Urban Outfitters sparked a few amount of head scratching when an internal e-mail surfaced in which the company asked salaried employees to work for free at a new fulfillment center. Can’t have your auto running out of gas while you’re on the way to work for free, now can we? Urban Outfitters also tends to be the bull in the proverbial china shop when it comes to trampling people’s cultural or political sensitivities, HuffPost Business notes.
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Urban Outfitters’ new fulfillment center cost $106 million to build, is 21 acres in size and has over 13,000 solar panels on the roof, Lancaster Online reported.
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. The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, has been called out for its share of labor abuses and shady employment practices, while other chains have been quick to throw their employees under the bus when tough times hit. The company is agreeing to provide workers with their schedules at least one week prior to the start of the workweek, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
In return for their sacrificed weekends, employees are told that they will receive lunch and transportation, if necessary.
Bath & Body Works, managed by the exact mum or dad enterprise as Victoria’s Secret, followed up this… The company sought help for next weekend, the one after, and October 31. URBN calls this a “team-building activity”.
The retailer added that many of its hourly workers also wanted to pitch in, but that the company was forced to decline ‘in order to ensure full compliance with all applicable labor laws and regulations’. It also said: “The dedication and commitment of URBN employees are second to none, and their response to this request is a testament to their solidarity and continued success”. Unfortunately, for many employees, retail does not pay as well as manufacturing, and decent benefits such as health care and sick pay are often lacking. But what this email shows is a creative way to bully employees into giving up their weekends, not to mention that URBN employed an obnoxious tactic when the fact is that plenty of people would be willing to work on Saturdays – just not for free.
After releasing Navajo-themed clothes and accessories in 2011, Urban Outfitters was slapped by a lawsuit from the Navajo Nation for using its name on products.
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This opinion article was written by an independent writer.
