Walmart to Increase Starting Wage of its Employees

The employees of the multinational retail corporation in the U.S., Walmart Stores Inc., will soon acquire the benefits of the latest tax law changes, as the company raises its starting wage, makes new benefits, and distributes bonuses to qualified employees.

Walmart will be raising its starting wage as soon as February.

On Thursday, the big-box retailer announced that it would increase its starting wage rate for its hourly employees in the United States to $11. It will also expand the maternity and parental leave benefits.

As of the moment, the starting wage of Walmart is $9 until workers complete a training program. After completing the training program, the employees will receive $10.

The retail giant also said that it would pay a one-time cash of $1,000 bonus to entitled employees. The payouts, which should total roughly around $400 million, will result in a one-time charge that the company will take in its fiscal fourth quarter.

According to a Walmart spokesperson, the length of service of the workers will determine the bonuses they will get. Employees with more than 20 years of experience will be qualified to receive the full $1,000 while the employees with less than two years of experience will receive $200.

Meanwhile, workers with 15 to 19 years of service at the retail giant will receive $750, and those with 10 to 14 years of service will receive a bonus of $400, the spokesperson stated. Those with five to nine years of service will get $300, while workers with two to four years of service will receive a payout of $250.

On the other hand Walmart will offer its full-time hourly employees in the United States 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and six weeks of paid parental leave while the company’s paid employees will get six weeks of paid parental leave.

Before the company changed its parental and maternity leave policy, the full-time hourly employees were only given eight weeks of paid maternity leave and two weeks paid parental leave.

Walmart is also offering a new benefit that will provide financial assistance to its workers who are looking to adopt a child, giving them as much as $5,000 per child to cover costs like adoption agency fees, translation fees, and legal costs.

According to Walmart, the changes will benefit the company’s more than 1 million hourly workers across the U.S. and the changes will be implemented as soon as February.

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