Types of Assistance

A designated committee of Albertsons Companies associates will evaluate colleague applications for assistance for Qualified Relief (including presidentially declared disasters and catastrophic events) as well as Emergency Personal Hardship Assistance (including personal loss and health care expenses). Some examples include:

• Home Catastrophe / Natural Disaster
• Funds needed to establish or re-establish a habitable and safe residence following a hurricane, fire, flood, tornado, etc.
• Funeral / Emergency Travel Expense
• Funeral or travel expenses for attending a funeral or caring for a terminally ill associate or family member.
• Personal or Medical Emergency
• Accident or illness of associate and/or family member resulting in loss of work; out-of-pocket health care expenses not subject to a payment plan with health care provider; care and resources for a critically ill family member resulting in loss of work; theft; domestic violence; spouse/domestic partner laid off work; and other non-medical emergencies.
• Military Deployment
• Initial assistance once associate or spouse/domestic partner is deployed.

Types of Support

Assistance may be provided to meet the following expenses:

• Rent / mortgage payment
• Clothing
• Food (excluding tobacco and alcohol)
• Medical bills / prescriptions not covered by insurance
• Utilities
• Other needs as approved by the Committee

Applications may be declined where the hardship is caused by an associate’s action or inaction including:

• Credit card debt
• Bankruptcy
• Gambling debt
• Divorce

Our team is committed to providing support to alleviate your financial stress, in addition to the assistance provided through the We Care grant. We encourage you to familiarize with Financial Guidance for Tough Economic Times and Financial Wellness Resource Guide for additional financial counselling resources that may assist you in overcoming your financial challenges. We hope that these resources prove beneficial to you, and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to anjana.bhattarai@albertsons.com.

Grant Amounts

Grants can be approved up to $3,000 and are tax-exempt for the beneficiary.

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration of a grant, the associate must be in good standing and have worked at least 20 hours in the last 60 days or on a qualified leave.  Except in extreme cases, associates on Last and Final Warning or a Performance Action Plan are not considered “in good standing”. 

Applications may also be completed on behalf of the family of a deceased associate.

Applicants must be employed by Albertsons Companies at the time the check is issued to be eligible.

A family member is any relative or domestic partner who lives in the same household (as the primary domicile) as the associate with exceptions as needed for grandparents and grandchildren.

Initially, this funding will be remanded to our U.S. associates only and associates may only apply once a year (except in very rare cases). We will consider only one application per household regarding the same personal hardship or natural disaster.

Process of Application

Use the link above to create an account and an application for funds. All applications will be validated by the local HR team and considered by the Committee. Applications will not be considered without the following detailed documentation, which may include:

• Recent paystubs for all working adults in the household
• Estimates / Invoices
• Medical statement from a certified professional (if appropriate)
• Prior year’s tax returns (if available)
• A Statement of Truth from the associate
• We recommend providing as much clear, detailed information and documentation as possible in your application. The more information provided, the stronger the application.

A majority vote by the Committee is required for any grant to be awarded.

After receipt of the application, the associate will be notified as soon as possible about the We Care committee’s decision if the request for funding has been granted or declined.  Once an application is approved, the check could take up to 3 weeks to receive.

TIP:  We recommend providing as much clear, detailed information and documentation as possible in your application. The more information provided, the stronger the application and the faster we are able to process.