Remote Walmart employees across the United States are now questioning the company’s newly implemented in-person work policy. Some employees who have been ordered to relocate are even considering resigning.
In May, Walmart mandated that hundreds of remote workers relocate to its corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, or its other hubs in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Northern California. A recent Bloomberg report revealed that employees opposed the return-to-office mandate during a company-wide Zoom call, with some resigning.
During the call, one participant described the RTO policy as “a bunch of bullsh-t.” In contrast, others expressed concerns about the challenges of living in Arkansas, childcare arrangements, increased workload, and the potential impact on their partners’ careers due to the relocation.
A Walmart employee informed Bloomberg that he decided to resign from the company rather than relocate on such short notice. According to the report, employees unable to relocate must terminate their employment with the company between August 2024 and January 2025.
xmunk@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Being forced to relocate like that should constitute a contract renegotiation and these folks should get severance and unemployment.
shalafi@lemmy.world 4 months ago
My job just moved to the headquarters, so I quit. The company did indeed offer $20,000 to move me and, if not, 2-months severance and benefits, with my PTO used first and paid in full. That’s how it should be done.
I can’t blame them in my case. Since a large chunk of my duties involved shipping and troubleshooting hardware, it makes sense to have someone available to come in once or twice a week.
Anybody got any remote IT positions? I can send a resume. If you DM me, I’ll not likely see it. Reply here and I’ll get with you.
Feathercrown@lemmy.world 4 months ago
I’m curipus what setup you have that allows you to see replies but not DMs
brygphilomena@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Toss me a resume
Anticorp@lemmy.world 4 months ago
I’m pretty sure for the Walmart employees their options include moving at their own expense, or a swift kick in the ass.
imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 4 months ago
Well my IT guy is shite so… I’ll keep an eye out
SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Check city/county/state jobs!
BCsven@lemmy.ca 4 months ago
Not sure of US law, but in Canada something like this would be considered Constructive Dismissal, so you resign and they legally owe you termination pay and severence pay based on position amd years served
Wiz@midwest.social 4 months ago
In US law, workers can generally be terminated for “any reason or no reason.”
noxy@yiffit.net 4 months ago
what contract? renegotiate?
you must not be American
xmunk@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
I was born one but it’s true that I leveled up to Canadian!
brygphilomena@lemmy.world 4 months ago
It’s almost like that offer letter than you signed is a contract that specifies your job duties, pay, benefits, and time off. If you have a union, then there is a whole other contract as well.
PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 4 months ago
It’s constructive dismissal, and they can 100% file for unemployment even though they “resigned”. Basically, Walmart is laying them off of their old WFH position, and is offering them a new in-office position. And if the new position isn’t on-par with what they were already doing, they aren’t required to accept it. They can refuse the worse job offer and file for unemployment (because they were laid off of their old job) instead.
To be clear: Walmart will 100% contest their unemployment claim. But if the worker appeals and provides proof of the constructive dismissal, they’ll win and get unemployment back paid to when they first filed. If your employer ever drastically and negatively changes your job description (like cutting your hours, cutting your pay, suddenly requiring in-office, etc,) you should be in the unemployment line to file that same day.