None of us were ever meant to see the memo that circulated through Wal-Mart that said in order to cut costs they should hire healthier employees. Most of us know that under the prevailing wage of workers at Wal-Mart, they can't support their families and have health insurance. I guess that's one way to deal with it, but they won't be healthy long without healthcare.
The memo also proposed that employees pay more for their spouses' health insurance, called for cutting the company's 401(k) contributions to 3 percent of wages from 4 percent and for cutting company-paid life insurance policies.
The memo acknowledged that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, had to walk a fine line in restraining benefits because critics attacked it for being stingy on wages and health coverage. Chambers in the memo acknowledged 46 percent of the children of Wal-Mart's 1.33 million United States employees were uninsured or on Medicaid.
