Most people are urged to stay home to slow the spread of coronavirus, but most grocery store employees have no choice but to be exposed to dozens of people every day. Fred Meyer is offering a temporary boost in pay to employees who are on the front lines of the stores.

The grocery store chain announced Tuesday night that it will be offering a $2 increase above the standard base rate of pay to frontline hourly employees between March 29 and April 18. The “hero bonus” will apply to grocery, supply chain, manufacturing, pharmacy and call center employees.

On March 21, Fred Meyer offered a one-time bonus to every hourly employee from certain departments — $300 for full-time employees, $150 for part-time.

“We want to further acknowledge our terrific team for their hard work to date as well as the work yet to come,” said Sara Parker, director of human resources for Fred Meyer.

Fred Meyer President Dennis Gibson said the store had recently hired many new employees and would likely hire more soon.

Fred Meyer also said it would expand its COVID-19 emergency leave guidelines, granting paid time off for two weeks of self-isolation if employees are experiencing coronavirus symptoms.

—Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.