Wal-Mart loses $187.6M worker break case

I said they were working more hours than they were being paid for. If you were hired for $10/hour, and you worked 8 hours, wouldn't you expect to get paid for all 8 hours? not just 6, which effectively reduces your hourly wage. I'm sorry if I hyperbolated (don't ya love that word) but I was using logic, and I forgot that logic is anathema to a conservative.

in 2001, the average wage for a Wal-Mart Sales Clerk was $8.23 per hour, or $13,861 a year, while the federal poverty line for a family of three was $14,630.[34] Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, "I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We're going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit mode

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart

if an associate works an 8 hour day, their pay would be 65.84, add one unpaid hour to that, off the clock, and their pay is now $7.31, less than minimum wage. It's simple, really.

http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-employees-pay

you can't judge this lawsuit on the current conditions at Walmart, I wouldn't be surprised if this lawsuit, and others caused them to improve conditions. It's only in the last couple years they started making health insurance available to associates. Lawsuits are based on the conditions and work environment at the time, not what they are now. Nice try though.

Walmart employs more than 2.1 million associates worldwide, including more than 1.4 million in the United States. Walmart is not only one of the largest private employers in the U.S., but the largest in Mexico and one of the largest in Canada as well.

Sure - Walmart only provides 1.4 million measley US jobs to the economy, but that is just part of the story. Walmart's big accomplishment- was providing products for less cost to millions of American consumers.

And that was BIG- That's like giving everyone who shops there a raise- because his or her dollars went that much further there. Walmart has saved the American consumer countless billions of dollars because they were able to pay less than what an item would cost somewhere else.

I say WAS because I believe since becoming a target of the political left- Walmart is no longer in a position to be as much of a benefit to the US economy as it was in the past.

Multiple lawsuits and a constant barrage of protests and badmouthing and whining have reduced Walmart to bow to political correctness- the company now provides low cost health insurance and other benefits to it's employee's, including a discount for anything the employee may want to purchase.

All of this costs money- and the customers who shop at Walmart are the ones who pay for this. I have noticed prices starting to rise there even before the recent commodity increases.

Of course - this was never a part of the business model at Walmart. Like McDonalds, 7-11, K-mart and Target, the business model priority was not to provide a quality career opportunity for it's employee, it was to provide products at the lowest possible cost to the American consumer.

None of those other companies are being pounded with law suits- it seems like everyone can accept the fact that Mc Donalds only pays minimum wage, but for Walmart they are the devil for even trying to do this. The jobs at Walmart - like Mc Donalds do not require a tricky skillset- pretty much anyone still breathing and able to walk can do this work. The employment pool is vast for such jobs- minimum wage is all these people are worth.

Anyone who wants to make more than that is free to develop a skill that narrows the employee pool down so that supply and demand economics allow for a higher wage, because at walmart and Mc donalds- almost everyone is employee potential.

In some towns across the country, a job at Walmart is the best job in town. Near big cities, it's just another minimum wage opportunity like the fast food jobs.

As a consumer, I would prefer Walmart to pay only minimum wages, drop the health care benefits and get back to the original business plan, offer the lowest cost for a comparable item to the consumer. This would also offer the shareholder the best chance at shareholder profits.

But that's not going to happen.

I think Walmarts best days are behind it- Like Sears before it- it is now on a downhill slide. America is now ready for the next great idea- a new company with a business model that has not been beat to death by the political left.

It's sad really- the left has ruined another great American company- but there's nothing new there!

Yes, it's always sad when corporations are forced to pay their workers for the hours they actually work, and not screw them on their break time and lunch time.

How dare they...

:Snooze

As Archer said, "If you were hired for $10/hour, and you worked 8 hours, wouldn't you expect to get paid for all 8 hours? not just 6, which effectively reduces your hourly wage. I'm sorry if I hyperbolated (don't ya love that word) but I was using logic, and I forgot that logic is anathema to a conservative."

Yes, working for 8 hours but only getting paid for 6 is certainly a good way for corporations to keep their profits up...It also happens to be illegal. I guess to conservatives, the fact that they have a job at all, even if they're getting screwed, is something they should be thankful for...

Of course, they don't worry about the slimebags and tax-cheats that make millions but hide their assets offshore... They're just "escaping the unfair burden", while Wal-Mart employees have to go to court to fight to get paid the few dollars that they actually worked for. Teabaggers are soooo predictable.

Yes, it's always sad when corporations are forced to pay their workers for the hours they actually work, and not screw them on their break time and lunch time.

All those complaints are just bullcrap- yes I stated that my priority as a consumer is in low cost products- I am not interested in bankrolling a Walmart employee's career opportunities.

If it were me- I would remove the minimum wage regulations- and let the market set the real wage for a walmart employee.

This is what's best for the economy.

If they were bullcrap, the plaintiffs would not have won their case...

Wanna try again?

Working for 8 hours but only getting paid for 6 is certainly a good way for corporations to keep their profits up...It also happens to be illegal.

BearMtnHIB.....you pretty much sum up the entitlement mentality that is pervasive in our country........"I want mine, I want it cheap, and I don't care who gets hurt in the process.....how many jobs are lost to outsourcing, how high unemployment goes, who loses their home, who can't get health care, who can't feed their family, just give me what I want!!!!!"

Funny no one mentioned the $45 million in legal fees. I get these class action notices all the time for law suits on stocks I have owned. I always throw them in the trash. Its a nice business for the lawyers though.

I worked at a company once that demanded 5 hours a week in free overtime, documented on a project time sheet. I refused along with about 1/2 of the other employees. Nothing happened. (I never minded voluntary overtime during a crunch, just the mandated overtime for free). Stop looking to Gov't and lawyers to solve all your problems.