How Long Does Walmart Discount Card Work After Quitting

When you become a Walmart associate, one of the perks of employment is an employee discount card given to you after your 91st day of employment. Walmart will also issue one to your spouse or domestic partner. The card makes you eligible for a 10% discount on any merchandise purchased in any Walmart store.

After you leave the company, your card will eventually stop working. This depends entirely on the Human Resources office processing the appropriate paperwork to remove you from the employee system. This could be near immediate or as long as a few weeks if there is a backlog.

This applies to most employees, those who haven’t been there for a very long time. There is a unique program for those who work at Walmart long enough, though, and some other discount programs. There are also plenty of other ways to save money without an employee discount.

Are there any other ways to get a Walmart discount card?

In addition to all associates’ employee discount cards, Walmart also has a Long-Term Service Associate Discount Card. Employees who have served at least 15 years of continuous service and are at least 55 years of age are eligible for the card. Long-term employees can keep these lifetime discount cards even when they leave the company. This differs from the standard employee discount card, which becomes inactive when employment ends. 

You can also become eligible for the card regardless of age after 20 years of continuous service. Putting in years of service with Walmart could have a great long-term benefit, one that also extends to your spouse.

Surprisingly, Walmart does not provide any sort of veteran discount or any discounts to active service members. From time to time, they run sales and special events targeting these groups with discounts, usually surrounding holidays. 

Do I have to return my Walmart employee discount card when I quit?

Turning it in along with your swipe card is probably a good idea. This is all Walmart property, after all. Additionally, you might not know it but could be unintentionally black-balling yourself from any future opportunity with Walmart or the people associated with your tenure there. It’s a good idea to turn it back in after you leave. 

That being said, there is no real punishment or retribution for not returning the physical discount card, despite that already mentioned. While encouraged, there is no specific rule that will result in any court action or fine.

When Walmart employees are terminated they are usually asked on the spot to hand over their discount card, along with any other Walmart property. If the employee quits via phone call or some other method, Walmart isn’t likely to lose much sleep over the discount card that isn’t returned.

What are some other ways to save money at Walmart?

If you no longer have your employee discount card and are looking for some ways to save money on your purchases at Walmart, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Visit the clearance shelves as these items are priced to go, and you can find incredible deals
• Take advantage of the deals available on the app, and look for sales and ads ahead of time
• Leverage Walmart+ to get the most out of your shopping trips
• Check to see if there are any coupons for what you’re looking to buy; Walmart makes extensive use of coupons in their marketing
• See if the Walmart Rewards Mastercard is a good idea for you – it has some great introductory benefits

Conclusion

Human Resources offices are notorious for being overworked, as their office is typically the clearinghouse for any employment questions and paperwork. Walmart is no different and could be even worse than the average company in America regarding HR backlog. This means that it may take some time for Walmart to update the employment status in the system in a termination or resignation event. 

In this reality, the employee discount card may remain active after employment ends. This window with an active discount outside of employment may last a day or a few days. There is no way to tell which circumstances are likely to influence the process of each HR termination file. It’s almost certain that the employee discount card will be deactivated within a few weeks.