Walmart's newsick-leave benefit is the carrot in its policy overhaul. Theretailer has also cut by nearly half the number of attendanceinfractions allowed over a six-month period before a worker isfired. 

Walmart Inc. is making sweeping changes to its employmentpolicies this month, granting paid sick leave to hourly workers in the U.S.,and, at the same time, possibly making it easier to fire those whomiss too many shifts.

Effective Feb. 2, the revamp standardizes a patchwork of localand regional policies crafted to comply with the growing number of states and municipalitiesrequiring businesses to offer paid sick leave. Now all of Walmart'sstore and warehouse workers will be able to earn as many as 48hours of what it calls “Protected Paid Time Off,” which isclassified separately from their regular vacation time and can be used for anyreason.

It's the latest step in Walmart's attempt to burnish its reputation as an employer.Last year, the company raised wages, expanded parental-leavepolicies and relaxed its dress code—moves that, Walmart says, havelowered employee turnover rates in the U.S. by more than 10percentage points, though it won't be more specific.

Related: Walmart employees embrace on-demand paycheckapp

“We're thrilled that the company has stepped up and appears tobe making major improvements to its policy,” said Dina Bakst,co-president of A Better Balance and, historically, a harsh criticof Walmart's employment practices. “At the same time, we urgeWalmart to reconsider aspects of the policy that may be even moreharsh on workers.”

Walmart's new sick-leave benefit is the carrot in its policyoverhaul. The retailer has also cut by nearly half the number ofattendance infractions allowed over a six-month period before aworker is fired. In addition, quarterly bonus payments, which werepreviously based only on a store's performance, are now partiallytied to attendance. A worker who bails on a couple of shifts, forexample, could see his or her bonus cut by as much as half. Thosewith no violations, meanwhile, can receive 25 percent more.(Workers who use their protected leave won't get penalized forabsences, no matter the reason.)

Drew Holler, a vice president of associate experience atWalmart, said paid sick leave was a “complicated issue” due to thevarious state and local regulations, and the new policy will“simplify the approach.” He said attendance over the most recentholiday period was better than during the same period a yearago.

Walmart's workers will start Feb. 2 with a clean slate,attendance-wise. Even so, at least one Walmart worker wasn't happyabout the change in bonus policy. “Our attendance has nothing to dowith it,” said Sherry Koska, 68, who works at a Walmart in Rialto,California and is involved with OUR Walmart, a labor activistgroup. Koska, though, said she had zero absence points, so shewould qualify for the additional bonus.

She's not alone: About 300,000 U.S. hourly workers have perfectattendance, Walmart said. That's less than a third of its 1.1million-strong hourly workforce.

“There's also a subset that have good, but not spotlessattendance, and a subset on the other end of the spectrum,” saidHoller, who spent one hour explaining the program to Walmart storemanagers at a meeting in Houston on Thursday. “Our goal is toaddress both ends.”

By state law, Koska already gets paid sick time, along withWalmart workers in Illinois, Philadelphia and other jurisdictionsthat require it. Other big chains are in the same boat; overall, alittle less than half of retailers surveyed by consultant firmMercer said hourly employees get paid sick days on top of regularpaid time off. At Starbucks Corp., baristas accrue paid sick leavefrom the date they're hired, at the same rate Walmart plans tooffer—one hour for every 30 hours worked. At that rate, a full-timeemployee working 40 hours a week would be able to cover oneeight-hour shift after six weeks.

From Walmart's perspective, the new policies are designed tocombat absenteeism both by making it easier for workers to take thetime they need and discouraging no-shows. According to Mercer,measuring and reducing the impact of absences is among the topworkforce priorities for companies with 5,000 or moreemployees.

“What's really happening is they are concerned about peopleabusing paid time off,” said Jennie Romich, an associate professorat the University of Washington whose research focuses onlow-income workers.

Whether it reduces absenteeism or not depends on how it'simplemented, according to workplace experts. “It's really aboutwhat happens in the actual stores,” said Anna Haley, an associateprofessor at Rutgers University. “The proof is in thatpudding.”

Read more:

• Walmart to pay employees' college tuitionbills
• 3 questions to ask about paid leaveprograms
• Paid family leave benefits saw major gains in2018

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