Good news! The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) which first became a law a year ago has been extended to September 30, 2021. This law provides paid sick leave for associate-related COVID care and paid family and medical leave to help care for a sick individual or to provide child care. This past year, it was a very important factor in allowing associates to seek a diagnosis or medical care when they had symptoms of COVID-19. The extension encourages all to continue reporting symptoms as we strive to keep our associates safe.

One of the good things about this extension is that the qualifying reasons for using the paid time provided by FFCRA have expanded to include the following:

Vaccines are starting to be more widely available, and Granger wants to encourage associates to get the vaccine when they are able. Though we continue to ask everyone to try to schedule their vaccinations outside of work hours, we don't want there to be any barriers to associates getting the vaccine. This new use of the COVID sick time should help. Please work directly with your supervisor to provide information about your appointment; your supervisor will forward it to HR for tracking purposes.

Please note, we will make every effort to accommodate your appointment, but there may be some extreme cases during which we may not be able to provide coverage for your shift.

Any questions can be sent to Joy Wagner at [email protected] for help with the process.

Two weeks ago we published QR codes to help you find the vaccine, but now it also appears that several of the pharmacy chains are particularly useful in helping essential workers like us get scheduled to receive the vaccine. Walgreens in Alma has provided vaccines to several associates under 50 years old and Rite Aids appear to have walk-up opportunities, though we are not sure whether that is true for younger workers yet.

For your convenience, we are publishing those QR codes and links again here, along with QR codes and links for Walgreens and Rite Aid. Scan QR codes or click the links below.

Professional Driver RJ Rubie was recently given money from a customer who asked him to use it to pay another customer's bill. RJ did just that and his customer made a donation in the same amount to a local charity. How cool!

As part of our continued effort to provide facilities that allow our associates to do their jobs in safe and comfortable conditions, Granger leadership has announced that we will be constructing a new building at our Jackson facility. The new building will house a new break room and locker room, offices and meeting areas for drivers, helpers, mechanics, operators and supervisory staff, as well as a new maintenance shop.

We are currently in the planning stages of this process and we hope to break ground and begin construction of the building over the next few months.

Stay tuned to Granger communication channels for updates on this exciting facility improvement project.

As this Gazette is being published, we have already visited two locations for appreciation week and have two left. If you haven't had appreciation at your location yet, we hope to see you there.

Thursday, March 18

1 p.m.

Friday, March 19

1 p.m.

Please see the next issue for a recap of the event, including photos and the winners of our raffle!

Now that spring has sprung, many of us will be sprucing up our homes, vehicles or work spaces. While you're doing all that cleaning, you're likely to encounter some chemicals. Remember, chemicals can cause the following:

Report any concerns that you have about working with chemicals in the workplace.

—A customer speaking about Steve Pickrell

You can earn up to $1,000 for each qualified candidate you refer who is hired and stays at least 90 days. Get started by forwarding these links to friends, neighbors and relatives and/or sharing them on your social media accounts: