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Gas stations used to hire high school kids at a $1-$2 an hour, they check oil, tires, clean windows, etc... and then we raised minimum wage and now we pump our own gas, and many people never check their tires or oil. Every time government steps in to demand more, we end up with less.
Yup and people don't see this. Just look at all the excuses in this thread.."they've always done that".
What? A sibling has worked at WalGreens for 7 years, and long before than, as now, they define f/t as 31 hours averaged per quarter.
It is not uncommon throughout retail.
Before Obamacare each company could define how many hours constituted full time.
It was up to the company and different companies had different numbers.
Walmart, for example, defines 34 hours or more as full time.
But Obamacare has now defined full time as 30 hours for everyone.
So anyone who was part time before (30-39) hours is now full time and the company is mandated to offer them a "qualifying" health plan. And with full time comes other benefits.
Companies are choosing to cut back to 29 to keep their part time employees as part time.
The part that is uncommon is the new government definition of full time work status (30 hours).
And this effects Walgreen's as well. Those 30 hour p/t employees will be considered full time.
And it's 30 hours per week, not per quarter.
Before Obamacare each company could define how many hours constituted full time..
And in low paying jobs, 98% worked no more than 1 hour LESS than f/t. When I was in high school, I worked at Ct's largest grocer who did it than, did it during the 30 plus years thereafter.
At that chain, in the late 70s, 30 hours got Medical benefits, and 90% of the staff worked 27-29 hours/week.
Yup and people don't see this. Just look at all the excuses in this thread.."they've always done that".
It isn't an excuse. It is a statement of fact.
Where was all of this hand-wringing ten, twenty, thirty, forty years ago ? Why didn't it matter then?
People did sound the alarm. Want to guess who? That's right - the unions.
But they were just "crying wolf."
Personally, I don't think people really care any more now than they did then. And, I'm willing to bet that if a liberal had started this thread, the same people claiming that they think its a bad thing would be arguing that businesses can do whatever they need to do to be profitable.
But Target is worse!! And is getting a free pass.why..simple.the SEIU wants WM dues. It is not, nor was it ever, about helping the workers.
They both are no where near stellar, but, at least when it relates to the topic of healthcare, Target provides a little more. Granted, report after report that I've found online this evening shows Walmart having the highest % of individuals on public assistance, followed by Target, and, even Kroger (in AZ). I don't know why folks in this thread aren't up in arms about that tidbit.
About Target's healthcare program for its employees:
All Target "team members" who work as little as two and a half days a week are eligible for health care coverage after six months, according to Erin Madsen, Target spokeswoman. Madsen said the company is "very proud" of its current medical plans and programs, which include 100 percent coverage for recommended preventive care, no lifetime maximum limits and no pre-existing conditions.
All employees have access to other benefits, including free flu vaccinations, a 24-hour nurse hotline, and Weight Watchers discounts.
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When doing a Google search, I found this tidbit in NYT...
“Over the past two decades, many major retailers went from a quotient of 70 to 80 percent full-time to at least 70 percent part-time across the industry,” said Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of the Strategic Resource Group, a retail consulting firm.
Hence, the sneaky 'shift' from FT to PT as a byproduct of Obamacare isn't worth all the hysteria at the moment, if in reality most of these firms have maintained, for years, an employee base with over 70% working part time in the first place. Low-wage workers have been getting screwed by this business practice for decades, low wage, working at the cusp of FT, unpredictable schedules. Through Obamacare, at least a larger percentage of this cohort may qualify for healthcare through the program, something they can't afford or consider based upon their limited means and current climate--and, as many of posters have mentioned, there's no 'real' incentive to provide healthcare to all employees by these specific big box store companies if profit, profit, profit, and shareholder expectations, are the only things on their mind.
Unfortunately, they'll ALL being doing it--no company chooses to pay excessive government costs when it can just avoid them.
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