Companies That Give Health Care to Part-Time Employees

Walmart, the nation's largest single employer, announced today it is cutting health care benefits for 30,000 part-time workers. But it's still possible for part-time employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week to receive employer-sponsored health care elsewhere.

Following Target's lead back in January, Walmart announced today that it will no longer offer health insurance to employees who work less than an average of 30 hours a week, starting Jan. 1. The decision affects 5 percent of its total part-time work force, cutting health care for 30,000 workers.

For the unemployed or employed who hope to secure company-sponsored health care, the good news is that certain companies offer that benefit to part-timers.

Whole Foods Market "team members" regularly scheduled to work more than 20 hours but less than 30 hours per week are eligible for medical insurance upon hitting certain service hour thresholds. To be considered full-time employees, employees need to work at least 30 hours per week. Part-time employees are eligible to receive other benefits, including paid time off and a 20 percent store discount. Employees who voluntarily opt to participate in the "Team Member healthy discount incentive program" could receive up to an additional 10 percent store discount, according to a Whole Foods spokeswoman. Employees select their benefits package through a company-wide vote every three years.

Stock options are also granted to all employees once they have accumulated 6,000 service hours.

Whole Foods Market also offers "gainsharing" to part-time workers, which lets them earn monthly dividends, such as "labor surplus payouts" from the excess labor budget of their individual teams.

Last year's "gainsharing" sales incentive program total was $99 million while average team member payout per hour was $0.87. The average total team member payout was $2,418.49, according to Whole Foods.

Since 1988, Starbucks, based in Seattle, has offered "a comprehensive compensation program" that recognizes and rewards employees, or "partners," the company said.

This benefits package includes "competitive" base pay, health care for eligible full and part-time partners, with an average of 20 hours per week, and equity in the company in the form of Bean Stock.

Last year, Starbucks store and non-executive employees received over $234 million in pre-tax gains from Bean Stock, a spokeswoman told ABC News.

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Companies That Give Health Care to Part-Time Employees

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