Military

Walmart sweetens the deal for employees who want to serve in the military

BOWLING GREEN, OH - MAY 17: A Wal-Mart greeter waits to welcome new customers to the new 2,000 square foot Wal-Mart Supercenter store May 17, 2006 in Bowling Green, Ohio. The new store, one of three new supercenters opening today in Ohio, employs 340 people with 60 percent of those working full-time. (Photo by J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)

Theo Thimou | May 23rd, 2017

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Most companies say they love veterans and value their service to our country. But Walmart really put its money where its mouth is!

Walmart’s efforts to woo military members onto the payroll

Four years ago almost to the day, Walmart used the occasion of Memorial Day 2013 to announce an initiative to hire 100,000 honorably discharged veterans by 2018.

In true military spirit, the nation’s largest retailer exceeded that goal ahead of schedule. To date, the company has hired more than 170,000 veterans.

Next up is a goal to bring that hiring level to 250,000 veterans by the end of 2020.

Still, the company wants to do even more for its employees who undertake military service…

Walmart expands its military leave policy

On May 23, the company announced an expansion of its differential pay policy to include all full-timers and part-timers who answer the call of duty for either voluntary or involuntary military assignments.

Simply put, this means Walmart will make up the difference in pay if an employee has to go into service and earns less than they would working at the store.

In February 2016, Walmart raised its minimum wage to $10 after holding it steady at $9 for several years. So a full-time employee working at $10 an hour would earn $20,800.

Military pay, meanwhile, varies by years of experience. Joining the Army with less than two years of experience would result in a pay grade of about $9.23 an hour, according to the U.S. Army website. That works out to be $19,198 annually.

So in this case, the differential pay Walmart would have to make up for an employee doing 12 months of military service would be $1,602.

Blazing a trail in corporate America

The expanded military leave policy finds Walmart blazing a trail in corporate America.

“Walmart is one of the first major retailers to apply differential pay to include basic training, so associates who are considering enlisting in the armed forces can make that decision without fear of losing wage,” the company notes in a press release.

Way to go, Walmart!