Home Bargains to close Boxing Day and give staff two weeks’ pay as a ‘Christmas bonus’

Home Bargains has announced it will be shut on Boxing Day this year, so staff can see loved ones after a ‘tough year for retail workers’.

On top of that, the family business also revealed it will be giving staff two weeks’ extra pay this month, as a ‘Christmas bonus’.

While Boxing Day is usually one of the busiest retail days of the year, Home Bargains will shut all of its stores and has told workers to ‘make the most of the Christmas break and spend more time with loved ones over the festive period’.

Jaggery / Geograph

Stores will also close a bit earlier on Christmas Eve, at 5pm, giving staff more time to go see family.

The two weeks’ pay bonus was originally created for any staff member who had to self-isolate, but the company has now decided to roll it out to all staff who started at the company before March 22nd.

Home Bargains revealed in April that any worker who needed to self-isolate would get two weeks’ pay, and the retailer said it now wants to make sure everyone who has worked for them before March 22nd receives the money regardless of whether they had to isolate.

This follows a 10% pay increase for store staff in April as a thanks for their hard work during the lockdown.

Ian Rainey / Geograph

A spokesperson for Home Bargains said: “We want to recognise how hard our staff have worked throughout some very challenging times and allow them to relax and truly enjoy the break safely with their loved ones.

“Home Bargains is a family-run business, and we know the importance of being together at Christmas time, now more than ever.

“Our staff work tirelessly to keep all our stores running smoothly no matter what and this is our way of saying thank you to all of our staff for their hard work and commitment.”

Well done Home Bargains, we need more of this!