Whole Foods will cut health care benefits for 1,900 part-time employees

Whole Foods, owned by Amazon, will withdraw health care benefits for hundreds of its part-time workers as of Jan. 1, 2020, the company said Thursday.

In the past, employees had to work at least 20 hours a week to qualify for the health care plan. Now they will have to work at least 30 hours. Less than 2% of its workforce of 1,900 employees will no longer be eligible for medical coverage under the new policy, the company said.

The news was first reported by Business Insider.

"In order to better meet the needs of our business and create a more equitable and efficient scheduling model, we are moving to a single-level, part-time structure," said a spokesperson for the company. business. "We provide team members with resources to find other health care coverage options or to explore full-time and eligible health care positions, starting at 30 hours a week. All members of the Whole Whole Foods Market team continue to discount store. "

In 2018, Amazon raised its minimum wage to $ 15 for all employees, including those at Whole Foods. Amazon also announced last week its intention to create more than 30,000 permanent jobs in its technology, enterprise and execution departments.