Thaindian News

By Ranjan Bhaduri
Dec 9, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Wal-Mart Stores Inc. which is a top US based retailer recently announced that it will stop paying the newly recruited employees an extra $1 per hour on Sunday. This new rule will become effective from January in its stores in the USA, it has been reported. However, this move is not going to affect its staffs at the distribution centers. In USA alone, Wal-Mart has 1.4 million workers. Greg Rossiter, a Wal-Mart spokesman said on the subject that the change in the payment policy will be applicable for the new recruits who are employed post January 1. The present workers will not be affected by it. However, the Wal-Mart workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island are also not going to be affected by this pay cut owing to their prevailing state laws.

Some of the employees of the retail chain said that they find the move rather grave for those who would be affected. They said that those who work on Sundays should get suitably compensated. Greg Rossiter, however, tried to defend the move saying “We regularly review our compensation programs”. He did not say how much Wal-Mart will save from the cost cutting measure. Neither did he reveal the number of workers who report for duty on Sundays.

The industry analysts say that the move of Wal-Mart reflects the changing paradigms in corporate retail sector. When the concept of working on Sundays was introduced nearly all retailers offered higher pay for that day. However, now it has become a norm and the brands are doing away with the extra pay associated with Sundays.