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Wegmans and Wages
A perspective from Kathleen Shapley-Quinn
I thought Wegmans would be different. This store, a relatively new addition to our Chapel Hill grocery options, is nationally very highly ranked in staff satisfaction as well as community support efforts. They had $10.8 billion dollars in revenue in 2020. The Town of Chapel Hill agreed to $4 million dollars in incentives for Wegmans to establish themselves here. And finally, per Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger in November of 2019: “. . . the store will create 185 full time jobs and 413 part-time jobs using an Orange County Living Wage model when setting compensation.” For all of these reasons, I assumed Wegmans would be paying at least a living wage to all its employees.
Wegmans’ current job postings, all of them part-time positions for persons at least 18 years of age, state starting wages of between $14.00 and $14.50/hour. The Orange County living wage rate for a single individual in 2021 is $15.40/hour, or $13.90 with employer-provided health insurance. Wegmans part time employees only qualify for health insurance after a year if they’ve worked an average of 30 hours per week over the preceding year. While the company does not guarantee 30 hours per week, “if they know an employee wants health insurance, they try to make that happen,” per the recruiting employee. So, no part time employees in the first year – and only some part time employees after the first year – are eligible for health insurance. These uninsured employees are forced to choose between food, rent, medical bills, and transportation – and, as a last resort, public or private assistance to avoid going into debt.
As a privately owned company, Wegmans is free to pay less than a living wage, a decision they’ve chosen which I find unsettling, and even unethical. Learning about this was a particularly bitter pill to swallow when I learned that my tax dollars have funded their start-up costs AND will continue to offset low wages for those Wegmans employees. It just doesn’t make sense.
I am, of course, immensely grateful for Wegmans’ many commitments to community as well as employee support. The job application on their website states: “Discover what it means to work for a family owned, mission-driven, values-based company that believes in caring, respect, empowerment, high standards and making a difference in the community … with a family-like atmosphere of shared support, leaders who have your best interest at heart …” Pointedly though, compensation at less than living wage rates does not reflect “leaders who have your best interest at heart.”
We are fortunate, in Orange County, to have an ever-expanding list of certified living wage employers. I realize some small businesses struggle mightily to meet expenses and understand the difficulties in raising employee pay to living wage rates in these circumstances. I cannot find any similar argument for a national, revenue rich, tax-supported business such as Wegmans.
All I want for Christmas is to see Wegmans on the list of Orange County Living Wage employers.
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