Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is boosting its minimum wage to $18.50 starting Jan. 1.
The privately held craft-store chain operates 956 stores and has paid employees an hourly rate above the minimum wage since 2009, the company said in a statement. It boosted pay to $15 an hour in 2014, far earlier than many other retailers. While the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009, many companies — including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Chipotle Mexican Grill — have boosted starting or average hourly pay to $15 or more in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout.
Known for its religious roots, Hobby Lobby touts its benefits for workers — but has also made news for those it doesn’t support, like contraception. In 2014, the company won a Supreme Court case allowing for-profit corporations to invoke religious liberty to avoid compliance with the contraception-coverage mandate under the Affordable Care Act. In August of this year, a state appellate court ruled against Hobby Lobby, saying it violated Illinois anti-bias law by denying a transgender woman employee access to the women’s bathroom.
Source: Bloomberg
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