WALMART ETHICAL DILEMMAS

Shannon, your writing in this class is very good; your format is great, your answers are
strong and your APA is very good. Keep up the good work. I like it. I have enjoyed having
you in class. I hope to see you in another one soon. Have a happy holiday break.
- Professor Hoffman
1

Ethical Dilemmas Plaguing Walmart

Shannon M. Scarpello
Edison State College

WALMART ETHICAL DILEMMAS

Ethical Dilemmas Plaguing Walmart

Summary
Walmart, like many other companies may have started out with good intentions but failed
to deliver due to numerous ethical violations. Walmarts founder, Sam Walton has long stood by
his dream of providing low cost prices for consumers, but at what cost and to who? Numerous
lawsuits in which Walmart is accused of poor employment practices and wage law violations
where in some instances employees were forced to work without pay, required to work overtime
and during scheduled breaks, and failed to properly compensate employees for hours worked,
exploitation of workers, including child-labor laws, sexual discrimination in regards to its
promotion policies and pay rates, and inadequate health care options. Walmarts objective was to
keep labor costs down and management was key in overseeing that those objectives were met;
some were compensated for their loyalty to the corporate objectives, others fell victim for fear of
being fired or demoted.
Case Questions
1. Walmarts unethical behaviors seem to repeat a common theme amongst a large number of
corporations both in the private and public sector. Unfortunately, the ethical issues Wal-Mart
faces are all too common. Anyone who takes the time to listen will uncover these types of
behaviors in just about every industry. One employer of a franchise of bars has failed to
compensate its employees for over-time and mandatory meetings. Another company that
specializes in home improvements requires employees to work past their scheduled daily hours
which sometimes includes breaks and lunches, and then forces the employee to leave as soon as
they hit forty hours so as to not be responsible for overtime pay.
2. Walmart has been accused of sexual discrimination in regards to its promotion policies and pay
rates between its male and female employees. On June 22, 2004, Walmart became part of the

WALMART ETHICAL DILEMMAS

largest class-action sexual discrimination lawsuit claiming that female employees received 6.2
percent less on average than male employees for similar jobs and that even though a large
percentage of women held the majority of positions, only 33 percent held management positions
at Walmart (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009). I completely disagree with the statement that women
are simply not interested in management positions. Management positions, historically result in a
higher wage and with the continuous increases in everyday living expenses it seems illogical that
a women of equal qualifications would turn down an opportunity to increase her standard of
living. Some of the statements made by management displayed an old fashioned mentality in
which women are less adequate than men are should therefore remain housewives and in the
kitchen. Unfortunately this type of backwards thinking in which women are seen as inferior to
men just simply does not work in todays society. Long gone are the days that men were the
bread-winners of the households resulting in them making enough money to support a growing
family and enabling the wife to stay home and take care of the house and raise the children.
Todays society forces both parents to work just to make ends meet. The cost of childcare alone
is too much for many households, however, it is more cost effective to have someone else raise
your children while you work to stay above water (financially) than to not have a family at all.
3. Continually criticized for its healthcare policies, Walmart has taken some initiative in finding
common ground in regards to this ethical dilemma. However, one cannot over-look the fact that
Walmarts healthcare plan was 40 percent lower than the average for all other United States
companies and 30 percent lower than the average for the retail industry (Stanwick & Stanwick,
2009). Walmart could change its position by re-examining other companies healthcare plans and
at least meeting some of the industry standards met. The mere fact the case study claimed that 5
percent of employees were on Medicaid, 46 percent of employee children had not health care

WALMART ETHICAL DILEMMAS

coverage, and or chose to enlist in their spouses health care plans shows that what little Walmart
was offering for healthcare was less than desirable (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2009).
4. Walmart should be concerned with unionization of its stores since allowing unionization of
workers in China simply because although China is unique in that it provides state-offered
unions known as the All China Federation of Trade Unions, ACFTU, the United States is not that
far behind or is it. You are dealing with cultural differences that the rest of the world is incapable
of comprehending at this time. Unions have come and gone in the United States and many
individuals view unions as corrupt and lazy. Every man for himself seems to be the philosophy
of our times. A former Walmart manager in China name Gao Haitoa states, Wal-Mart as a
company is very careful Right now, the industry standards are inadequate. If Wal-Mart
doesnt technically break the law, its hard for the workers to do anything (Wang, 2013, para. 22).
However, with more and more individuals standing up for rights violations, the formation of
labor unions might just be the catalyst needed to halt the unethical activities plaguing many of
the worlds corporations.
Additional Questions
The enactment of Obamacare, many companies are concerned about the rise in costs to
current health care plans and options. Employees are also seeing the cost of their health care
plans rise extensively. Sears is offering its employees an option in which they have the ability to
accept a lump sum to purchase health care rather than force them to participate in Sears own
health care program Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite states The corporate exchange model
brings increased flexibility to group health coverage for our associates, giving participants a
chance to choose both the level of coverage and the insurance company that best meets their
needs (Huffington Post, 2012, para. 4). This is a viable option that I am sure many
employees/individuals will seriously consider. The more options the better that way people can

WALMART ETHICAL DILEMMAS

make their own decisions based on what is most beneficial to them at that time. This option is
definitely a possibility to Walmart that they should look into as it will help avoid some of this
current issues plaguing Walmarts health care policy.

WALMART ETHICAL DILEMMAS

6
References

Huffington Post. (2012). Sears, Olive Garden to offer employees money to pay for health care
(update). Reference from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/sears-healthinsurance-darden_n_1920275.html
Stanwick, P., & Stanwick, S. (2009). Understanding business ethics. (1 ed., p. 25 & 35; 291299). Fall River, N.J.: Pearson
Wang, E. (2013). As Wal-Mart swallows Chinas economy, workers fight back. The American
prospect. Referenced from http://prospect.org/article/wal-mart-swallows-chinaseconomy-workers-fight-back