Walmart details raises, bonuses for state workers

More than 11,450 Walmart and Sam’s Club employees in Wisconsin will receive a pay raise, and 20,500 will get a cash bonus as part of the company’s recently announced compensation improvement plans, Walmart said Monday.

In addition, Walmart said, it is expanding maternity and parental leave benefits and creating a new benefit to assist workers with adoption expenses.

Walmart said Jan. 11 it planned to raise its company-wide hourly minimum pay rate to $11 and provide bonuses of up to $1,000, and the announcement Monday spelled out the effects on the retailer’s Wisconsin workers. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart owns Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.

The $11-per-hour minimum will take effect in the Feb. 17 pay cycle. In Wisconsin, Walmart said, 11,450 workers are expected to receive a wage increase, for a total or $19.1 million in the state. The new average hourly Walmart wage in Wisconsin will be $14.13, the company said.

A one-time bonus based on time of service also will be paid, the company said. In Wisconsin, more than 20,500 Walmart and Sam’s Club workers are expected to be eligible for a cash bonus that will total about $8.4 million in the state. That works out to an average of about $411 for a Wisconsin worker. Employees with at least 20 years of service to the company will qualify for a bonus of $1,000, Walmart said. Walmart also announced Monday:

❚ An expanded parental and maternity leave policy, providing fulltime hourly employees in the United States 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 workers adopting a child. The adoption benefit, available to both full-time hourly and salaried employees, will total $5,000 per child and may be used for expenses such as adoption agency fees, translation fees and legal or court costs.

The Jan. 11 announcement about compensation improvements came in the wake of the reduction of the federal corporate income tax.

However, also on Jan. 11, Walmart closed 63 of its Sam’s Clubs in the U.S., including one at 1540 S. 108th St. in West Allis.

The shutdown of the West Allis store, which reopened and was scheduled to close permanently on Jan. 26, is expected to eliminate 165 local jobs. The effective termination date for hourly employees will be March 16, and the termination date for management employees will be April 13, the company told the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.