More than 890,000 Wal-Mart employees are expected to receive their share of more than $560 million in cash bonuses, the retailer announced Thursday.
Phillip Keene, director of Wal-Mart’s corporate communications for state and local corporate initiatives and public affairs, said employees nationally are receiving more than $160 million in cash bonuses based on their individual stores’ fiscal fourth quarter performance and more than $400 million in one-time cash bonuses tied to recent changes in the tax law.
In Pennsylvania, Wal-Mart associates are receiving approximately $19.8 million in combined bonuses. In New Jersey, employees are receiving approximately $6.3 million in combined bonuses.
The bonuses, along with annual pay raises for hourly field employees, are being included in March 8 paychecks. Locally, there are Wal-Mart stores at 1300 Route 22 in the Phillipsburg area; 3722 Easton-Nazareth Highway in Lower Nazareth Township; 3926 Linden St. in Bethlehem Township; and 2601 MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township.
“The quarterly bonuses awarded to Lehigh Valley Wal-Mart associates is reflective of the outstanding shopping experience they provide to customers each and every day,” said Ann-Louise Almeida, Wal-Mart regional manager for Pennsylvania.
“Whether customers prefer to shop in one of our local Supercenters, or do their shopping online at Walmart.com, our associates strive to exceed expectations and save our Lehigh Valley families valuable time and money,” she added.
The extra cash comes after the big-box retailer in January announced plans to increase the starting wage for all hourly associates nationally to at least $11. Prior, Walmart’s starting wage was $9 until workers completed a training program. Then, they received $10, according to a CNBC report.
The wage hike for Wal-Mart also followed Target’s move in late 2017 to raise its minimum hourly wage to $11, with plans to pay out $15 an hour by 2020. Other retailers including Gap, Whole Foods Costco and TJX have also boosted their wages in recent years, as more companies are under pressure to recruit the best talent, the report stated.
The company also expanded maternity and parental leave benefits and provided a one-time cash bonus for eligible associates up to $1,000. Additionally, a new adoption assistance benefit of $5,000 per child — announced in conjunction with the other changes — went into effect on Feb. 1.
Keene said associates would be earning quarterly bonuses as part of an overall incentive plan designed to reward associates whose stores achieve sales and customer service goals. Hourly associates in Pennsylvania earned more than $5.8 million, following fourth quarter comparable sales of 2.6 percent nationally.
Other results showed:
- For the full fiscal year, national employees shared more than $625 million in performance-based bonuses, including more than $39 million shared by Pennsylvania associates.
- Wal-Mart recently cashed out to associates more than $300 million in unused paid time off, also known as PTO.
In Pennsylvania, the company operates 162 retail stores; spent $9.4 billion with local suppliers and supported more than 97,000 supplier jobs in 2017; and paid more than $186 million in taxes and collected more than $330 million in sales taxes in 2017.
In New Jersey, the company operates 73 retail stores; spent $12.6 billion with local suppliers and supported 72,998 supplier jobs in 2017; paid more than $62.9 million in taxes and collected more than $160.6 million in sales taxes in 2017.
Between fourth quarter performance bonuses, tenure-based bonuses, pay increases and recent paid time off (PTO) cash outs, more than $1 billion flowed to national hourly associates during the months of February and March, Keene said.
