Does walmart offer dental insurance for part time employees?
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Executive summary
Walmart does offer a company-sponsored dental insurance plan to associates, and that plan is administered by Delta Dental with defined deductibles and annual maximums [1]; Walmart’s corporate benefits materials and its 2026 Associate Benefits Book describe dental as part of the Associates’ Health and Welfare Plan available to associates [2] [3]. The catch is eligibility: Walmart explicitly phrases access as “full‑time and eligible part‑time associates” and publishes separate guidance for part‑time and temporary hires, but the publicly provided documents in this reporting do not state a single universal hour threshold for every part‑time role, so precise eligibility depends on the associate’s status and local plan rules [3] [4].
1. What Walmart’s official materials actually say about dental coverage
Walmart’s benefits ecosystem groups medical, dental and vision under its Associates’ Health and Welfare Plan and refers readers to the 2026 Associate Benefits Book and the employer benefits site for details, which present dental coverage as an offered benefit rather than a perk restricted to only full‑time staff [2] [3]; the dedicated dental plan page confirms the plan is administered by Delta Dental, lists an annual deductible ($75 per person, $225 family) and an annual maximum benefit ($2,500 per covered person), and explains claim procedures and network options [1].
2. “Eligible part‑time” is the operative phrase — and it matters
Walmart’s corporate benefits landing page uses the phrase “full‑time and eligible part‑time associates” when describing access to core benefits like medical (and by extension dental as part of the benefit package), which signals that not every part‑time worker is automatically eligible and that eligibility criteria or categories apply [3]; Walmart also maintains a section specifically about when part‑time and temporary associates begin benefits, indicating there are administrative rules and waiting periods that affect eligibility in practice [4].
3. Plan mechanics and costs — what part‑time associates who qualify should expect
The dental plan page outlines the plan design that qualifying associates enroll in: Delta Dental networks are used, routine and major care are covered subject to a modest annual deductible and a $2,500 annual cap per person, and orthodontia assistance and other specifics are governed by enrollment rules and waiting periods referenced in the benefits book [1] [2]. Walmart’s enrollment FAQ also highlights that dental premiums are subject to change — for 2026 the company warned associates their cost for dental coverage would increase — which matters to part‑time associates balancing premium share and take‑home pay [5].
4. Common interpretations, third‑party reports, and the limits of available reporting
Independent career sites and employer review platforms repeatedly report that Walmart offers dental insurance and note Delta Dental administration, but those are employee‑reported summaries rather than official plan documents and sometimes assert eligibility thresholds (for example, a 30‑hours/week rule) that are not corroborated by the Walmart materials provided here [6] [7] [8] [9]. The company’s own documents use “eligible part‑time” and maintain separate part‑time/temporary enrollment pages, so while broad statements that “Walmart offers dental to part‑time employees” are supported by corporate sources, precise eligibility mechanics (how many hours, which roles, waiting periods) cannot be conclusively extracted from the supplied excerpts alone [3] [4].
5. Bottom line and practical next steps for associates
The factual bottom line is that Walmart does offer dental insurance as part of its associate benefits and that eligible part‑time associates can enroll, with plan details and costs spelled out in the Delta Dental‑administered plan documents and in Walmart’s 2026 benefits materials [1] [2]; however, because eligibility for part‑time workers is conditional and the reporting here does not contain a single, definitive hour‑threshold or universal rule applicable to every part‑time role, associates should consult the 2026 Associate Benefits Book, their store People Services, or the Walmart benefits portal for the specific eligibility and enrollment rules that apply to their role and location [2] [4].