MINNEAPOLIS — After gradually raising its hourly wages annually, Target will begin paying a $15 minimum wage next month.
Starting July 5, the starting wage for all employees will be $15 an hour. Target began raising its pay in September 2017, with a commitment to reach $15 by the end of 2020. They began raising wages in one-dollar increments from the starting rate of $11 an hour.
Target also announced that it is giving all of its front-line employees - those in stores and distribution centers - a $200 bonus to thank them for continuing to provide services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the best of times, our team brings incredible energy and empathy to our work, and in harder times they bring those qualities plus extraordinary resilience and agility to keep Target on the forefront of meeting the changing needs of our guests and our business year after year,” CEO Brian Cornell said in a statement.
The City of Minneapolis, where Target's headquarters is located, has implemented a gradual $15 minimum wage requirement that will be phased in until 2024. That increase was upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court in January.
Target also announced other benefits for their employees including:
- Free virtual health care visits this week, regardless of whether the employee has a health care plan through Target
- Extension of a 30-day paid leave for vulnerable employees susceptible to the coronavirus
- Paid leave and the waiving of the company's absenteeism policy for those with symptoms
- Free counseling sessions made available to all employees
“Everything we aspire to do and be as a company builds on the central role our team members play in our strategy, their dedication to our purpose and the connection they create with our guests and communities," Cornell said in his statement.
Target made news earlier this week when it announced that it's joining many other businesses in making Juneteenth - the commemoration of the end of U.S. slavery - a company holiday.
