The Palm Beach Post

Walmart has holiday gift for workers: extra hours

- By Abha Bhattarai Washington Post

Walmart is taking an unconventi­onal approach to seasonal hiring this year by doing away with the longtime tradition of recruiting — and training — thousands of temporary workers for the holiday crush.

Instead, the retailer says it will dole out extra holiday work to its existing employees.

“These extra hours will help staff traditiona­l roles like cashier and stocker, and newly created positions such as personal shoppers and pickup associates,” Judith McKenna, chief operating officer for Walmart U.S., said in a statement. “This is what working in retail is all about, and we know our associates have the passion to do even more this year.”

Walmart employees and labor advocacy groups say the move could help address long-standing complaints among workers who say they are underemplo­yed. Many part-time employees, they said, would like full-time work. Walmart considers 34 hours a week full time, when workers receive more benefits.

But, they added, the new policy also raises a number of questions: Will employees be forced to take on extra hours? Will they be penalized if they take time off during the holidays?

“The struggle to get enough hours has been the number one issue angering associates,” said Dan Schlademan, a spokesman for OUR Walmart, an employee group backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. “We’ve never been able to understand why Walmart continues hiring seasonal workers when there are so many people begging them for more hours.”

Retailers have long relied on seasonal workers to get through the holidays. But with the national unemployme­nt rate nearing a 16-year low, economists say it is increasing­ly difficult to attract temporary workers for jobs that typically pay low wages.

As a result, Target, which plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers this year, is raising its minimum wage to $11 an hour beginning next month. Toys R Us, which plans to hire more than 12,000 part-time workers despite filing for bankruptcy last week, says it will pay weekend rates during peak holiday times and will offer additional employee discounts this year.

Walmart, meanwhile, says its new policy will benefit its employees by allowing them to take on up to 40 hours a week during the holidays. The company quietly tried a similar approach last year, which it says was well-received by employees and customers.

By law, Walmart is required to pay its employees overtime if they work more than 40 hours a week.

Economists and labor experts said the approach also made financial sense for Walmart. Even if the company ends up having to pay overtime to some of those employees, it is likely to have saved thousands of dollars on recruiting, hiring and training a fleet of temporary workers.

“The first incentive for Walmart is that they automatica­lly increase their profits — it’s much cheaper to pay an existing employee than to hire and train new workers,” said Richard Feinberg, a professor of consumer sciences at Purdue University.

 ?? ROGER KISBY / NEW YORK TIMES ?? Walmart says that its new policy will help employees by allowing them to take on up to 40 hours a week during the upcoming holiday season.
ROGER KISBY / NEW YORK TIMES Walmart says that its new policy will help employees by allowing them to take on up to 40 hours a week during the upcoming holiday season.

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