while the new information portal also provides the basic, most useful information (for example around symptoms), plus a lot of links and on-site options to explore further.

Something notably absent on Google’s page or search experience are any links to conversation forums or places to hear and talk to other average people. Google has never been particularly successful in its many efforts to break into social media and this underscores that, while also helping it steer away from the fact that many of these forums are not always well managed. I would imagine that more tools for direct communication, such as the Google Hangouts product, and possibly others in that same category, might well be added or linked to as well over time.

Let’s dive into some more details.

The new search experience now not only includes search results but also a number of additional links to “authoritative information” from health authorities and updated data and visualisations.

“This new format organizes the search results page to help people easily navigate information and resources, and it will also make it possible to add more information over time as it becomes available,” Emily Moxley, Google’s product manager for search, writes in a blog post.

The search experience now also includes links to a Twitter carousel featuring accounts from civic organizations local to you, and also a new “most common questions” section related to the pandemic from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is rolling out first in the US in English and Google said it would be adding more languages and regions soon.

Meanwhile, the portal — also available first for the US — features tips on staying healthy and advice for those who are concerned; links to further official resources; links to more localised resources; links to fundraising efforts; the latest statistics; and an overview of all of Google’s own work (for example, the specific efforts it’s making for educators). We have asked the company when and if it plans to cover other regions beyond the US, and we’ll update this as we learn more.

This is an important move for Google. The internet has figured as critical platform from the earliest days of the Novel Coronavirus emerging out of China, but it hasn’t all been positive.

On one hand, there has been a ton of misinformation spread around about the virus, and the internet overall (plus specific sites like Google’s search and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter) has played a huge role in being responsible for disseminating the majority of that bad news. (Not all those searches and clicks lead to the right information, or good data, unfortunately.)

On the other hand, it’s also been an indispensable resource: in countries where health services have already become overwhelmed by the influx of people seeking help, official online portals (like this one) are serving a very important role in triaging inbound requests before people resort to physically getting themselves into the system (if they need to). And the internet is the main place people will turn in the days and weeks ahead as they are asked to socially isolate themselves to slow down the spread of the pandemic, serving its role in providing information, but hopefully also some diversion and enrichment.

Google’s site is bringing together as many of the positive and legitimate strands of information as it can.

The main page focuses on the most important basics: an brief overview of the virus, a list of the most common symptoms, a list of most common things you can do to prevent getting infected or spreading the infection and a (very brief, for now) section on treatments.

From this, it goes on to more detailed links to videos and other resources for specific interests such as advice for the elderly, a map-based data overview to monitor what is going on elsewhere; and then resources for further help for topics that are coming up a lot, such as advice for people working from home, or for how to set up self-isolation, online education advice, cooking resources and more. Relief efforts so far only has one link, to the Solidarity Response Fund started by the UN Foundation, which has had a donation of $50 million from Google. \

There are a number of other relief and fundraising efforts underway, including those to help fund the race for research to improve the medical tools and medicine we have to fight this. I think the idea is that all of these sections will grow and evolve as the situation evolves.

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2020-03-21 12:30:35Z
52780677027081

How to get your Starbucks fix now that coronavirus has closed US stores - CNET

Uber Eats is one delivery option.

Starbucks

Starbucks announced on its COVID-19 blog on Friday that it's closing the doors of nearly every store in the US as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Starbucks cafes are closed in the UK as well. This is the latest step that the coffee chain has taken in limiting the spread of infection. Starbucks said in a statement to "partners" (employees) that stores will remain closed for two weeks.

"We are temporarily closing access to our company-operated cafés and reducing our service to Drive-Thru only in the U.S. for at least two weeks starting Mar. 20," the company said in a blog post. On March 6 Starbucks stopped filling customers' reusable cups and on March 15 it began temporarily shutting retail stores and shifting to a to-go model in the US and Canada. Starbucks will continue to pay employees for the next 30 days even if they stay home. 

If the closure of thousands of stores across the US may lead you wondering how you'll get your next venti double 145-degree oat milk hazelnut latte with extra foam, relax. Here's how you can still buy your Starbucks coffee.

You don't have to kick your frappuccino habit yet.

Starbucks Mexico Twitter

Starbucks drive-through windows

While you can't walk into a Starbucks store to order or pick up your drink, you can get it from a location with a drive-through window. Roughly 60% of all Starbucks stores in the US have a drive-thru option, according to a company representative. 

You can either order ahead on your phone's Starbucks app or order when you get to the drive-through. 

To find out where your closest Starbucks Drive-Thru location is, consult the store locator website, which will zero in on your location, or search the Starbucks app. Once you open the app, tap Stores, then Filter (in the top right corner), and select Drive-Thru. Then tap Show stores.

Delivery apps and services

In January, Starbucks announced a partnership with Uber Eats to bring delivery to 49 markets across 33 US states. There's even a dedicated Starbucks mini site within UberEats.com where you can check if delivery exists in your location.

Here are some delivery sites that will bring Starbucks menu items to your doorstep. You'll need to check your area for eligibility and delivery fees may apply. During the coronavirus outbreak, we recommend tipping your delivery driver more.

Now playing: Watch this: Pandemic: Here's what's changed about the coronavirus

5:54

Find the exceptions to the rule

Although most of the country's Starbucks coffee shops are closing, a smattering of shops will remain open. "Some exceptions will be made for those cafes serving in or around hospitals and health care centers in our efforts to serve first responders and healthcare workers," Starbucks wrote in the statement published online.

Non-Starbucks operated stores

It isn't clear if Starbucks stores that aren't operated by the company -- but which use its name and products -- are still be open for take-out orders, for example Starbucks shops in hotel lobbies. If you're nearby and jonesing for a cappuccino while practicing safe social distancing, it could be worth checking just in case.

Remember that if you do leave the house during the coronavirus crisis, take these 10 practical precautions to help avoid the virus. Stay up to date on the latest news through phone alerts, and keep from feeling lonely with these seven ways to connect with community while you're staying at home.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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2020-03-21 11:31:12Z
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