Menards employee handbook
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In fact, it includes multiple sections dedicated to extolling the virtues of free market capitalism, bemoaning taxes, and instructing employees on how to become advocates of political beliefs that mirror those of the boss who will not allow them to unionize.Įmbedded below are four separate courses from the “Civics 101" section of the Menards IHT. What makes Menards’ employee training program unique: It is not at all limited to job skills. Below is a screenshot from a company newsletter that went out in April, the entire purpose of which is to share how many employees are using the IHT in each store and region, and to encourage more of them to do so. Employees are offered small rewards for completing sections, and there are even competitions between stores to see who can get the highest participation level. Menards closely tracks how many employees are using the program, and incentivizes employees and managers to keep that number high. The program is not mandatory, but participation in it is strongly encouraged by the company. It is supposed to be a sort of continuing job education program that expands and updates the skills of Menards workers-by training them to work in different departments throughout the store, for example. The IHT is an online training course for Menards employees. Documents provided to us by a Menards employee show that the company conducts what can only be describe a systematic indoctrination into conservative political beliefs, under the guise of its “In-Home Training Program” (IHT). The company was recently sanctioned by the National Labor Relations Board for violating labor laws after it was revealed that the company had required managers to sign contracts stating that they would forfeit more than half of their pay if employees formed a union on their watch.īut Menards is not satisfied with merely having a non-union work force.
#Menards employee handbook full#
Menards’ virulently anti-union policies stand out even in an industry full of anti-union corporations. No one suffers the brunt of John Menard, Jr.’s conservative beliefs more directly than his own employees. After Menard was forced to pay a $1.7 million fine in the 1990s for illegal dumping of hazardous waste, one state official says Menard told him he “just didn’t believe in environmental regulations.” More recently, a Menards spokesperson announced that the company did not plan to open a new store until Obama was no longer president. He donated $1.5 million to a group backing Wisconsin’s Republican governor Scott Walker, during Walker’s contentious battles against the state’s organized labor forces. holds strong right-wing political beliefs. His net worth of more than $10 billion makes him the richest man in Wisconsin, and one of the 50 richest people in America. Its owner is John Menard, Jr., famous for keeping “ a tight rein” on the smallest details of his company’s operations.
Menards is the largest privately owned home improvement chain in America. They are trained in the conservative trickle-down economic zealotry that animates their billionaire boss. Tens of thousands of workers at America’s third-largest hardware chain are trained in more than customer service.