Pay is more than double the Federal minimum wage, but there’s a catch
Yesterday, the home decor and craft supply store chain Hobby Lobby announced a pay increase to $17 per hour starting October 1, 2020. But it turns out, there’s a catch.
In the news release that Hobby Lobby issued to announce the hike, the company touts that in 2009, it was one of the first retailers to establish a nationwide minimum hourly wage well above the federal minimum wage and has since raised its minimum wages ten times over the last eleven years. In 2014, Hobby Lobby raised its full-time minimum hourly wage to $15, and will now raise that pay to $17.
Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green says the pay increase and current employee benefits “allow Hobby Lobby to attract and retain a great group of associates who in turn help provide the wonderfully unique shopping experience enjoyed by our many loyal customers.”
The news of the pay hike, which brings the total to more than double the Federal minimum wage and beats the pay of its big box competitors like Target and Walmart by at least a couple of dollars per hour, comes just as the push to hire temporary part-time employees for the holiday season begins.
According to the company’s news release, however, the pay increase applies only to full-time employees, not seasonal part-time workers or the current part-time employees that make up the majority of Hobby Lobby employees in Waxahachie and elsewhere.
A look at the company’s jobs board shows that most of the available job openings for hourly positions at locations across the country are part-time and therefore do not qualify for the higher pay.
The Federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour.