WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND – CVS is raising the minimum wage it pays employees to $11 an hour, using its tax savings to pay for the raise.
The raise will match increases at Target and Walmart in an effort to gain or retain valued employees in what experts are calling a tight job market. CVS officials said the increase will cost about $425 million a year. The company also said it would give pay raises to “many” store workers and retail pharmacy technicians who were already making more than that.
CVS also plans to increase paid parental leave to four weeks at 100% compensation for all new parents and said it would not increase employee health insurance premiums in its upcoming year.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to the patients, customers and communities we serve, we said that we would invest our tax savings back into our business, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” CVS CEO Larry Merlo said in a statement. “Today, we’re building on the investments we’ve been making in our employees, in their wages, benefits and career development.”