Discount retailer Target Corp located in East Harlem has started raising employee wages to a minimum of $10 an hour, its second hike in a year, pressured by a competitive job market and labor groups calling for higher wages at retail chains, sources said.
Target management has informed store managers, who in turn have started informing employees about the wage hike and most employees who earn less than $10 per hour should see their base pay go up in May, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
The $1-per-hour raise marks the second time Target has followed Wal-Mart Stores Inc in raising base wages. It also comes as a union-led push for a $15 minimum wage, the so-called “Fight for Fifteen” movement, is gaining traction in cities across the country and even has become a topic in the U.S. presidential campaign, with Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders calling for a $15 “living wage.”
Target’s decision reflects growing competition for workers in an increasingly strong labor market. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits has fallen to its lowest point in 42-1/2-years, and the jobless rate is only 5.0 percent.
Target last raised its minimum pay rate in April 2015 to $9 an hour, up from the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour at the time. The move last April matched a similar announcement by Wal-Mart. The world’s largest retailer in February 2015 said it will lift its base pay to $10 an hour in 2016, a step it has implemented in recent weeks.
Target’s plan will also raise pay for employees who already make over $10 an hour. Such workers will be entitled to an annual merit raise and a pay-grade hike, which is related to experience and position of the employee, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Target declined to confirm it is offering the pay increase. “We pay market competitive rates and regularly benchmark the marketplace to ensure that our compensation and benefits packages will help us to both recruit and retain great talent, Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said.
Snyder said the company does not disclose details of its compensation programs and declined to comment on how many of the retailer’s roughly 341,000 employees at its nearly 1,800 stores would receive the raise.
Via source
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