The Overtime Exploitation at Wal-Mart - Research Paper Example

? The Overtime Exploitation at Wal-Mart Summary Overtime exploitation has become a common problem at the Wal-Mart stores. The storemanagers in collusion with the payroll staff force the workers to work overtime. The store managers use different techniques to tame the workers to give overtime which is illegal and against the policy of Wal-Mart. The insufficient supervision and inspection have caused the problem of overtime exploitation. The enhanced supervision and surprise inspection must be carried out. The ethical training and development sessions must be given to the store and the payroll staff members. The job rotation can also decrease the problem of overtime exploitation. Name Professor Subject Date Introduction Resource management differs from one field to another field. For many people having a general background in environmental sciences, interest in the issues pertaining to resource management remains within the environmental issues (Howitt, 107).Human resource management remains caught somewhere in the twilight between a science, an applied area of management practice, an ideological or consulting statement about how firms should manage their employees, and a heterogeneous amalgamation of administrative tools (Kaufmann, 321). Within the same context, it has been suggested that the most appropriate focus for human resource management should be the governance of employment relationship (Storey 81).One of the biggest problems for the Wal-Mart is to control the problem of managing its human resources. Recently, overtime exploitation has been reported on the various workplaces of Wal-Mart. being one of the largest and biggest company of the world, Wal-Mart has employed a considerable number of employees across the globe. It employs several hundred thousands of employees in numerous capacities. The major reason for such a level of employees is to fulfil the expanding needs of the company. It originated in the United States and opened its outlets in Asia and other far regions of the world. However, with the passage of time, overtime exploitation has become a common practice in various operational facilities of the company as the store managers in collusion with the payroll staff members have forced the workers to give unofficial overtime. They have used different tactics and methods for forcing the workers for this activity. The official working hours remain 40 hours per week. Every employee is required to work eight hours per day and five days a week. However, the store managers and the payroll staff members have created a situation in which the workers are forced to give additional but illegal overtime. In the following parts of this paper, the issue has been highlighted. Its various techniques and methods used by the store managers and payroll officers have been provided. It is followed by the causes of the problems. In which greed of store managers and the insufficient impartial supervision and inspection of stores have been mentioned. It is followed by the data collection method. After that, some solutions have been discussed such as ethical training and development sessions and job rotation have been suggested before the conclusion part. Problems in Managing Resources Wal-Mart has been a centre for many human resource management issues including gender based discrimination, overtime problems and so on. Although Wal-Mart has put in place a very stringent human resource management policy concerning overtime; it only allows a 40 hour work week and nothing more than that (The Good and Bad of Wal-Mart Culture). However, some instances highlight that the store managers using their authority exploit the workers to work overtime. As overtime was officially disallowed, the store managers often forced workers to clock out after their shift time was over and then they continue working. In other instances, the store managers asked the workers to begin working as soon as they reach to the stores and most probably before they could clock in. Moreover, the door lock tactic was used for the overtime. In this tactic, the doors of stores were locked at the end of a shift (presumably to prevent theft) to hinder employees from leaving at the listed time. Also, collusion with payroll department was part of this part. Sometimes, the time cards were taken and edited by the payroll department. The payroll department officials removed the overtime and registered only 40 hours per week. This practice was conducted in collusion with the store managers. Causes of Problems Insufficient Supervision and Inspection visits on Stores by the Senior Management The frequency of overtime exploitation highlights insufficient supervision. The senior management of Wal-Mart has not put in place such measures to ensure the absence of overtime exploitation of workers. The management seems to be disinterested about this issue. As a result, the senior management has created a gap which is being used by the store managers to work at the cost of Wal-Mart standards and objectives. The store managers cannot alone be held responsible for this problem. The insufficient senior management supervision and inspection visits have further indirectly supported and encouraged the store managers. Greed of Store Managers The greed of store managers has also contributed in this problem. They exploited the workers for their personal financial advantage. They coerced and threatened them to work overtime. The overtime produces more goods and products with only their coercion. Subsequently, they showed that their performance was better and at the same time, they did not record the overtime. In addition to that, it looked beyond doubt that the store managers were separately selling out the goods produced during overtime and they would be putting that money into their personal pockets instead of putting into the Wal-Mart. Collusion of Payroll and Store Officials The collusion of payroll and store officials exploited the workers and obtained their unauthorized services. By doing so, the officials of both departments shared the benefits of overtime exploitation in which only the workers were the victims who were exploited and forced to work unofficially. Data collection Two sources were used to collect the data i.e. the authentic websites and personal reflection. The overtime exploitation at the Wal-Mart has become frequent issue particularly available on the land of the Internet. There have been numerous incidents highlighting the widespread prevalence of overtime exploitation problem. The frequency of this problem convinced me to work on this human resource issue and evaluate its causes and solutions. After getting information from the sources, I contemplated the possible causes. It is an acceptable method that by reducing or eliminating the causes of problems would bring a remedy for them. I adopted this approach to complete this work. Solutions of Problems- Received Results Enhanced Store Supervision The store supervision must be enhanced. The senior management of Wal-Mart must develop a stringent supervision program ensuring an adequate supervision and monitoring steps particularly on stores. By enhancing the supervision, a decrease in the events of unofficial and illegitimate overtime would occur. The senior management along with the active participation of the middle management would become able to appropriately understand the other human resources management issues that have not