Wal-Mart Instituting Pre-hire Background Check Program For All Store Positions.
August 12, 2004
Screening Program to Help Preserve Associate Integrit
BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 12, 2004 – Wal-Mart will take a new leadership role within the retail industry by requiring background checks of all new store associates prior to hire under a program announced today and scheduled to begin in September. The retailer will initiate the program in the Midwest and roll it out nationally over the next several months.
“Across the country, every day, we have hundreds of thousands of trustworthy women and men serving our customers,” said Sue Oliver, senior vice president, People for Wal-Mart’s Stores Division. “We want to preserve the outstanding reputation these individuals have worked hard to build for themselves. By adding another level of security to our hiring practices, our associates can be assured that we are strengthening our efforts to try to intercept anyone who might otherwise damage that integrity.”
“We also believe this will add yet another level of comfort for our customers, many of whom already consider their local Wal-Mart associates as kind of an extended family,” she said.
“We operate in all 50 states so this is a relatively complex issue,” Oliver continued. “A process that meets the requirements in one geographical area may actually violate a rule in another. We have worked hard to create a process that, abiding by the regulations of their particular community, fairly screens all applicants.”
Wal-Mart’s program follows a year of pilot programs around the country.
As allowed by local laws, the background check program will review applicants’ backgrounds for various criminal offenses. Applicants will not be considered for any position if they are found to have lied on their applications, which is the policy at Wal-Mart.
SAM’S CLUB will also launch a background check process for its associates in September. Wal-Mart will expand the applicant background program to other divisions in the near future.
About Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM’S CLUB locations in the United States. Internationally, the company operates in Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, United Kingdom, Argentina, and South Korea. The company’s securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT.
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