Boxing Day is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year as many festive bargain hunters hit the high street in search of seasonal discounts.
But this year one popular retailer won’t be opening on December 26 and has told staff to “relax and truly enjoy the break safely with their loved ones.”
Home Bargains announced the touching gestures in a bid to give staff a financial and morale boost this festive season.
The company has also confirmed that stores will close at the earlier time of 5pm on Christmas Eve - so workers can be home in time for the holidays.
In addition to the time off, many members of staff will also receive two weeks extra salary in their November pay, just in time for Christmas, reports Birmingham Live.
In April 2020, Home Bargains announced that any team member required to self-isolate due to COVID-19 would receive up to two week’s pay.
Now, the retailer wants to ensure all staff receive that pay, regardless of whether they have been required to self-isolate or not.
This means that any member of staff employed before March 22, who has not needed to self-isolate over the last seven months, will now receive extra cash in their pay this month.
Bosses at the family-run business hope the gesture will give thousands of staff at Home Bargains a boost ahead of Christmas.
The news follows a series of goodwill gestures from Home Bargains in 2020, including turning down the UK Government's furlough payments in April.
A 10 per cent pay increase for store staff was also implemented to thank employees for their hard work during the UK-wide lockdown.
A spokesman 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."
