J.M. Smucker Co. enacting efforts to help employees impacted by COVID

The J.M. Smucker Co.’s Longmont plant is using several targeted measures to offer support to employees in the face of potential impacts from COVID-19, including hardship awards and guaranteed pay and benefits in the event of a closure.

The plant, which employs more than 200 people, is building on its previous sanitation practices and has created stations at which employees’ temperatures are taken. Company-wide, Smuckers also is covering the full cost of COVID-19 testing conducted by its insurance provider.

The company also is taking additional steps to offer employees financial support. Company spokesperson Frank Cirrillo confirmed that all manufacturing and service employees at the Longmont site are eligible for a one-time $1,500 hardship award. The award applies to positions deemed essential in the delivery of food to consumers.

Additionally, the company announced it would provide up to 12 weeks of full pay and benefits if the plant needs to close or if an employee can’t perform their role due to COVID-19. Smucker also will pay up to 14 days of sick leave if an employee needs to care for dependents or household members who have tested positive, has symptoms, or has been asked by their doctor or by the company to self-quarantine. The company said it also is reinforcing mental health resources for employees and has started a support fund to financially help workers impacted by COVID-19.

”We understand the uncertainty people are feeling right now, and are committed to do our part to ease some of that concern by supporting our employees and communities, while ensuring people and pets have access to a steady supply of food,” Smucker CEO and President Mark Smucker stated in a news release.

The Longmont facility, which has been operating for just under a year to produce Uncrustables frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, retains a sizable employment presence in the area, keeping approximately 255 employees on payroll at any given time.

Its physical and production footprint is equally large. The building is 400,000 square feet and is estimated to be on track to produce 280 million sandwiches by the end of the fiscal year. In addition, the building has earned praise for its design and received Food Engineering Magazine’s 2020 Food Engineering Plant of the Year award.

Longmont City Council in February 2017 approved an incentive package for the company, which required Smucker to pay an average annual wage of $48,977. Positions at the Longmont plant include manufacturing technicians, sanitation coordinators, quality control and administration/management.