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COVID-19 Updates for Owners

March 30, 2020

Dear Owners of Honest Weight,

Some of you may be wondering why the Board has decided to continue to allow Member-Owner (MO) time investments at this time.

Our primary goal is to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on the entire HWFC community.

HWFC's standard operating procedure includes the use of Member-Owner time investments. Several departments have communicated to the Board their reliance on both staff and Member-Owners during this pandemic. As an essential business, we would not be acting in the best interests of the Co-op or the public by barring MOs from investing time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, our CFO has repeatedly stated that HWFC cannot thrive financially without time investments by MOs. COVID-19 has not changed this fact.

HWFC's recent policy adaptations allowing staff paid coverage and MOs to augment hours by accessing the Hours Bank during the pandemic promote self-care and reduced in-store personal contact. We have established early-bird shopping three days a week to increase social distancing for vulnerable shoppers. Staff and MOs benefit from this reduced shopper-density as well. We have also encouraged MOs who are 70 years of age or older or who have compromised immune systems to refrain from investing time during the pandemic. Many of these MOs have suspended their time investments.

We encourage anyone, staff or MO, who is uncomfortable working or investing time for any reason during this pandemic to talk to a supervisor or to the Member-Owner Coordinator to review the supports that management and the Board have implemented and which are available to staff and MOs during this very challenging time.

We continually review and are open to revising our policies as needed. We appreciate hearing your perspective. 

We wish you good health.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors

March 24, 2020

Dear Owners of Honest Weight,
 
We hope all is well with you.
 
The HWFC Board of Directors has made decisions regarding our time investment program and other important matters related to the ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19. Please see the items listed below. 
 
As we mentioned in our prior email, if you are healthy and willing to invest time, please fulfill your usual time investment and consider adding shifts to compensate for those who are sick or uncomfortable about investing their time. We encourage you to donate hours to the Hours Bank if you can afford to do so. Please contact Yevette Buddeau (MOC) at memberservices@honestweight.coop to donate hours.
 
1. M-O Time Investment incentive: MOs investing time on the floor and in admin will receive double hours starting retroactively from March 16, 2020 through April 30, 2020.
 
2. M-Os 70+: We strongly urge MOs who are 70 years of age or more to refrain from investing time. Please consider applying to the Hours Bank.
 
3. Classes/Outreach: The policy of crediting scheduled hours for teacher/practitioner/outreach cancellation by HWFC will continue through the end of April. Long-term, we may need to develop a new system for classes that looks nothing like the current system.
 
4. New Owner Orientations: will be suspended until at least the end of April
 
5. Committee meetings: on-site meetings remain suspended through at least the end of April; members may choose to organize a web-based meeting, conference call, or to conduct business by email
 
6. Regular Membership Meetings: The April and May RMM dates will be delayed by a month, changed as follows:
a. The Annual Membership Meeting, where elections for Directors will take place, will be moved to May 31, 2020.
b. The Annual Budget Meeting will be held June 28, 2020.
 
7. Voting Eligibility: An owner shall have met the time-investment requirement to be eligible to vote at the 2020 Annual Membership Meeting, where voting for Directors will occur, if they meet one of the following conditions:
a. Owner had sufficient hours at the end of March, and would have been eligible to vote in April 2020.
b. Owner attains sufficient hours by the end of the month prior to the next RMM (BL 240.2).
 
8. April Board Meeting: The Board is looking into holding the April Board meeting at the Co-op as usual, but is also exploring an electronic method in order to reduce population density for the April Board meeting. We are committed to doing all that we can to hold our April Board meeting. We will be in touch with you by the 31st to articulate our plan.
This meeting will likely allow for people to “call in” to participate. Any person who would normally be required to attend a Board meeting may attend the Board meeting through this alternate means.
 
9. Hours Bank: If you plan to request hours to augment your banked time for March, please do so before March 31. The Hours Bank will be available to supplement accrued hours of those who have consistently invested time at HWFC to complete the total number needed in April for the May discount and for voting eligibility. If you have an excess of hours needed for May’s discount and voter eligibility, you will not be eligible to use the Hours Bank in April. 
 
Be well,
 
Board of Directors

March 13, 2020

Dear Owners of Honest Weight,

We have moved into increasingly difficult territory over the past couple of weeks.  COVID-19 cases began to appear in the U.S. and, seemingly overnight, into the Capital Region.

Perhaps you have read the HWFC Fresh News blog post describing our management’s response to this new and challenging situation. The Fresh News post provides important news and updates about HWFC’s actions to curb the spread of COVID-19 while still providing access to the food and products we all rely upon. We hope you will check the Fresh News page on a regular basis.

In addition, we know that many of you invest time in the store and are wondering whether you should continue to do so. Some of you feel it’s best not to fulfill your time investment during this uncertain period. We understand your trepidation. 

If you feel the need to cancel your shift, please do so with as much advance notice as possible so HWFC can do our best to cover our business needs as we continue to support our community. 

We want to share with you the decisions we’ve made concerning our time investment program and COVID-19. Conceivably, we may have to revise or extend some of these policies, but the following will be in effect at least through the end of March:

  • If you are healthy and willing to invest time, please fulfill your usual time investment and consider adding shifts to compensate for those who are sick or uncomfortable about doing so;
  • If your usual time investment is unavailable and you wish to invest time, contact Yevette Buddeau, Member-Owner Coordinator (MOC) at memberservices@honestweight.coop to inquire about completing hours elsewhere;
  • If you feel you may be getting sick, are sick, or are in a high-risk category, do not invest time;
    • Please go to this CDC webpage to help you decide whether to fulfill your time investment this month;
    • Yevette Buddeau (MOC) or, in her absence, the Manager On Duty, or a department manager will send home any Member-Owner who exhibits signs of illness;
  • The Hours Bank will be available to supplement accrued hours of those who have consistently invested time at HWFC and have completed some of their March time investment to complete the total number needed for the April discount and for voting eligibility;
  • If you have an excess of hours needed for next month’s discount and voter eligibility, you will not be eligible to use the Hours Bank this month;
  • We encourage you to donate hours to the Hours Bank if you can afford to do so. Please contact  Yevette Buddeau (MOC) at memberservices@honestweight.coop to donate hours;
  • Committees, Bylaws Panel, and the GRC will not meet on site; members may choose to organize a web-based meeting, conference call, or to conduct business by email;
  • Orientations for new owners will be suspended for the rest of March; 
  • We will update these policies as needed on this HWFC webpage; or, wait for our next email.

At this demanding time, we especially wish to acknowledge the vital contribution provided by our dedicated and talented staff, without whom we would not meet the needs of our community. 

HWFC plans to remain open throughout this pandemic. We take our mission and statements of conscience to heart and strive to meet the needs of our community every day no matter what circumstances impinge upon us. Together, we will get through this.

Be well,

Board of Directors