Walmart U.S. employees earn an average of $184.70 in quarterly bonuses

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores said it paid out $157 million in cash bonuses based on store performance in the fourth quarter. Across the U.S. about 850,000 store employees met the qualifications to receive a bonus in their March 9 paycheck.

The bonus averaged $184.70 per person.

Wal-Mart said more than 20,000 store employees in Arkansas received their share of the bonus along with annual pay raises for those who qualify.

Store employees may earn quarterly bonuses based on store performance. In Northwest Arkansas, employees shared more than $ 1.1 million in fourth quarter bonuses. Statewide the bonus pool totaled $3.1 million, according to Wal-Mart. The retailer said in the most recent full fiscal year its store employees shared more than $700 million in bonuses.

CEO Doug McMillon paid tribute to store workers with a post to his Facebook page recently. McMillon has said taking care of employees is key for the company reaching its financial goals, which is why he doled out more than $2 billion in higher pay and increased training over the past two years.

“We’re proud to be leaders in the new world of retail. No other retailer offers as wide a range of jobs, training opportunities, room for advancement, benefits and the opportunity for financial advancement as Walmart,” said Rogers store manager Tina Budnaitis. “We have invested in wages and training to create a system that can help our associates go as far as they want to.”

Wal-Mart’s top executives’ bonus pay for fiscal 2017 will be detailed in the company’s Proxy filing with the Securitiy and Exchange Commission next month. Looking at fiscal 2016, the top executives received the following cash bonus pay:
• Doug McMillon $3.406 million
• Brett Biggs $924,965
• Greg Foran $2.491 million
• David Cheesewright $2.47 million
• Rosalind Brewer $1.812 million

Wal-Mart Stores is the largest employer in the state operating 127 retail stores. The retailer said it spent $8.1 billion with local suppliers and supported 46,000 suppliers jobs last year in Arkansas. Wal-Mart also said it collected $428 million in state sales tax last year and paid another $295 million in taxes to the Natural State.