Costco workers get a free turkey for the holidays
- Costco employees receive a free turkey for the holidays.
- Business Insider spoke to four Costco workers from Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, and Canada.
- These four employees confirmed the existence of the holiday tradition, but stressed that every warehouse is different.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
At Costco, warehouse employees receive a rather filling perk around the holidays each year: a free turkey.
Business Insider talked turkey with four Costco employees working in Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, and Canada. They each confirmed the existence of this holiday tradition.
"Every employee at Costco gets a free turkey for the holidays," an employee from Minnesota told Business Insider. "They can pick them up starting mid-November through Christmas."
The employee from Minnesota added that workers also have the option to donate the freebie turkey to charity.
The members-only warehouse giant declined to provide a comment for this story, and all of the employees whom Business Insider spoke to were quick to stress that every warehouse handles perks and traditions a bit differently. That is to say, it's very possible that some managers neglect to distribute this festive treat.
One employee from Illinois added that workers at their warehouse "receive a free turkey at Thanksgiving," with the exception of seasonal employees.
And then, of course, there are regional variations. Canada's Thanksgiving occurs on the third Monday in October, about a month earlier than its counterpart in the United States. One Canadian employee said that workers at their warehouse receive an additional turkey for Christmas.
"It's a running joke that it's our 'Christmas bonus,'" the employee told Business Insider.