BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS – Today, Walmart announced plans to increase the starting wage rate for all hourly associates in the U.S. to $11, expand maternity and parental leave benefits and provide a one-time cash bonus for eligible associates of up to $1,000. The company is also creating a new benefit to assist associates with adoption expenses. The combined wage and benefit changes will benefit the company’s more than one million U.S. hourly associates.
“Today, we are building on investments we’ve been making in associates, in their wages and skills development,” said Doug McMillon, Walmart president and CEO. “It’s our people who make the difference and we appreciate how they work hard to make every day easier for busy families.”
He added, “We are early in the stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders. However, some guiding themes are clear and consistent with how we’ve been investing — lower prices for customers, better wages and training for associates and investments in the future of our company, including in technology. Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.”
This increase in wages to associates will take effect in February and will be approximately $300 million incremental to what was already included in next fiscal year’s plan. The one-time bonus represents an additional payment to associates of approximately $400 million in the current fiscal year, which ends Jan. 31, 2018.
While the new law will create some financial benefit for the company, Walmart is early in the process of assessing potential additional investments. That assessment will be done not only through the lens of associates, customers and shareholders, but also within Walmart’s financial framework of strong, efficient growth, consistent operating discipline and strategic capital allocation. Further details will be shared, as appropriate, when the company releases quarterly results Feb. 20, 2018.
Associates will hear more from their managers in the coming days about details.
But, broadly, associates in the U.S. will share in tax savings through:
- A one-time bonus benefiting all eligible full and part-time hourly associates in the U.S. The amount of the bonus will be based on length of service, with associates with at least 20 years qualifying for $1,000. A discrete one-time charge will be taken in the fourth quarter of the current year to account for the bonus; qualification will be determined before the end of the month and payments will be paid as quickly as practical thereafter.
- An increase in Walmart’s starting wage rate to $11 an hour, effective in the Feb. 17, 2018, pay cycle. The change is in addition to wage increases already planned for many U.S. markets in the coming fiscal year. The increase applies to all hourly associates in the U.S., including stores, Sam’s Clubs, eCommerce, logistics and Home Office.
- An expanded parental and maternity leave policy, providing full-time hourly associates in the U.S. with 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and six weeks of paid parental leave. Salaried associates will also receive six weeks of paid parental leave.
- Walmart will provide financial assistance to associates adopting a child. The adoption benefit, available to both full-time hourly and salaried associates, will total $5,000 per child and may be used for expenses such as adoption agency fees, translation fees and legal or court costs.
Walmart’s announcement comes not long after Target Corporation announced plans to raise its minimum hourly wage for all team members to $11 this past October, along with a commitment to increasing the minimum hourly wage to $15 by the end of 2020.
17 thoughts on “Walmart announces a range of new employee benefits and a pay raise”
you must be talking about a different walmart, wife worked there and when we are in the store which is not very often she talks to her ol fellow employees she worked with and they sure have a different story, only reason they are there yet is for the money for their families. they say every day it gets worse and worse. been there lately, stand in line, very few cashiers cause nobody wants to work there, its plain and simple. people think they are getting a deal in the grocery dept., some prices are lower but a lot of them are higher then fareway or hyvee. go check it out if you don’t think so
My apologies to you, I clicked on the report comment instead of the reply by accident. This site should change this, so it is not so easy to make a mistake as I did.
Walmart has very few cashiers, because the want to go to self-check outs. It is a darn shame. Hate self-check outs.
It is nice of Walmart employers to take away their employees’ holiday pay benefits, so they can reinvest the money they are saving for benefits that may help some, but not all employees.
And for all you people who say if they don’t like it they can leave. It is not so simple when people depend on their wages and benefits to support their families. If it weren’t for the employees the employers would not be making any money.
Then the next day they closed a bunch of stores, throwing many others out of work.
63 Sam’s Clubs….poof. There’s the $1.00 extra per hour. Wal Mart workers now gotta feel guilty for “costing” other fellow workers their jobs. This sort of negative conditioning on the payche of employees by executive overlords is by design. They are betting it’ll shut up any future mumbling about pay raises. Not to mention the billions they just got in tax cuts….corrupt beyond imagine.
Company’s close unprofitable operations every single day. It is called good business. Something you know nothing about.
Yes, they do but Walmart tried to cover it by giving bonuses to some employees. They made that front page news. To get that top bonus, one must have been an employee for 20 years. From my friend who has worked at Walmart for 11 years – in those 20 years wages didn’t rise enough to match inflation nor did we receive any bonuses during that time. So the $1000 a 20 year employee gets averages out to $50 a year. More to the point, less than $10 a week, so a quarter a day or 3 cents an hour. That is huge!
No one cares but a loud mouth liberal. Where were you when they ran the packing house out of town and all those people lost their jobs?
People lost their jobs when Mason City voted down the packing plant? What jobs? WalMart’s generosity – http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-firing-managers-report-2018-1
It took overwhelming greed before this behemoth would trickle down 100 more pennies per hour to their employees. The 90,000:1 executive to employee wage ratio had to be upheld.
They didn’t have to give anything. You are just pissed because you didn’t get any. Or, you are just a dumbocrat complaining again.
You’re correct, they didn’t give anything…they waited until massive tax cuts arrived to GAIN more than they are giving.
talk to any walmart employees, they will tell you that for all the s*it they get it still isn’t worth 11 bucks
I have talked to several Walmart employees and the absolutely love working there. It is the ones that never should have been hired in the first place that don’t like it. They want something for nothing. Plenty of jobs around. If they don’t like it there they can quit.
Exactly, I’ve always wondered what keeps people at a job they don’t like. These days entry level workers want to start at the top of the pay scale. Even then they work a week or two, get a check, then quit because they have enough money for a week binge on booze or drugs. There’s not many good workers in the work force these days.
I bet this wouldn’t be the first time you have been called a GD liar, because my co-workers and I all enjoy working at Walmart. Something good happens, and all you can do is make up lies to try and rain on the parade…loser!
Good for you, stand up to these liars and know it all’s.