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Home Depot Announces Business Updates in Response to COVID-19

As the situation around the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to develop, our paramount concern has been for the health and safety of our customers and associates.  

The Home Depot is an essential retailer to the communities we serve, and we’re committed to keeping stores open just as we always do during times of crisis and natural disaster. Homeowners and businesses depend on us for urgent needs such as hot water heaters, refrigerators, electrical and plumbing repairs, and harsh weather items like tarps, propane and batteries.


We’ve made several temporary changes to our business as we look out for your safety and the safety of our associates. 

Safety Measures:  

We’ve put several measures in place for the safety of our customers and associates, including:

  • Closing stores early at 6:00 p.m. to allow more time for sanitization and restocking
  • Limiting the number of customers allowed into stores at one time 
  • Eliminated major spring promotions to avoid driving high levels of traffic to stores 
  • Promoting social and physical distancing practices in stores by marking floors, adding signage and plexiglass shields to help customers and associates maintain safe distances
  • Provided non-medical face coverings and gloves to associates
  • Distributing thermometers to associates in stores and distribution centers and asking them to perform health checks before reporting to work

Deliveries, Installations & Return Policy:  

To best serve our customers during this time, we’ve done the following:

  • Expanding free curbside order pickup to most stores as an extension of our buy online, pickup in-store option, which is still available
  • Expanding delivery options on orders made at homedepot.com 
  • Extended our return policy from 90 days to 180 days and asking customers to refrain from returning product to our stores at this time, if possible
  • Limiting services and installations to those that are essential for maintenance and repair needs 
  • Advising all delivery and Home Services associates to follow everyday preventive actions including washing hands often, disinfecting frequently touched objects, and carrying hand sanitizer

Expanded Benefits for Associates  

We’ve expanded several benefits to address the needs of hourly associates and to help alleviate some of the challenges they may be facing as a result of COVID-19. To-date, The Home Depot has:

  • Added 80 hours of paid time off for all full-time hourly associates and 40 hours of paid time off for part-time hourly associates to be used at their discretion at any time in 2020 and paid out at year-end if not used
  • For associates who are 65 years of age or older, or determined to be at higher risk by the CDC, added 240 hours of paid time off for full-time hourly associates and 120 hours of paid time off for part-time hourly associates to be used at their discretion at any time in 2020 and paid out at year-end if not used
  • Providing paid time off for any associate who has contracted COVID-19 until released by a doctor 
  • Providing up to 14 days paid time off for any associate required to be quarantined by a public health authority or the CDC 
  • Providing additional bonuses to hourly associates in stores and distribution centers — $100 per week for full-time hourly associates and $50 per week for part-time hourly associates 
  • Providing double pay for overtime hours worked by hourly associates
  • Extended dependent care benefits and waived co-pays

Supporting Communities

We remain committed to the communities we serve and have taken the following steps to support them:

  • Weeks ago, voluntarily froze pricing nationwide across product categories in high demand due to COVID-19
  • Executed a “Stop-Sale” on all N95 masks in stores and HomeDepot.com and redirected all shipments to be donated to hospitals, healthcare providers and first responders as soon as hospitals made the public aware of shortages
  • Donating millions of dollars in personal protective equipment (PPE) and other products to hospitals, healthcare providers and first responders
  • Prioritizing order fulfillment for hospitals, healthcare providers and first responders 
  • Marshalling the resources of our merchandising and supply chain teams to globally source quality products and expedite the availability of needed items

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