Walmart Announces Wage Increases

By Colby F. Block

On Thursday, Walmart announced several changes to its compensation and benefits structure—the most noticeable being its hourly wage increase. Walmart states that, by April 2015, its entry-level wage will start at $9 an hour, and it will go up to $10 an hour by early 2016.

Other new measures include additional training and opportunities for internal promotion, which Walmart CEO Doug McMillon states will create clearer paths to better jobs and higher pay.

These changes are significant—Walmart is the largest private employer in the country, and this will increase wages for 500,000 of its employees. The cost to Walmart over the next year is projected at one billion dollars, but this number is actually small considering the company’s almost $500 billion in annual revenue.

Walmart’s announcement has already created quite the media frenzy. And some—noting that it is not altruism behind these changes—are already questioning Walmart’s motives. Walmart is a business, after all, so there is a bottom line. Is the goal to

Supreme Court to Review Major Class Action Case

By Edwin  S. Hopson

On December 6, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it had granted certiorari in the Dukes v. Wal-Mart case pending in California.  The Dukes case, according to published reports, is the largest Rule 23 class ever certified in the employment law arena. The plaintiffs successfully sought in the district court certification of a nationwide class involving claims of sex discrimination.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had affirmed the district court’s action but it appears the U.S. Supreme Court will have the last word.