Wal-Mart says it told a small number of stores to schedule workers for fewer hours

Wal-Mart says it is asking some stores to schedule workers for fewer hours, although it says the directive is only being given to stores that are assigning more hours than they were expected to.

The world's largest retailer said the instructions apply only to a small number of its 4,500 U.S. locations that are scheduling workers for more hours than expected.

Wal-Mart said Monday it spoke to store managers about controlling costs earlier this month at a holiday-season planning meeting. Managers who have been scheduling workers for too many hours were reminded to schedule closer to their allotted hours.

A spokeswoman with United Food & Commercial Workers International Union says Wal-Mart is moving to "pad its bottom line" at the expense of its employees.