Finding a company that offers good benefits is a must nowadays. Whether it’s paying for health insurance or building up a retirement account, not having that extra support from your employer can mean the difference between surviving and thriving. Keep reading to find out all about the employee discounts offered by Costco.
Contents
As of June 2022, Costco offers the following benefits to all employees who work at least 24 hours per week:
- Healthcare coverage (including dental coverage, mental health care, vision care, etc.)
- Retirement plan contributions
- Twice-yearly Extra Checks (bonuses) for long-tenured hourly employees
- Paid sick leave
- Paid vacation
- Paid maternity leave (8 weeks, with an additional 2 weeks unpaid)
- Paid and unpaid paternity leave (time frame unverified)
- Minimum scheduled hours guarantee
- Free yearly Executive Costco membership ($120 value, includes 2% cashback per year on all purchases)
- Additional Executive membership card for spouse or other household member
- Two additional free non-executive Costco memberships per year for friends or family
What Is The Costco Employee Discount?
Because Costco already offers so many benefits to their employees, they do not provide an additional employee discount on purchases.
However, Costco employees are bound to save even more than other retail employees, even without an employee discount.
While most retailers mark up goods about 25-50% (and sometimes more!), Costco only marks up their merchandise an average of 11%. They also guarantee that their markups will never be more than 15%.
With such low prices, Costco members and employees are essentially already receiving a built-in discount when they shop at Costco.
Do Costco Employees Get Free Membership?
One of the best perks of working at Costco is that employees automatically receive free access to an executive-level membership.
This means that they not only get access to all of the amazing deals available at Costco, but they also receive 2% cash back on all of their purchases made at Costco at the end of each year. Depending on how much you shop, this could add up to several hundred dollars back in your pocket!
Costco employees also receive three additional free membership cards each year–one for a spouse or household member, and two additional memberships for friends or family.
And remember: Costco memberships don’t just get you in the front door. Costco members gain access to Costco Travel, Costco Gas, Costco Tire Center, Costco Optical, and more. This means that the benefits of working at Costco could show up in more ways than you might have imagined!
Do All Costco Employees Have Benefits?
Regardless of whether you are full- or part-time at Costco, you can be eligible for all of the amazing benefits the company offers.
All Costco employees are eligible for benefits, including part-timers. The only catch is that part-time employees are expected to work at least 24 hours per week to qualify, and they do not become eligible to claim benefits until they have worked 450 total hours.
When Do Costco Benefits Start?
Employees are expected to work 450 total hours before becoming eligible for benefits at Costco.
If you work full time, this would equate to about 2.5 months of work.
If you work part time at the minimum number of hours required to receive benefits, it would take you between 3 and 4 months to begin receiving benefits.
Does Costco Have Good Employee Benefits?
Overall, we think it’s pretty clear that Costco has some of the most competitive benefits of any retail employer around.
But here, we will take a look at some real accounts from past and current Costco employees to find out what they really think.
Users on Reddit weighed in, commenting on the great healthcare benefits available through Costco:
Users on another Reddit thread also added their two cents, pointing out that the benefits Costco offers its employees can more than make up for any downsides of working a retail job.
From what we’ve observed, the general consensus seems to be that while working at Costco isn’t always the easiest or most fun, the healthcare and retirement benefits in particular represent enough of a motivator to retain workers and make the overall environment worth it.
All retail jobs will have their frustrating aspects, but Costco has succeeded in creating a work environment that many employees choose to stay in for a long time. And this is due in large part to their generous employee benefits system.
FAQs
Do Costco employees get discounts on gas?
No. Costco employees do not receive discounts on Costco purchases. However, they receive many other benefits, such as free membership and memberships for friends and family members, as well as generous healthcare and retirement benefits.
Does Costco offer a government employee discount?
No. However, military service members and veterans can access a free $20 Costco Shop Card by signing up for a new membership. Some sources claim that all public service employees can access this benefit, but we were unable to verify this through Costco.
Do Costco employees get hotel discounts?
No. Costco does not provide its employees with any formal discounts. However, there are unaffiliated companies such as employeeandmemberdiscounts.com that do claim to offer discounts, including hotel discounts, to Costco employees who sign up for an account. We cannot verify whether this offer is legitimate or how much it would cost to get access to these benefits.
How much do Costco employees make?
In 2021, Costco raised its starting wage not once, but twice, from $15 to $17 per hour. In the wake of Costco’s first wage increase of 2021, Northwest Public Broadcasting reported that more than half of Costco’s hourly workers in the US are paid above $25 per hour. A full-time employee starting out at Costco’s current entry level hourly wage would make about $35,000 in one year before taxes and withholdings.
Does Costco have an employee app?
Yes. Costco provides an employee website in addition to using the Kronos mobile app to provide employees 24/7 access to their schedules and time cards.
Does Costco give employees bonuses?
Yes. According to Costco’s website, they provide “twice-yearly Extra Checks (bonuses) for long-tenured hourly employees.” Some employees have reported that these checks can be as large as $3,500 each. Costco employees become eligible for bonus checks once they have worked a total of 12,800 hours (about 6 years of full-time work).
Is Costco part of a union?
The Costco corporation itself is not part of a union, but Costco is a union-friendly company. 20% of Costco employees are unionized through the Teamsters Union, which works on behalf of employees to ensure that employment contracts are fair.
Conclusion
Overall, Costco is a great company to work for if you’re looking for generous healthcare benefits, retirement plan contributions, as well as other benefits like paid leave. Oh, and did we mention you get multiple free Costco memberships, too? As long as you’re willing to work in retail, working at Costco seems like a great option for anyone looking for a job that pays well and offers great benefits.
