But Wal-Mart calls audit flawed, says it doesn't reflect actual behaviour in stores
An internal audit of 25,000 workers at Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. found reams of labour violations, including minors working during school hours and workers not taking lunches and breaks, according to the New York Times.
The audit found 1,371 violations of child-labour laws, including minors working too late, too many hours in a day or during school hours. It found more than 60,000 instances of missed breaks and 16,000 skipped meals — all in violation of labour regulations in most states.
But despite the findings of the audit — conducted by Wal-Mart auditor Bret Shipley — Wal-Mart said it wasn’t really as a big a problem as it looked.
The audit “doesn’t reflect actual behaviour within the facilities,” Mona Williams, Wal-Mart’s vice-president for communications, told the Times.
Williams said the company has made no changes in response to Shipley’s report because other auditors had reviewed it and found it to be flawed.
But some critics said the audit confirms that the retail giant has sacrificed workers’ rights in its pursuit of higher profits.
“Their own analysis confirms that they have a pattern and practice of making their employees work through their breaks and lunch on a regular basis,” said James Finberg, a lawyer who was worked on several lawsuits against Wal-Mart. “What this audit shows is against their own company policy and against the law in almost every state in which they operate.”
Wal-Mart employs 1.2 million people at 3,500 stories in the U.S.
