Walmart Corporate Compliance

Introduction

CareNetWest Companies, Inc. is a new public healthcare company, which is facing several risk management challenges, including implementation of the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The company recently lost its Chief Risk Officer and is not prepared to implement corporate governance and SOX requirements or best practices. Also, CareNetWest has neglected to implement regulatory risk processes to address these corporate compliance issues and also lacks the internal expertise necessary to mitigate them. Specifically, the company lacks internal experience, communication skills and compliance of SOX.

Wal-Mart is one of the world's largest and wealthiest retail stores. Similar to CareNetWest, however, they face corporate compliance issues of all sorts. Some of these issues have been brought against the corporation as lawsuits. The majority of the cases have concerned labor conditions and wage and hour violations. Wal-Mart has reportedly been in violation of labor laws. Also, according to store associates, they are being paid unfairly below minimum wage without enough money to make a living and were also forced to work overtime. Wal-Mart, like CareNetWest was lacking the internal expertise necessary to mitigate its issues. Without the proper support teams on board to solve their issues, the structure of both companies is weak.

Over the years, and after hundreds of lawsuits filed mostly by its associates, Wal-Mart has implemented new policies and a corporate compliance team to help better its reputation as a business.

Issues

According to Human Rights Watch online, "Interviews with Wal-Mart workers and managers, legal filings, and other relevant documents make clear that concerns over working conditions at Wal-Mart are wide ranging. They include not only the systemic hostility to worker, but also wage and hour violations, illegal sex and disability discrimination, claims of inadequate healthcare coverage and wages, and the perceived elimination of long-term workers," (hrw.org).

Wal-Mart has been accused of forcing associates to work off the clock, denying associates their lunch and rest breaks, having a heath care plan that only covers some of its employees, paying associates below minimum wage, poor treatment of factory workers, having an anti-union policy, violating child labor laws, and discrimination against women, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals.

Overall, Wal-Mart has faced a horrible reputation as a business because of the vast amount of its associates who are unsatisfied. Without the proper internal expertise or support groups and management teams on board, the company's reputation seemingly grew worse because it appeared not to have any way to mitigate its issues.

Solutions

Wal-Mart