Some companies with locations in Puerto Rico, where hurricanes have caused unprecedented death and destruction and power is not yet restored in many areas, have continued paying their employees despite store closures.
TJX, the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Home Goods, and Marshalls, has continued to pay employees based in Puerto Rico, even though some locations remain closed.
“We believe it is the right thing for us to do under these circumstances,” TJX said in a statement to ABC News.
Nordstrom and Starbucks have also paid their employees, while their Puerto Rico locations have closed in the wake of the hurricane destruction.
“We’re working to find opportunities to transfer employees who are interested in staying with the company and will offer some relocation assistance to any employee who needs it,” Nordstrom said in a statement to ABC News.
Starbucks has started an employee assistance fund specifically for workers whose homes and families have been destroyed by the hurricanes in Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Maria made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 20, destroying communities on the island after Hurricane Irma struck just a couple of weeks before.
A viral Facebook post under the hashtag “PuertoRicoStrong” highlighted some help that TJX provided their employees.
A father thanked the Marshalls parent company for continuing to pay his son even though the store where he worked has closed. He also wrote that the company gave his son supplies.
TJX did not disclose how many of its 29 locations in Puerto Rico have been closed.
Nordstrom, the American luxury department store chain, also paid Puerto Rico store associates after the devastation caused them to close their one location on the island until further notice.
They paid their employees through Nov. 4th.
The employees had been receiving checks since the stores closed on Sept. 19th in anticipation of the storm, Nordstrom told ABC News in a statement.
The location will be closed until further notice because of the damage caused by the hurricane.
Nordstrom offered those employees a separation package that begins on Nov. 4th.
After the destruction, the company donated to relief efforts in addition to using its company employee relief fund.
Starbucks Corp. has initiated a similar effort called the Starbucks Puerto Rico Tacita Verde Fund, along with Baristas del Cairbe, a Puerto Rican coffee company that is a subsidiary of Empressas Fonalledas Inc. that licenses Starbucks on the island.
The program is a new fund for employee assistance that provides financial grants to employees and their families that need urgent home repairs, food, medical help and among other critical needs, Starbucks said in a statement to ABC News.
Along with donating money for relief efforts, Starbucks, like Nordstrom and TJX, paid employees while locations were closed. All Starbucks employees received temporary disaster pay the first week.
Employees from the still closed locations were moved to the stores that reopened.
In the statement, Starbucks said that 18 of its 24 locations have reopened, but they are keeping hours flexible for employees’ safety amid the loss of power supply on the island.
Puerto Rico’s goal is to restore electricity for half of the island by mid-November and for 95 percent by mid-December, according to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello.
