Nike Office Staff Told 'Do Not Work' for a Week

Benefit doesn't extend to retail store employees, though
By Liz MacGahan,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 31, 2021 2:16 PM CDT
Nike Headquarters Gives Office Staff Bonus Week Off
File photo of the Nike logo at a store in Miami Beach, Fla. Employees at Nike's corporate headquarters in Oregon are getting an extra week off this week.   (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

Keeping up with the office grind during a pandemic is hard—even the at-home version. People who work at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, are in the middle of a reprieve, the Oregonian reports. Matt Marrazzo, a senior manager with Nike, announced the week off on LinkedIn late last week, writing, "In just about an hour, teams at Nike will start closing their laptops for our regular Summer Friday hours. But today is *extra* special" because it'll be followed by that full week off. He described it as "an acknowledgment that we can prioritize mental health and still get work done."

It’s a great benefit for corporate employees, but it wasn’t extended to those who staff Nike's retail stores. Lit Tippett, a professor at the University of Oregon’s law school, said "that also sends a message about which kind of workers they care about and are willing to invest in." Not all the comments on Marrazzo’s post were positive, either. "Do the child laborers around the world also get a week off?" one commenter asked.

On the other side of the country, another company gave employees a much-needed break. The fast food chain Bojangles shut down stores Monday and will shut down for a second Monday on Sept. 13. Workers are "physically and emotionally drained," CEO Jose Armario said, per the Charlotte Observer. The time off won’t be paid but the company pointed out that many employees have been working overtime and will have opportunities to make up hours if they want to. (More Nike stories.)

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