Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters thinks so because on Tuesday it sent out an email, leaked to Gawker, that asked its salaried employees to work for free over the weekend at its Lancaster County warehouse.
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While any move towards predictable scheduling counts as progress, the decision by Urban Outfitters underscores how hard it is to implement fair workweek policies for the nation’s part-time, low-wage workforce.
So, while many of us fret over what retailers such as H&M are doing, or not doing, within their supply chains, there is also plenty of nefarious behavior within the retail industry that should cause concern here at home.
They’re selling it as a “team-building activity”. Hourly workers apparently were not invited to volunteer their time to help their company during one of the busiest months of the year.
Urban Outfitters has also agreed to give employees their schedules at least one week before their work week starts. Please do not show up without signing up.
Urban Outfitters is no stranger to provoking controversy. (The retailer apologized for the latter.) That’s just the short list of egregious apparel.
The email advises “volunteers” to wear sneakers and comfortable clothing, and says that lunch will be provided during the six-hour shifts.
And as it turns out, this isn’t so controversial after all – the “team-building” component is strong.
After successfully opening our new fulfillment center in June, we asked salaried employees at our home office to volunteer for shifts that would help support the new center through a busy month of October.
Urban Outfitters told CNBC it “received a tremendous response” from employees.
Due to the upcoming peak holiday shopping season, the retailer is hoping that its workers will volunteer to work more on the weekends without getting paid. “Their response to this request is a testament to their solidarity and continued success”, was the closing to this statement, an ironic choice of words in case anyone remembers what happened in early 1980s Poland.
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This post has been updated.