been identified or highlighted by the victim workforce. The increased supervision would convince the victim workers to feel the sense of security and they would gain confidence and motivation. Moreover, the inspecting team must be impartial and professional having no association either with the store or payroll employees. They must conduct a survey from the victim workers and try to obtain their impartial and neutral view about the issue of overtime exploitation. However, it is important that the exploited workers must not gain an impression that the inspecting team is not impartial but another face of store managers. Ethical Training and Development of Store and Payroll Officers The store and payroll staff must receive adequate ethical and professional training. The senior management of Wal-Mart must devise training and development sessions for the staff. In these sessions, focus and emphasis must be given on the work ethics and ethical business operations. Moreover, the ethical training and development must not be limited only to the store and payroll department officers. The workers must receive an appropriate level of ethical training and development. If they do not disclose the unauthorized and unofficial activities, it would be the workers who would face the dire consequences and effects of such activities. Each worker must consider it responsibility to inform higher authorities about illegal practices. Also, the senior management must put in place an easy mechanism enabling the workers to register their complains. By establishing a convenient access between the workers and the senior management, the chances of overtime exploitation would be decreased as the workers would be able to access to the senior management. Frequent but Surprise Inspection of Stores and Payroll Departments The supervision policy must come along with the surprise store inspection and visits. The senior management of Wal-Mart must ensure that they must devise and put in place a policy of surprise store inspection visits. The advantage of this policy would be that the store managers and the payroll staff would not be easily able to continue exploiting the staff the workers as they would know that any surprise visit would expose their unofficial activities. Moreover, the second advantage would be that the senior management would become in a position to get in touch with the operating core or the workers; they would be able to keep a vigilant eye on the activities of the store managers and the payroll officials. Additionally, the store and the payroll department staff would remain mindful of consequences if they conduct any unofficial activity within the company premises. Also, the additional advantage would be that the factory workers would be able to stay in regular contact with the inspection team and they would be in a position to inform their problems and issues being faced while working for the company. Job Rotation Job rotation is normally used to control collusion. The job rotation is a mechanism in which employees are not at one place rather they are constantly relocated from one location to other location after a certain period of time. The biggest benefit is that it controls and diminishes chances of collusion between and among the members of different departments. In the absence of job rotation, employees develop relationships and understanding with other staff members. With the passage of time, this understanding becomes stronger and begins working at the cost of company objectives. This relationship convinces the employees to work for their personal benefits and get illegitimate benefits from the company. It is the same case of overtime exploitation where the employees were colluding and they had developed a strong personal relationship. Due to the infrequent job rotation, the employees developed a strong relationship and they began to work at the cost of Wal-Mart and at the benefit of their personal advantages. The senior management must develop a job rotation policy. In which, after two years, the employees must be relocated to another facility. This would diminish the chances of collusion and subsequently this would diminish the events of overtime exploitation. It is worth noting that some employees resist this policy as it would bring different consequences for them. Some would contend that their family would be distributed as they would not be able to give proper time to them. Others would suggest that it would bring additional cost for them. However, the senior management must see every case individually and impartially; the senior management must ensure the practice and regular application of job rotation policy. Tackling the exposed store managers The senior management must develop a code of conduct for such practices. The senior management of Wal-Mart must develop and announce a policy of punishment in which it must be mentioned that if someone found guilty of exploiting workers or carrying out illegal overtime, their employment would be immediately terminated and their remuneration and other benefits would be frozen. Within the same direction, if the level of issue remains severe and widely prevalent, the culprit would be handed over the police and would face criminal justice proceedings. The advantage of this stringent policy would be that the store and payroll staff would remain careful and think hundred times before committing any illegal activity. Conclusion The biggest cause of this problem is the presence of insufficient supervisor and inspection of the stores. Due to the absence of such measures, the store managers find it easy to carry out their illegal activities. It also convinces them to fulfil their personal objectives such as earning additional money and so on. In addition to that, the collusion between the payroll and store officials enables them to exploit workers and force them to give overtime. After getting their overtime, they delete their records and mention that there is absence of any overtime worked by the workforce. The best solution includes enhanced store supervision. This would reduce the chances of collusion as both would know that if they collude and any inspection would endanger their employment. The ethical training and development sessions must be arranged. In which, the store and payroll officers must be given presentations about the work ethics that convince them to avoid conducting illegal practices. The job rotation must be there. The biggest reason for the collusion is caused by the absence of the practice of job rotation. With the passage of time, the employees begin strong personal relationship and they begin to entertain their objectives at the cost of the company objectives. The application of job rotation policy would diminish the chances of the collusion and overtime exploitation practices. Bibliography Howitt, Richard. Rethinking Resource Management: Justice, Sustainability and Indigenous Peoples. Abingdon: Routledge. 2001. Print. Kaufman, Bruce E. Ed. Theoretical Perspectives on Work and the Employment Relationship. Illinois: Industrial Relations Research Association. 2004. Print. Storey, John. Human Resource Management: A Critical Text. 3rd ed.. London: Thomson. 2007. Print. The Good and Bad of Wal-Mart Culture. The Darker side of Wal-Mart Culture. http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/Good%20and%20Bad%20of%20Wal-Mart%20Culture-Human%20Resource%20Management%20Case%20Studies1.htm#The_Darker_Side_of_Walmarts_Culture Read More