Employee Rights Violations At Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Over the years, Wal-Mart has had several HR issues including the following three: wage law violations and the exploitation of workers, discrimination (gender, age, disability), and poor and unsafe working conditions. One of several class action lawsuits against Wal-Mart was the case Salvas vs. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (2008). The class action lawsuit accused the retailer of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay overtime, and manipulating time cards to lower employees’ pay. Another case in California involved 116,000 Wal-Mart employees against Wal-Mart retailers claiming that they violated a California law requiring employers to provide an unpaid 30-minute lunch break to employees who work at least six hours. According to a study released by Congressional Democrats, Wal-Mart wages are incredibly low, which forces many of its workers to still have to rely on government aid programs and assistance such as food stamps. Not only has Wal-Mart underpaid and exploited its workers in the US, they are also notoriously known for these unethical practices overseas, such as harming workers in Asian factories.

One of the most notable cases was discrimination against pregnant workers. Up until 2014, a Wal-Mart in Arkansas had a company-wide policy that denied pregnant women the same accommodations as workers with other disabilities. Wal-Mart has been accused of overworking and firing women who are pregnant and putting them in potentially dangerous situations. Wal-Mart’s female workers have a faced a systemic pattern of sex/gender discrimination. Wal-Mart has been subject to several lawsuits alleging that female employees have been denied equal job assignments, promotions, training and compensation, as well as experiencing sexual harassment and