Personnel consultant hits Wal-Mart
Personnel consultant hits Wal-Mart
By Bloomberg News September 14, 2006
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. paid bonuses to store managers that encouraged them to limit employee meal and rest breaks, a human resources consultant testified at a trial over claims the company cheated workers in Pennsylvania.
The bonuses sometimes exceeded managers' salaries, Frank Landy, a Colorado-based psychologist, said in a third day of testimony in Philadelphia. The bonuses averaged $85,000 last year, with a quarter of store managers receiving more than $140,000, he said.
``If we have a manager who is able to capture one minute a week, 52 minutes a year, from 300 associates in his or her store, he would add to his bonus something around $1,300," Landy told jurors in state court. ``If he was able to capture one hour a week, his bonus would be enhanced by $82,000 for the average manager."
Landy testified on behalf of two former Wal-Mart workers who claim the world's largest retailer forced hourly employees to skip breaks and work off the clock . Michelle Braun and Dolores Hummel seek as much as $300 million in damages in their suit, one of more than 70 filed in federal and state courts that claim Bentonville, Ark. - based Wal-Mart failed to pay wages for all time worked.
Wal-Mart's bonus policy was one of several factors that led to the company's wage-hour violations, Landy said today. Number one on the list is the company's preferred scheduling system, which use s sales to determine store staffing levels, he said. The system pressures managers to limit employee hours and doesn't hold them accountable for missed breaks and lunches, Landy said.
``There's a lot of money sitting out there for a store manager if he or she can reduce payroll costs as a ratio to sales," he said. ``The more they can reduce costs, the more they get at the end of the year."
That focus on curbing payroll led hourly workers at Pennsylvania stores to skip more than 33 million breaks and 2 million meal periods between 1998 and 2001, attorney Michael Donovan said during opening arguments on Sept. 8.
Wal-Mart denies any violations of wage and hour laws.
Under the company's policy, 30-minute meal periods granted after six hours work are unpaid, Wal-Mart attorney Neal Manne told jurors last week.
Rest breaks are paid, with employees who work more than six hours allowed two 15-minute periods, he said.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
By Bloomberg News September 14, 2006
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. paid bonuses to store managers that encouraged them to limit employee meal and rest breaks, a human resources consultant testified at a trial over claims the company cheated workers in Pennsylvania.
The bonuses sometimes exceeded managers' salaries, Frank Landy, a Colorado-based psychologist, said in a third day of testimony in Philadelphia. The bonuses averaged $85,000 last year, with a quarter of store managers receiving more than $140,000, he said.
``If we have a manager who is able to capture one minute a week, 52 minutes a year, from 300 associates in his or her store, he would add to his bonus something around $1,300," Landy told jurors in state court. ``If he was able to capture one hour a week, his bonus would be enhanced by $82,000 for the average manager."
Landy testified on behalf of two former Wal-Mart workers who claim the world's largest retailer forced hourly employees to skip breaks and work off the clock . Michelle Braun and Dolores Hummel seek as much as $300 million in damages in their suit, one of more than 70 filed in federal and state courts that claim Bentonville, Ark. - based Wal-Mart failed to pay wages for all time worked.
Wal-Mart's bonus policy was one of several factors that led to the company's wage-hour violations, Landy said today. Number one on the list is the company's preferred scheduling system, which use s sales to determine store staffing levels, he said. The system pressures managers to limit employee hours and doesn't hold them accountable for missed breaks and lunches, Landy said.
``There's a lot of money sitting out there for a store manager if he or she can reduce payroll costs as a ratio to sales," he said. ``The more they can reduce costs, the more they get at the end of the year."
That focus on curbing payroll led hourly workers at Pennsylvania stores to skip more than 33 million breaks and 2 million meal periods between 1998 and 2001, attorney Michael Donovan said during opening arguments on Sept. 8.
Wal-Mart denies any violations of wage and hour laws.
Under the company's policy, 30-minute meal periods granted after six hours work are unpaid, Wal-Mart attorney Neal Manne told jurors last week.
Rest breaks are paid, with employees who work more than six hours allowed two 15-minute periods, he said.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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