Wal-Mart, sustainability and people
by Miki SaxonImage credit:Brave New Films
Yet another article on Wal-Mart’s commitment to sustainability. Now, I’m not knocking what they’re doing, but I do wonder if Wal-Mart’s sustainability efforts will ever be extended to their workforce.
Of course, according to Northeast corporate affairs representative Steve Restivo it is, “”Another component, and the one, frankly, that I’m most proud of, is the Personal Sustainability Program for our associates.” At the Portsmouth store, employees are taking part in three programs — stopping smoking, losing weight and changing to CFL bulbs in their homes.”
It really is too bad that sustainability doesn’t extend to equality in the workplace, health insurance, full-time employment and decent wages, but maybe the shopping public won’t support that.
What do you think? Are Wal-Mart’s efforts ground-breaking or damage control?
April 29th, 2008 at 11:40 am
FYI, in the spirit of full disclosure, this is the Steven Restivo referenced above. A few facts about our wages and benefits: with more than 8,700 associates at our 30 NH stores, our average wage for regular full-time hourly associates in New Hampshire is $12.17 per hour.
Plus, both full- and part-time Wal-Mart associates can become eligible for health coverage, not to mention 401k plans, stock purchase plans and employee discounts. What’s more, we developed a benefits package for 2008 that is even stronger, more affordable and gives our associates and their families more tools to help them save money and live better lives. Today, more than 92 percent of our associates have some form of health coverage and more than 50 percent obtain their health coverage through the company. More than 1.1 million Americans, associates and their family members, are covered by Wal-Mart plans.
Associates have access to low deductibles, pre-deductible health care credits, more than 2,000 generic prescriptions for $4 and no lifetime maximums. With more than 50 ways of customizing their health care coverage options, associates can select various deductibles, health care credits and premiums, depending on their needs.
At Wal-Mart, we are firmly committed to providing comprehensive and affordable health care benefits for our associates. We will continue to make sure our workforce has access to the health care they need, at prices they can afford. But no one business can solve this country’s health care crisis alone, and we welcome the opportunity to work together as we address these issues.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Steven, thanks for stopping by, I’m always interested in hearing from the other side.
I’m curious to know what you mean when you say “can become eligible…” What’s involved? How easy is it to do?
How do the other 42% obtain their coverage?
Average wages rarely show a true picture of compensation without knowing exactly what’s being averaged. For example, 2 workers @ 24/hr and 10 workers @ $8/hr gives average compensation of $11.63/hr.
Would love more information.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Both full- and part-time Wal-Mart associates can become eligible for health coverage. In 2006, we cut the eligibility waiting period in half for part-time associates from 24 months to 12 months, and full-time associates can become eligible after six months. While waiting periods are common in many industries, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 24 percent of companies in the United States offer health benefits to part-time employees.
As far as the other 42%, sources include: spouse; medicare; parents, school or college; previous employer; individual policy; VA or military; Medicaid.
I think you will find that our average wages are competitive in every market where we do business. It is because of our wages and benefits that we often receive thousands of applications when we open a new store. Recently in Kearny, NJ, we received 8,000 applications for 350 jobs.
The point here is that there is a great deal of misinformation out there about Wal-Mart. We didn’t defend ourselves much in the past but we’re becoming better at telling our story. For those who are open to/interested in learning more they can visit http://www.walmartfacts.com
April 30th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Steven, I’m sure that Kaiser is correct, but one of the primary reasons that companies use part-time workers, or label them contractors as Microsoft did, is to avoid paying benefits, layoff costs in a downturn, etc.
I’d be curious to know the turnover rate on your part-time staff. And while waiting periods are common I doubt that 12 months, let alone 24, is typical.
Much of what you call misinformation may be out of date, but that doesn’t make it incorrect. Wal-Mart has been forced to some changes by enormous public outcry and pressure and to others because the world changed and there was no choice.
If everything was that great, I doubt that communities all over the country would be fighting tooth and nail to prevent Wal-Mart from from opening stores in those communities.
But I do agree that Wal-Mart’s getting better at telling, or spinning, the story:)
April 30th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I understand that some people will never change their mind about Wal-Mart and that’s ok, we have more than 130 million shoppers each and every week in our stores and it is our customers who “vote” for us every day with their choice to spend their hard earned dollars in our stores. However, I think that it just as wrong to keep repeating the same old, misleading statements as it is to just blindly accept them as truth in the first place. The fact is that the country is overwhelmingly favorable of Wal-Mart but there is a very vocal minority who had made it their business to criticize our company any chance they get.
Wal-Mart saves people money so they can live better. We save the average American household $2,500 per year and in health care, we do this through in-store clinics and $4 prescription drugs. We also are becoming a more sustainable company by innovating to conserve energy, minimize waste and introduce affordable environmentally friendly products. Another way we benefit communities is by making the majority of our charitable donations locally where we can have the greatest impact. For these reasons and many more, millions of customers choose to save time and money at Wal-Mart every week.
I would challenge your readers to take a look at the wide range of information and statistics present on our website and seek out comparable statistics from our competitors (for example, several of our competitors still impose a 24 month waiting period for part-timers to become eligible for benefits). No need for “spin” the facts are all there for those interested in learning more.
The only thing constant at Wal-Mart is change and we will continue to grow in the areas of health care, sustainability, community and opportunity while saving our customers money so they can live better. We’re not a perfect company but are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to continuing our relationship with our associates, customers and the communities in which we do business.