Walmart Caught In Fire Of Mistreating Worker Again

Walmart is the center of criticism once again when it comes to its workers, as it fired an employee for giving free hugs.

Walmart has received criticism in the past for mistreating its employees, from giving them less wages to no holidays. This recent headline takes issues to a completely new level, when the US retailer decided to fire a mentally challenged employee who was hugging the customers free.

Walmart Stores former employee, Frank Swanson was fired this Saturday, partially for hugging the customer, the retailer says that was not the reason it decided to fire this particular employee. The free hugging act ended on Saturday just when Frank was about to reach the celebration of his 20^th anniversary of working at the retail store. It started in November, which Frank believed was a nice manner of thanking the customer for doing business with the store.

The 52 year of age former worker was asked by the manager of the store to come at his office, informing him that these hugs were not a nice gesture but was being considered inappropriate. After this, Frank received the news of being fired for breaking the policies of Walmart Wholesale, which was not just because of the hugs but also for price. He discounted a jug of tea at the store by $0.50.

The policy of Walmart clearly states that the cashiers can only give discounts on items if any of the competitors in the area are selling those specific items at a cheaper rate. The retail chain failed to consider that Frank was mentally challenged and even had an accident when he was younger which led to him being partially paralyzed from his right side. He even admitted his fault and said that he did not follow the policy every time.

Walmart Stores Inc. says that it did not let the employee go due to the hugs or even the discounts; it claimed that letting workers go is not easy. It further added that Frank was not doing his job well; hence, he was fired. Since he was the cashier, his job was to make sure customers pay for the items before they left the store, which was not happening. Frank did not agree to this statement of the company and rejected the company’s claims, which was not the case.

Frank’s brother said that the former worker is a very selfless human being. Being polite is not a crime and should not be punished as such, which is making many people angry who are now rallying behind Frank. The former Walmart worker has managed to get many supporters who are now planning to protest outside the store at West Plains, showing their disagreement with the retailer’s decision.

The former Walmart worker is shocked at the support received by him. He considers himself special since it is coming from strangers. He even said that he has moved on from the blow given by Walmart and now, interviewing for other possible jobs.

Walmart Changes Workers Schedules

The hourly workforce of Walmart are receiving a drastic change in their schedules as the retailer hopes to improve the treatment of worker in the United States.

Walmart has been conducting tests for two years and has finally announced its decision on Wednesday to change the schedule of hourly workers in order to make their experiences and lives better.

From now on, Walmart Stores Inc. will be keeping a fix shift for its workers and making huge changes to their schedule in order to improve their daily lives and experience at work. The retail chain made the decision to increase its worker wages in 2015 with the hope of getting better output from them and get better customer experience. However, this was not the only reason for the retailer to raise wages of its employees; it was being pressurized by different labor right agencies and strikes form workers to give them benefits and increase their wages.

Walmart Stores previously had the policy of open shift which is no longer going to be the case, where the managers made the schedules for the employees in their time slots ensuring who was available and when. Now the workers will get two choices, one where they will be given a fixed shift which will give the guarantee of them receiving the same amount of time each day and week. The second choice will be, flexible shifts, where employees will have the chance of creating their own schedule, planning them almost three weeks before.

The retailer is not taking the scheduling change lightly and has decided to even make an application for the workers which will help them to choose and create their schedules according to what they choose from the comfort of their smartphones. Walmart Wholesale is making these changes so that workers have more control over their work hours and feel free, which the labor activists had been seeking for a very long time.

At this moment, managers handle to work schedule of all the workers, which thankfully for the employees is not going to be the case. The retail chain promised to do this last year in efforts to make the treatment and lives of their employees better. The company has already tested the recent change which it announced in 11 of its stores, and now all of its 4600 stores will have this feature by the end of this year. The business has a workforce of 1.3 billion workers, and it has to take care of them to ensure the work is done as efficiently as possible.

Walmart works for the employees of the retailers and helps them to get their rights and benefits that they deserve. The labor group sees this recent change as a victory, but also believes that workers still should get more pay and work hours for better lives.