Employees from two local 99 Cents Only stores have revealed they are not receiving the $5 per hour “Hero Pay” as required by local law.
A worker at the Pico Boulevard location in Santa Monica indicated that the discount chain chose to remove numerous grocery items from its inventory — including candy, bottled water and snacks — so it could avoid the required pay hike.
A store manager identified as Alex, confirmed “the company’s decision to remove some products.”
“It is my job to follow their decision,” he told The Sun. “Hopefully I will be getting these items back soon.”
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance in late February requiring most grocery and drug retailers to provide an additional $5 per hour to employees working frontline positions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Santa Monica City Council passed its own ordinance — with almost identical requirements — two weeks later.
Both laws specifically target publicly traded companies with more than 300 employees nationwide, large retailers (over 85,000 square feet) and stores that dedicate more than 10 percent of floor space to grocery and drug items.
The Sun visited the 99 Cents Only store at 201 Lincoln Boulevard in Venice on Monday and found a full stock of grocery items that appeared to take up almost double the permitted allotment of retail floor space.
“As an extreme-value retailer, every penny counts at 99 Cents Only Stores,” the company’s legal officer, Mary Kasper, said in a statement to The Sun.
“Neither our business model nor the communities we serve, including low-income families and seniors, can tolerate higher prices for fresh food, groceries and other essential household items.
“We are committed to continue operating in our communities with uninterrupted service during this pandemic and beyond, and we are making available as many products as we can while remaining in compliance with all applicable laws and ordinances.
“To this end, we have temporarily removed a limited number of food and beverage products from stores, which allows us to continue supporting customers who rely on us for a wide range of products at extreme-value prices and our associates who rely on us for good jobs.”
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Founded in 1982, 99 Cents Only operates 350 stores in the western United States with approximately 17,200 employees.
Indeed.com estimates the average store manager earns $64,378 per year, with shelf stockers claiming just $11.44 to $12.21 per hour.
99 Cents Only had been traded on the New York Stock Exchange but agreed to a buyout in 2011 from the private-equity firm Ares Management LLC and the Canada Pension Investment Board in a deal valued at almost $1.55 billion.
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