Democracy Now: Wal-Mart to Deny Health Benefits to New Part-Time Workers

Meanwhile in the United States, Wal-Mart is drawing criticism for reportedly planning to deny health insurance to newly hired employees working less than 30 hours a week, shifting the burden for their care onto the federal government. An internal company policy obtained by the Huffington Post shows newly employed part-time workers will no longer receive benefits, while those hired in or after 2011 will also lose out if their hours dip below 30 hours a week. Labor experts say Wal-Mart is following other large employers in exploiting “Obamacare” to shift health costs onto taxpayers. In its response to the story, Wal-Mart refused to disclose how many workers will lose their coverage by saying it’s decided to no longer answer questions from the Huffington Post, which it accused of biased coverage. The new policy is slated to take effect next month.

~ by wheresthemic on December 6, 2012.