A street sign at a branch of the North Carolina State Employees' Credit Union. (Source: Shutterstock)
The board of directors for the $47.3 billion State Employees' Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C., approved a $1,000 COVID-19 bonus to be paid this month to its 7,200 full-time employees.
"The bonus is recognition for the great work and the great job that our staff and our employees have done serving our members through this unprecedented time and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic," SECU President/CEO Mike Lord said. "It's been a very, very tough year for our staff and for everybody in the United States."
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March 11, 2021 marked one year since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic.
While up to 2,500 SECU employees have been working at home since the pandemic's start, about 5,000 employees have been working at the credit union's 272 branches, as well as back offices and operations centers. SECU operates at least one branch or more in all of North Carolina's 100 counties.
Michael J. Lord During the first six weeks of the pandemic, SECU bought lunch, prepared by local restaurants, for all workplace employees to limit their exposure to the coronavirus.
Because of the pandemic's economic uncertainties, Lord initiated a hiring freeze and took aggressive measures to manage earnings, capital and dramatically increased the credit union's allowance for loan losses to ensure that SECU would remain financially safe and sound.
"Our employees were stalwarts through the whole process and rose to the occasion, pivoted and made adjustments," Lord said. "Our board of directors wanted to recognize their efforts and thank them for that."
The total cost of the employee bonus is $8.5 million.
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
