Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 5/29/19

Sanderson Farms Inc. plans to increase pay rates for its hourly employees as part of a program to recruit and retain workers in what the poultry processor called “today’s competitive environment.”

Laurel, Miss.-based Sanderson says hourly line operators who have been employed by the company for at least 90 days will begin receiving at least $15 per hour, effective June 2. The new pay scale for the company’s truck drivers will range between $20.35 and $22.90 per hour, with hourly maintenance employees ultimately receiving between $19.95 and $27.45.

Sanderson – the nation’s third-largest poultry producer – has 15,000 employees across five states and 17 cities, and all workers who meet the 90-day employment requirement will receive the pay increase, a spokesperson confirmed in an email to Meatingplace this morning.

“We recognize that if we are to continue competing for and retaining these exceptional people, our compensation package must also be among the best available,” Sanderson President and Chief Operating Officer Lampkin Butts said in a news release.

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