Employee Pay and Benefits
We offer our employees comprehensive benefits and pay packages, including several options that are highly unique in the retail industry. Visit REI.com/jobs for a complete overview of the benefits package offered to employees. Following are a few highlights from 2007, including program improvements and financial incentives:
Vacation and sick benefits for part-time employees — Part-time employees are valuable contributors to the co-op. In 2007, we began providing more generous part-time vacation accruals, based on years of service. By doing so extended improved sick and vacation time benefits about 1,000 additional part-time team members.
Financial incentives — Based upon the financial success of the co-op in 2007, REI funded more than $14 million in incentives for eligible full and part-time employees, in addition to the nearly $2 million in mid-year payouts in July 2007. Retail employees received financial incentives twice annually based on the success of the co-op. Since the program was introduced in 2001, more than $97 million in incentive pay has been distributed to employees.
Retirement and profit sharing — In February 2008, the co-op distributed more than $19 million to employees via our retirement and profit sharing plan. Eligible employees received a 15 percent contribution to their plan whether they contributed to it themselves or not — far exceeding the retail industry norm of three percent. This represents full funding of a 10 percent discretionary company contribution under the profit sharing plan, in addition to the five percent guaranteed contribution to the retirement plan.
Health Care Coverage — In addition to offering extensive health care benefits to employees who work 20 or more hours a week, we offer an unprecedented subsidized Part-Time Healthcare (PaTH) to our employees regardless of the hours worked. In 2007, about 2,300 part-time teammates were covered under PaTH.
New Benefits — In 2007, we added other supplementary benefits, including discounted gym memberships and a smoking cessation program for all employees, and a weight loss assistance program for Puget Sound-area employees in Washington.
