NEW YORK – Home improvement chain Lowe’s Cos. says it’s handing out bonuses of up to $1,000 for its more than 260,000 hourly employees, as it becomes the latest major employer to invest in its workers after Congress approved a tax cut that will help businesses.

The chain, based in Mooresville, North Carolina, also will be sweetening benefits for maternity and parental leave as well as adoption assistance.

The bonuses, which will be given out to both part-time and full-time hourly workers across all its U.S. facilities including distribution centers, will be paid in addition to Lowe’s long-standing, store-level bonus program.

Lowe’s joins a list of other national companies likes Walmart Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Starbucks Corp., which are embracing measures like giving out bonuses, enhancing maternity benefits and raising wages.