IN MONEY CVS to boost minimum wage
After tax reform, workers to get $11 an hour.
CVS Health is raising its minimum wage to effectively match recent increases at Walmart and Target as major national retailers jockey for workers in a tight job market and hand over a portion of their federal tax cut windfall to employees.
The largest U.S. drugstore chain said Thursday it would hike the starting wage for hourly workers to $11 per hour. That equals recent increases at Walmart and Target. CVS also said it would give pay raises to “many” store workers and retail pharmacy technicians who were already making more than that.
CVS plans to increase its paid parental leave policy to four weeks at 100% compensation for all new parents and said it would not increase employee health insurance premiums in its upcoming plan year. Taken together, the company said the moves would cost it
$425 million annually.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to the patients, customers and communities we serve, we said that we would invest our tax savings back into our business, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” CVS CEO Larry Merlo said in a statement. “Today, we’re building on the investments we’ve been making in our employees, in their wages, benefits and career development.”
The company said it would use tax savings to invest in data analytics, health care management and to try out new ideas in stores. The company will also devote some savings to reduce its debt after a recent agreement to acquire insurer Aetna.
CVS declined to say how many hourly employees would be covered by the pay increases. The company has more than 240,000 workers in the U.S.
The company on Thursday reported net revenue of
$48.4 billion for the fourth quarter, up 5.3%, and net income of $3.29 billion, an increase of 92.6%.
Sales at stores open at least a year rose 0.1%, fueled primarily by a 0.4% increase in pharmacy sales. Retail product sales at stores open at least a year declined 0.7%.