Dive Brief:

• Domino's has invested over $9.6 million to provide a special bonus to over 11,500 company-owned and supply chain hourly team members and drivers in December, according to a press release. Eligible team members will receive up to $1,200 in bonus compensation. 
• The pizza chain previously paid bonuses to hourly supply chain and corporate store employees during a 10-week period from mid-March through May and offered expanded sick leave benefits. 
• Domino's, which has seen strong double-digit same-store sales growth in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic, has been among the handful of chains focusing on expanding its workforce and offering benefits. The company has been actively hiring 30,000 positions in its corporate and franchise locations since the summer.

Dive Insight:

Offering employee bonuses will help Domino's retain its corporate store employees and provide a tool to attract future employees. Its 346 company-owned locations in the U.S. posted a same-store sales increase of 16.6% during Q3 2020 and demand overall has been high during the pandemic. While sales were up, margins were down. Companywide, operating margins decreased to 37.4% during the third quarter compared to 38.5% in the year ago quarter, Stu Levy, Domino's chief financial officer, said during the company's Q3 2020 earnings call. 

Much of the pandemic-related expenses were providing employee benefits, compensation and personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, Domino's CEO Ritch Allison said during the call. 

"The position that we've taken there is that we are going to focus on serving our customers, taking care of this demand that's been presented to us in the face of COVID, and also very much on supporting our team members and taking care of our team members in the store," Allison said. "If we do those two things, then we believe that we position ourselves for the long term to continue to accelerate growth in the business on the back of this unprecedented short-term boost in demand."

Other chains have also been providing bonuses and pay increases during the pandemic. Chipotle gave $6.5 million in bonuses to field leaders, apprentices and managers, as well as a 10% appreciation pay raise during April. Shake Shack, which also offered 10% bonus pay for its hourly workers earlier in the year, will provide bonuses ranging from $250 to $400 at the end of the year while McDonald's provided a bonus to its company-owned restaurant employees equal to 10% of pay in May. Starbucks also offered service pay during the early months of the pandemic, temporarily increasing wages by $3 per hour, for employees healthy enough to stay on the job.