After Kroger ended hazard increase for workers, its CEO received $22.4 million


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Last year, at the same time critics panned Kroger for ending its $2 hourly hazard increase for workers, CEO Rodney McMullen received his largest pay package ever — $22.4 million — thanks to a larger bonus, more stock awards, and a salary increase, Bloomberg reports.
The amount of McMullen's pay package was disclosed Thursday in a regulatory filing. During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Kroger gave store and warehouse workers the $2 hazard pay increase, dubbed the Hero Bonus. The bonus ended after just two months, even as the pandemic raged on.
McMullen has been the CEO of Kroger since 2014, and his 2020 pay package was almost 6 percent higher than the one he received in 2019. Meanwhile, the pay for Kroger's median employee dropped 8 percent to $24,617, Bloomberg reports. Kroger has 465,000 employees and about 2,740 stores.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Grocery store workers have been heralded throughout the pandemic as essential workers, and the industry got a boost over the last year as customers bought more food to eat at home and stockpiled household goods. In March, Kroger said it planned on bringing the average hourly wage up from $15.50 per hour to $16, and in April, it gave full-time workers a $300 bonus and part-time workers $150.
"Kroger continues to reward and recognize our associates for their incredible work during this historic time," a Kroger spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Biden's first rodeo
cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biden's stumble
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily gossip: Travis Kelce chats about Taylor Swift's Chiefs game visit, Hollywood writers thrilled with details of new contract as strike ends, and more
The daily gossip: September 27, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Elon Musk used Starlink, which saved Ukraine, to thwart a Ukrainian attack on Russia's Crimea fleet
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Fitch downgrades US credit rating, citing 'repeated debt-limit political standoffs'
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Bed Bath & Beyond relaunches online following bankruptcy
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
San Francisco's iconic Anchor Brewing is closing after 127 years
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Lawmakers say tax prep companies illegally shared taxpayer data with Meta and Google
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Microsoft wins FTC battle to acquire Activision Blizzard
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Tesla reports record quarter for sales
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
48 states sue telecom company over billions of robocalls
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published