Davis Oil Avoids Layoffs While Supporting Community
Chain shifts employees to new positions at travel centers, restaurants during pandemic.
Apr 23, 2020 | 3 min read
SUSSEX COUNTY, Va.—COVID-19 has caused many businesses to close and millions to lose their jobs. But at family owned Davis Oil Company in Virginia, management is juggling jobs to keep workers on the payroll, while serving first responders and other essential employees, according to a report from the area’s local CBS affiliate.
It has been challenging, according to owner Rex Davis, who operates two travel centers, two convenience stores and several foodservice operations in three counties. At his travel and c-store operations, customer counts are off about 60%, he said.
“We went from not having enough employees to handle the business that we had, to within three weeks to a month, it was totally the opposite,” Davis said. “We have about 250 employees. We came to the conclusion we could re-assign the employees elsewhere in the organization … at other restaurant brands or move people to the petroleum facility to help out. We have not laid anybody off.”
One example is the company’s Denny’s franchise, where traffic dropped 80%. The eatery is closed for business, but employees have been assigned other jobs. One is Barbara Wright, a manager at Denny's who is now working at the company’s Wendy’s. Other Denny’s employees are staffing the Davis Popeyes or the Travel Centers.
Many Davis employees are single females and head of households. “We understand they have bills to pay … so we want to keep those people employed as best we can,” Davis said.
Davis also is rewarding fulltime employees with one week of additional paid time off in case they need to be out during the pandemic. Those not eligible for PTO got a surprise in their last paycheck—a $300 bonus for fulltime workers and a $150 bonus for part-timers.
And Davis hasn’t forgotten about the community. The food that could have gone to waste in the now-shuttered Denny’s was used to prepare more than 1,500 meals.
“For two weeks at the end of March and first week in April, we provided 110 meals a day out of Denny’s to people in the community that either could not get out or should not be out,” he said. In addition, the company is offering first responders a free meal every Wednesday this month at any of Davis’ three Subway locations.
For the truckers, the company upped their reward points fivefold, which is much appreciated, said truck driver Rick Recep. “It’s a good thing, it helps us out, free food, sometimes discounts, this and that.”
NACS has compiled resources to help the convenience retail community navigate the COVID-19 crisis. For news updates and guidance, visit our coronavirus resources page.
Crisis management Staffing and scheduling
