US
retailer Wal-Mart has begun an ‘outreach programme’ to combat criticism of its
people and business practices.
Wal-Mart,
which is often criticised for the way it treats staff, is currently battling a
high-profile gender bias lawsuit in the US.
About
1.6 million current and former female employees claim the firm paid them less
than their male colleagues. They also allege that they were passed over for
promotion in favour of male employees.
In
a bid to fight back, Lee Scott, the company’s CEO, told a Goldman Sachs retail
conference in New York
that Wal-Mart had to ‘eliminate this constant barrage of negatives’.
“We
as a company have failed to tell people that we in fact don’t have a majority
of part-time jobs – almost 80 per cent of our jobs are full-time jobs,” he
said. “We don’t pay the minimum wage. We spent £2bn in health benefits last
year.”
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