Amtrak is paying workers to get COVID-19 vaccine

Amtrak is the latest company in the U.S. to have been revealed to offer extra payments and benefits to its employees who will avail of the COVID-19 vaccine. It was said that the national passenger railroad company is aiming for 100% vaccination, so it decided to announce a payment scheme.

As per Fox Business, everyone who works in Amtrak and gets vaccinated will be eligible for the extra pay and other incentives. The company is willing to shell out extra just to make sure that its workforce will all be injected to fight the novel virus that has already claimed millions of people around the world.

The train service’s plan

Amtrak is really determined to convince everyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine since the company knows that not everyone is willing to avail of it. Many are still unsure, and those who decided not to get it are either afraid, or they just don’t believe in its effect.

To encourage its employees, paying them to get themselves vaccinated is the best offer that Amtrak can give. Thus, the 50-year-old national railroad company announced its COVID-19 plan.

The benefits and how they can be claimed

Aside from the extra allowance pay that is equivalent to two hours of the workers’ regular salary, they will also allow them to be excused for absences related to the vaccination. The workers were reminded that they should present documentation that will prove they have indeed been injected with the vaccine.

Employees should also take note that the excused absences will be for the missed working day for the scheduled inoculation and the next day if they need to rest due to any vaccine side effects. The pay will be given out in 48 hours after they received the vaccine.

“Recognizing the vaccine offers the best way to protect ourselves, loved ones, coworkers, we are doing our best to ensure all employees have vaccine access while delivering a new standard of travel for our customers,” Amtrak commented regarding its payment scheme.

Amtrak joins the likes of McDonald’s, Dollar General, and more in offering payments to workers just to push them to get vaccinated. Having everyone get the shots is one way to be protected from COVID-19 and curb it from spreading, so companies are stepping up to make this happen.