Last night NPR had a more detailed article about this. The memo also included getting rid of any disabled employee by putting them in jobs that they could not do, and firing those with potentially disabling chronic diseases. Not a standard practice, and potentially illegal.
larry On 10/27/05, Jim Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Gruss Gott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 11:26 PM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: Wal-Mart New Health Plan > > > > Now THIS is funny: > > > > NEW YORK (CNN) - A Wal-Mart vice president has suggested to the > > company's board of directors that it could hold down spending on > > health care and benefits by hiring more part-time workers and > > encouraging "healthier, more productive employees," according to an > > internal memo obtained by CNN. > > > > http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/26/news/fortune500/walmart/?cnn=yes > > Seems like standard practice to me... I don't see anything particularly > inflammatory in the story. > > Service companies are in a bind. Unlike others they can't just outsource > their labor problems. The Indians and Russians doing all my QA work for the > past year or so don't have health insurance through my company. > > More and more companies are looking at their employees as long term assets: > hiring healthier employees means less costs, generally more work (less work > lost due to illness) and longer overall careers (less loss due to premature > death). > > My company has several programs to foster healthier employees: weight loss > contests, healthy eating seminars, financial incentives (I actually get a > very small bonus check for riding my bike to work). > > It seems like the crux of the issue is that the memo discusses how to both > save costs and quell critics. That's surprising how? Is there a company > that wants to spend more money than it needs to AND inflame crtics? > > I did find the comparison to Costco somewhat disingenuous. Yes, Costco IS > WalMart's closest competitor... but they're a distant, distant second (a > little over 100,000 employees compared to Walmart's 1.3 million). Also the > business model is completely different - Costco's a wholesaler and their > stores are generally "help yourself" while Walmart is a superstore with lots > of "can I help you" staff. > > In short there are a lot more employees at any given Walmart store than > there are at any given Costco. So there's a lot more opportunity for part > time work. > > Jim Davis > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Purchase Contribute 3 from House of Fusion, a Macromedia Authorized Affiliate and support the CF community. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=53 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:178520 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
