Wal-Mart to raise base wages for nearly 500,000 employees in US
Wal-Mart had, in October announced that it will invest $2.7 billion in its employees.
Most of Wal-Mart's US employees will get raises as part of the world's largest retailer's previously announced commitment to invest in its workforce.
Wal-Mart, which announced in October that it would invest $2.7 billion (nearly Rs 18,327.6 crore) in its workforce over two years, said more than 1.2 million US hourly workers will receive pay increases.
The company, which has 1.4 million US workers, also will provide basic short-term disability at no cost to full-time hourly workers and allow workers to accrue paid time off as they earn it.
Previously, Wal-Mart raised its base employee wages for 500,000 workers to $9 per hour last April, and is increasing hourly pay to at least $10 an hour, starting next month.
The moves come as the nation's private employer has been under pressure from labor-backed groups.
The move comes at a time when Wal-Mart has just recently announced that it will be shutting down 269 stores around the world. Out of these 154 are in the US. However, this counts only for a fraction of the 11,000 stores that the company has worldwide.
More than 95% of the stores set to be closed in the US are within 10 miles of another Wal-Mart. The Bentonville, Arkansas, company said it is working to ensure that workers are placed in nearby locations.