Walmart is certainly shaking things up recently. A week ago, Walmart laid off more than 11,000 of its Sam’s Club workers. Two weeks before that, Walmart closed down 10 Sam’s Club stores putting 1,500 jobs at risk. Since the Sam’s Club layoffs, Walmart has announced other substantial institutional changes like splitting its US operations in to regions and establishing a global online organization.

Then today, Walmart announced it would laying off another 300 employees from its Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters. Just about a year ago, Walmart laid off between 700 and 800 workers from headquarters.

Between the two layoffs, Walmart has let go around 9% of the 12,000 headquarters staff.

The positions being eliminated this time around were in the corporate affairs, finance, human resources, information systems and legal departments.

We’re always concerned to hear about layoffs, especially from a company that is doing so well right now, racking up billions of dollars in sales.

With a 10% cut in Sam’s club staff, and a nearly 10% cut in headquarter staff, are there more layoffs on the way?

You can read more about the layoffs, and the memo from Mike Duke from the Associated Press here.

Last month, Walmart Senior VP Ken Senser issued a company-wide memo on flu season ‘preparedness.’ His memo claims “the wellbeing of our associates… is a top priority,” and offers guidance on how to “plan ahead” in case the flu virus strikes.

Be prepared for illness: know the company’s sick day policy, the memo advises.

Of course, there is a catch-22 here.  Walmart’s sick leave policy boils down to a simple formula: if you get sick, you find trouble.  Each sick day taken by a Walmart employee results in a “point” (demerit), enough of which will get you fired. 

Walmart’s sick policy results, as this week’s NLC report shows, in a culture that pressures employees to work while ill.  This isn’t just grossly unfair, it’s unbelievably stupid.  Given the rapidly expanding H1N1 pandemic, steering sick workers out of bed and into the aisles is a catalyst for spreading sickness among employees and customers alike.

Which genius in Walmart management could possibly think this is a good idea?  Ken Senser.

Here’s a little background on Walmart’s spymaster turned health “advocate.” Before Mr. Senser was concerned with influenza, he was spying on employees and activists alike as Walmart’s security chief. His crowning acheivement came when company operatives planted a long-haired employee in an “Up Against the Wal” activist meeting.  The bugged employee transmitted audio from the meeting to a surveillance van circling eerily outside.

Senser’s department also spies on employees who are suspected of violating company policy.  His investigators have tailed executives across Central America, for example, to out them publicly for extramarital affairs.  This is the guy entrusted with safeguarding the wellbeing of Walmart’s 1.4 million U.S. employees.  Bizarre.

His de facto role, it would seem, is safeguarding Walmart’s $13 billion in yearly profits. By any means necessary.

Senser is known for bare-knuckle enforcement of policy.  Unfortunately, Walmart’s rigid attendance rules are not productive for anyone.  Not even Walmart’s top shareholders.  It’s simply a recipe for spreading disease among employees and members of their communities. 

At least some government officials are looking out for Walmart’s employees.  HR 3991 could cause Walmart to reconsider its policy by requiring large employers to give 5 days paid leave to sick employees. 

It might well be called the “Walmart Swine Flu Bill"--with policy enforcers like Ken Senser, Walmart is unlikely to make productive changes to its sick policies until regulations force it to.

AS A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF WAL-MART, I was aware that my store had a “loss-prevention team” - which basically consisted of two obvious plain-clothed, unarmed “security officers” that walked around the store watching people shop, trying to catch shop-lifters.  These guys were likely moonlighting at Wal-Mart on their days off from bouncer-duty at the bar.  Nevertheless, occasionally they would catch someone stealing, and that’s where it all gets fuzzy.  Let me make it perfectly clear, these guys ARE NOT law enforcement officials so the level of actual ‘enforcement’ they were legally allowed to use always seemed unclear.  From what I understood, they were not allowed to physically intervene in a theft situation, just ‘escort’ them to the back, and call the police. They were not allowed to slam you face-first onto the ground.

Apparently a loss-prevention officer for a Wal-Mart in Spartanburg, S.C. never got that memo. WYFF-TV in South Carolina reports that a video-survellience camera captured footage of loss prevention officer, Joseph Gregorie bear-hug a 58-year-old woman, he suspected of shop-lifting, and slam her face-first into the ground.  Talk about your all-time, total losses of composure.  The woman sustained minor facial injuries and was taken to an area hospital.  Wal-Mart was vague when talking to WSNA-TV in South Carolina about their loss-prevention protocol:

“...the spokesperson said their employees do follow certain ‘asset protection’ protocols, but she said she could not go into details about those protocols because of this investigation.”

UPDATE: if you didn’t already see it, check out the comment below from loyal reader Rob. He reports seeing a similar situation at a store where he worked.

Wal-Mart Employee Charged With Assaulting Shopper [WSNA-TV (S.C.)]

A Wal-Mart employee faces charges after police say he slammed a woman suspected of shoplifting face-first into the ground.

It happened late Tuesday night at the Dorman Centre Wal-Mart in Spartanburg. According to police reports, Joseph Gregorie, the store’s loss prevention officer, saw a 58-year old Greer woman concealing items in a bag. Gregorie says when he confronted her, the woman dropped the bag and tried to run away. The woman, Deborah Blackwell, tells police that Gregorie “bear hugged” her and slammed her face-first into the ground. She suffered a large contusion on her left eye and an injured hand and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. Gregorie told police that he grabbed Blackwell and she lost her balance and they both fell. But after reviewing surveillance video, the investigating officer said it shows Gregorie “throwing her to the ground”. He took the evidence to a judge who signed arrest warrants for both Gregorie and Blackwell.

Read the rest of this story ...

[From The New York Times]

Low prices, it turns out, can be bad for business.

A confidential report prepared for senior executives at Wal-Mart Stores concludes, in stark terms, that the chain’s traditional strengths — its reputation for discounts, its all-in-one shopping format and its enormous selection — “work against us” as it tries to move upscale.

As a result, the report says, the chain “is not seen as a smart choice” for clothing, home décor, electronics, prescriptions and groceries, categories the retailer has identified as priorities as it tries to turn around its slipping store sales, a decline likely to be emphasized Friday during Wal-Mart’s shareholder meeting.

“The Wal-Mart brand,” the report says, “was not built to inspire people while they shop, hold their hand while they make a high-risk decision or show them how to pull things together.”

Read the rest of this story ...

Wal-Mart made big news lately by paying bonuses to their long-term employees. Amidst the coverage was this quote from an old friend:

From Wal-Mart’s press release:

“There is no better time than today’s Associate Celebration Day to demonstrate just how much we value every member of the Wal-Mart family,” said Susan Chambers, executive vice president for Wal-Mart’s People Division. “The commitment and dedication of our associates is one of the key reasons more than 176 million customers choose to visit our stores each week. Our associates make a real difference for our company, our customers, and for the communities we serve.”

We’re surprised to see that Ms. Chambers is so enthusiastic about the bonuses, considering last year she deftly pointed out that:

“Given the impact of tenure on wages and benefits, the cost of an Associate with 7 years of tenure is almost 55 percent more than the cost of an Associate with 1 year of tenure, yet there is no difference in his or her productivity.” [Chambers Memo, p 3]

Read everything Ms. Chambers had to say about Wal-Mart’s employees, or the New York Times’ coverage of it.