Asda to close stores on Boxing Day to give staff a “well-earned break”

Asda bosses have announced it won’t be opening its stores on Boxing Day to give frontline staff a well-earned break – along with a bonus.

The chain wants to give “thousands of colleagues the opportunity stay at home with loved ones in recognition of their efforts as key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Employees contracted to work on December 26 will be paid, and all eligible hourly-paid colleagues are guaranteed to receive 100 per cent of their bonus entitlement for their “unstinting hard work and commitment during 2020”.

This will be paid in February 2021.

CEO and President Roger Burnley confirmed on social media that all of Asda’s 631 stores would close for two days over the Christmas break, “giving hard-working staff the chance to be with friends and family “during the five-day lifting of Covid restrictions”.

In a message to Asda workforce, he 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.

“But it’s also been challenging from a personal perspective as we have not been able to spend time with our families and friends, which has been hard for us all.

“As you know, the strict guidelines set out by the government will change between December 23 and 27 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 27.”

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