Wal-Mart ends profit sharing with employees

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/business/2786520,wal-mart-ends-profit-sharing-employees-100910.article

October 9, 2010

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK --- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest private employer, plans to end automatic profit-sharing contributions for its employees in a revamp of its benefits package that it says will give workers more chance to share in its financial success.

The discounter will replace profit-sharing starting in February with retirement plan contributions of up to 6 percent of pay -- as long as workers sign up and contribute an equal amount, Wal-Mart said in a memo it provided The Associated Press late Friday. snip

But Jennifer Stapleton, assistant director at the union-backed advocacy group WakeUpWalmart, saw eliminating profit-sharing as a cut in compensation.

"To demand that people who already make poverty-level wages begin to pay in order to receive any retirement benefits is out of touch with the reality of associates' lives," Stapleton said in a statement e-mailed to The AP.

[SpiralHawk]

1. "All your collective work profits are belong to us. Smirk." - WalMart CorporoToadies (R)

"Pull yourselves up by your own pathetic slave 'wages.' Smeer."

- RepubliCorporatistas

[brewens]

2. I'll wager they get rid of anyone going the full 6% if they can. If it's

second income for a family that can afford to try and capture that maximum contribution, watch your ass!

[Terra Alta]

13. Yes, they will.

They are already trying to get rid of all their full-time employees. Eventually, all Wal-mart stores will be run on part-time help.

[Touchdown]

3. If they had it before, it didn't provide much.

They're still slave wages, and the Waltons are still filthy stinking rich.

[onethatcares]

4. I would think that Sam Walton would roll over in his grave

if he found out how his kids treat the employees.

One time in a land far away called America, there were signs in the stores that told how many American jobs were saved due to the Wal Mart stores.

Those signs disappeard many moons ago as the Walton heirs found greed to be their major staple in life.

Amen.

[SocialistLez]

16. He wouldn't roll in his grave, he's stand up and applaud

When the minimum wage laws were put into effect, Sam Walton threatened to fire ANYONE who cashed their checks.

Source: The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business by Nelson Lichtenstein

[itsrobert]

5. So the Pyramid scheme isn't cutting it anymore

?

[jmowreader]

6. This is worse than you think it is

How the "profit sharing" thing worked: Each store had goals for profitability. (Home Depot does it the same way.) Over a period of, say, three months the store would track its profitability and post it on a chart in the breakroom. If the profitability met the store's goal (which was set by corporate) a pool of money would be divided among all the employees who'd worked there long enough. Not sure how Walmart does the division, but Home Depot uses six-month periods and they do the division by pay--the more you made, the bigger your bonus was. (Management wasn't part of the pool--they have a different system. But department heads, who were hourly associates, did get to participate.)

Walmart is eliminating this in favor of contributing to an employee's retirement account--and I'm not sure how this helps because very, very few people retire from a retailer; they either quit, get fired or die before retirement age.

So...they're replacing what was a fairly sure thing--Walmart stores are, as retail goes, very profitable--with something you might pay on for 20 years then get canned before you ever get a chance to use it.

[Sherman A1]

7. No matter how bad it was or this appear to be

Wal Mart is not doing this for the benefit of it's employees. They are doing it to benefit the company and no matter the particulars, the workers will get screwed.

[jmowreader]

10. Exactly.

I know from my time in retail, the employees really benefit from those profit sharing checks. To replace this with an employer contribution to their 401(k) plan is really heartless.

[Terra Alta]

15. Nothing Wal-mart ever does benefits their employees.

Especially not full-time employees. What few of us that are left now.

[Sherman A1]

17. Agreed

I work in a retail biz that was affected by adopting the Wal Mart model in the 1980's (more and more part time, fewer career workers). In doing so, even with reasonably good pay & benefits, the generation that would have come in behind mine, never arrived and now as my age group prepares to retire, there are not enough seasoned workers to replace those handing in their aprons & name tags. The next 5-10 years in retail will be very interesting.

[tammywammy]

8. You can take a 401k with you when you leave a job.

So even if these employees aren't retiring from Walmart they'd still benefit from the matched money from them.

[Statistical]

9. Oh no a 100% match on up to 6% into a 401K. How ebil.

I mean honestly this is better than 90% of companies out there.

[newportdadde]

11. It would depend on what the previous payments were to decide if it was 'ebil'.

For example the company I work for recently increased our 401k contribution while at the same time eliminating a hold over piece from the old pension system. This means that even with me contributing the match to take advantage of the new bonus I still will receive about 2% less total benefit each year with my current years of service. The loss gets worse the longer I work there as the old pension contribution grew with years of service, some employees who have been there a long time took a 6% hit.

[Canuckistanian]

12. So, they moved from 'profit-sharing' to 'wage-sharing'

And convinced the employees that they're getting a better deal?

Propaganda WIN! :thumbsup:

[Terra Alta]

14. Yet another example of Wal-mart screwing it's employees.

Having worked for the company for over five years things have gone from bad to worse.. just when I think things can't get any worse, they hit us with something else. Wal-mart doesn't care about their associates -- all they care about is the bottom line. Sam Walton is rolling in his grave.