But the world’s largest retailer has followed up that revelation with some more news on Wednesday: Walmart’s lowest-paid employees will be getting a raise.
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Walmart Stores Inc yesterday said over 1.2 million USA hourly workers would get wage increases on 20 February. The company also announced a simplified paid-time-off policy, which includes allowing workers to carry up to 80 hours (48 hours for part-timers) of paid time off from year to year.
Wal-Mart is giving a raise to more than 1.1 million workers next month, a bigger wage increase than the country’s largest private employer had previously announced. In an email, Jessica Levin, a spokesperson for Making Change at Walmart, a campaign backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, wrote, “After Walmart’s last wage increase stunt, many workers nearly immediately saw their hours cut and take-home pay go down”.
The company said it was also consolidating rules for paid vacation, sick and personal time into one paid time-off category.
With the pay hike, Walmart’s average full-time hourly wage will be $13.38 per hour, and the average part-time hourly wage will be $10.58 per hour, according to a Walmart press release.
For Wal-Mart workers who make more than minimum wage, the raise simply advances the yearly increase they would typically get on the anniversary of their hiring date. McMillon said that 95% of the stores targeted for closure are within 10 miles of another Wal-Mart outlet.
The petition requests the community of Redwater/Maud to be heard by Wal-Mart, furthering addressing a couple of people in particular; Wal-Mart CEO, C. Douglas Macmillan and Greg Foran, President and CEO of Walmart U.S.
The mega retail chain and its ex-employees have been arguing their case before the National Labor Relations Board, which investigates unfair labor practices.
Two scientists working for GlaxoSmithKline Plc were accused of scheming with three others to steal the company’s trade secrets for cancer drugs, prosecutors said. A new short-term disability plan will also take effect this year at no cost to full-time hourly employees. Wal-Mart has said its investment in wages is depressing profits; labor costs were a main factor behind an earnings warning in October.
All Walmart employees hired before January 1 will receive at least $10 an hour. The Wall Street Journal reports that the firm now loses around half a million workers each year.
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According to Rowley, the turnover rate – the share of part-time workers who leave within a year – is now 67 percent for the retail industry, up from 50 percent during the recession. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Associates would receive up to 60 percent of their average weekly wage with no weekly maximum for up to 26 weeks.
