Wal-Mart bashers were out in full force Thursday in the wake of a report that, just months before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act goes into full effect, the retailer is hiring lots of temps and very few full-time or even true part-time employees.
The furor came after the news service Reuters reported that many Wal-Mart stores around the U.S. are hiring only temporary workers. Temps are generally hired for designated short periods of time — in the case of Wal-Mart, many are on 180-day contracts, Reuters reported. Temps rarely accrue any benefits whatsoever.
The Bentonville, Ark., company told Reuters that the hiring pattern identified had to do with making sure its stores had enough employees available at all times to cover all shifts. A company official told Reuters the hiring strategy had nothing to do with the PPACA.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
