WalMart is moving to improve your shopping experience.

No, not lower prices or expanded inventory.

Certainly not more women and minorities in management roles.

But soon, all ‘associates’ will greet you wearing collared shirts and khaki bottoms.

That’s right. Walmart wants to implement a dress code—but not pay for it.

The annual cost is probably around $50, which is a lot considering the pay.

Richard Reynoso, a Wal-Mart employee in Duarte, Calif., representing a campaign called Organization United for Respect at Walmart said in a letter to the company’s management: “I’m getting paid only about $800-$900 a month. The sad truth is that I do not have $50 lying around the house to spend on new uniform clothes just because Wal-Mart suddenly decided to change its policy.”

If pushed the action is likely to generate additional class action lawsuits, not to mention fan public outrage and generate a significant backlash.

But that isn’t what troubles me.

In the 21^st Century our largest employers are the likes of Walmart and McDonald’s.

They pay $8 to $12 an hour and would pay less if they could get away with it.

Businesses on and off-line are working to improve your shopping experience, but most are unwilling to do what Henry Ford did 100 years ago.

Pay people enough that they can afford to consume.

(For more information see previous posts No Help Wanted and Workforce USA)

Flickr image credit: rychlepozicky.com

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2014 at 1:15 am and is filed under Compensation, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: fair, Henry Ford, McDonald's, salary, Wal-Mart
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