While Sodexo executives prepare to be feted by Working Mother magazine and Corporate Voices for Working Families as one of the "Top Companies for Hourly Workers" today in Washington, D.C, the food service giant pays its workers so little that many employees who work full-time would still qualify for food stamps.

According to SEIU's analysis, many Sodexo could qualify for the three largest and most important federal anti-hunger programs--the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP--formerly known as food stamps); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (commonly called WIC); and the National School Lunch Program--based on information about Sodexo wage rates obtained by the Union.

Despite making more than a billion dollars profit in 2009, and being the 22nd largest employer in the world, Sodexo pays its workers in the United States as little as $7.50 an hour and does not offer affordable health care options to its food service and similar employees. In fact, two-thirds of non-managerial Sodexo employees in the United States are not covered by health insurance offered by the company.

"As a mother of three kids, I'm having a really hard time making ends meet on Sodexo's wages. I make $11 an hour and take home up to $330 a week--but if I have to miss one or two days because I or my kids get sick my paycheck can be as little as $150," commented Zarassa Harris, a Sodexo Custodian in New Orleans, "I've been on food stamps for over a year now, but the food stamps don't cover all the food I need to feed my growing kids. I live in a low income housing area. My rent is $300 a month, but my light and water bill is so expensive--around $400 more a month."

Is Sodexo's record of treating hourly workers worthy of an award?

• Sodexo employees who work full-time, year-round making $8.27 per hour earn just $17,202 per year, far below the poverty line for a family of four. Even an employee who earns $10.54 an hour fails to climb above the poverty line for a family of four, making just $21,923 per year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2009 poverty guidelines, which are used as the basis for determining eligibility for many public anti-poverty programs.
• Sodexo employees working year-round making $8.27 per hour would have to work 86 hours a week--more than two full-time jobs--just to afford an apartment. A Sodexo worker making $10.54 per hour would still have to work 68 hours per week to afford that apartment, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) "housing wage." NLIHC defines the housing wage as "the amount of money a household must earn in order to afford a rental unit at a range of sizes (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms) at the area's Fair Market Rent (FMR), based on the generally accepted affordability standard of paying no more than 30 percent of income for housing costs."
• Many Sodexo employees work closer to 38 weeks per year because of unpaid summer and holiday breaks, which also have a tremendous impact on income. Workers making $8.27 per hour, have an annual income closer to $12,500 per year if they don't work summers and holidays. Annual earnings aren't much better for a worker making $10.54 per hour: just over $16,000 per year.