Wal-Mart part-timers to get easier access to health care

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday it will relax eligibility requirements for part-time employees who want health insurance, allowing an additional 150,000 workers to gain coverage if they choose.

Until now, the employees have had to work for Wal-Mart for two years to qualify for employer-sponsored insurance. Beginning next month, they will have to work at the company for one year. The coverage also will extend to their children.

The changes were announced by one of the company’s vice presidents, Susan Chambers, at a meeting of business and health care executives.

Wal-Mart has been strongly criticized by unions and others for providing what they describe as inadequate health benefits. However, Chambers said Wal-Mart’s health insurance costs have risen at a rate of 19 percent annually over the past three years.

•Business software provider Oracle Corp. is considering plans to offer its own version of the Linux operating system and has studied an acquisition of Novell Inc., the open-source operating system’s No. 2 distributor, according to a newspaper report Monday.

Novell shares rose 2.3 percent in Monday trading, while rival Red Hat Inc. fell 6.7 percent.

Oracle sells databases and other business applications, and by offering a version of the Linux operating system, it would be able to provide customers with a more complete suite of software. Rivals such as Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp. commonly tout the benefits of these packages, called “stacks.”

•Russell Corp., which makes sweat shirts, workout clothes and sporting goods, on Monday said it agreed to be acquired by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for nearly $600 million.

The deal is worth about $597.2 million, or $18 per share, based on Russell’s roughly 33.2 million shares outstanding. Russell shares jumped $4.72, or 35.5 percent, to $18.02 in aftermarket electronic trading, after closing down 25 cents to $13.30 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Atlanta-based Russell — which makes sportswear under the Jerzees, Spalding and Russell Athletic brands — in February posted a 15 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings. However, the company forecast a loss for the first quarter due to restructuring charges.