Store workers are glad for the extra cash, but critics say the bonuses don't make up for the retailers' track record of poor compensationThere's going to be a few extra beers going around at Rosetta Brown's home in Chicago tonight. The hardworking 45-year-old mother of five just got her $616 bonus check from Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), her highest annual payout since starting work there nine years ago. The best part is that her husband, Robert Ollison, a custodian at the nearby Wal-Mart store, also got a bonus of $1,935. The couple hopes to use the money for a down payment on a new car.
Brown, and 1 million of Wal-Mart's hourly workers, will for the first time in the company's history also be eligible for quarterly, rather than the annual so-called My$hare, bonuses. "We hope that this will help increase performance, which will directly impact business results and help retain our employees," says Sarah Clark, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart says it awarded $529.8 million in bonuses on Mar. 22 to a total of 813,759 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club hourly workers in the U.S—80% of its 1.04 million hourly workers. The retailer employs 1.34 million people in the U.S.
Too Little, Too Late?
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