Urban Outfitters asks workers to volunteer for work without pay

Urban Outfitters is facing criticism after it was leaked that the company has asked salaried employees in its Philadelphia headquarters to volunteer to work for free at its fulfillment center in Gap, PA.

In an e-mail obtained and published by Gawker, the company said it was looking for salaried employees to work a six-hour shift on weekends at the facility to "ensure the timely shipment of orders" during what it says will be the "busiest month yet for the center."

Volunteers were asked to wear sneakers and comfortable clothing so they would be ready to "work side by side" with the hourly employees who typically handle fulfillment in Gap. Urban’s salaried employees were told that in addition to keeping customers happy with on-time deliveries, their volunteer hours would also serve as "a team building activity!" The company offered to provide transportation and lunch to its volunteers.

Following the e-mail going public, Urban replied that management had received "a tremendous response" from both salaried and hourly workers offering to volunteer at the fulfillment center. While Urban was pleased to see hourly workers willing to pitch in, it only accepted offers from those on salary, including many in the company’s ranks of senior managers.

Urban Outfitters

Source: workatuo.com

In a commentary on CNBC’s website, Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, writes that the company, which recently reported "record sales" for its second quarter, should be able to pay salaried workers, some of whom earn less than $35,000 a year, for the time they work in the warehouse.

Urban Outfitters is no stranger to controversy. The company has taken heat for inappropriate t-shirts, using angora rabbit fur in its fashions, and for its use of on-call shift scheduling. The company recently reached agreement with New York’s Attorney General to end the practice of on-call scheduling beginning next month.

BrainTrust

"Completely disapprove. This is capitalism run amok and Urban Outfitters should be ashamed. If an employee is being asked to work extra hours he should be paid for that work."

Max Goldberg

President, Max Goldberg & Associates


"This is not appropriate, especially for the lowest-paid salaried workers who are earning about $17 per hour — assuming they are working 40-hour weeks without being asked to put in extra hours already."

Dick Seesel

Principal, Retailing In Focus LLC


"This is simply a bad idea. We have seen salaried personnel working the distribution center during labor strikes. Productivity was very low. Time lost training people. Pick accuracy was poor. Then there are the accidents."

W. Frank Dell II

President, Dellmart & Company


Discussion Questions

Do you approve or disapprove of Urban Outfitters decision to ask salaried workers to volunteer to work at the company’s fulfillment center at no additional pay? Is this type of request common in retailing?

Poll

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MATT POWELL
MATT POWELL
8 years ago

Employers must realize that Millennials expect to be treated well and respected for their work. This policy does neither. Companies that treat their employees well get whatever expense is required back in spades. Companies that try to expense cut their way to profit are doomed to fail. Spending on happy employees is an investment in the future.

Bob Phibbs
Bob Phibbs
8 years ago

Sorry, unacceptable at any level. Adding it as a “team building” opportunity devalues all that entails. Crying poor with record profits is the type of thing driving a Bernie Sanders presidential bid: “give your all for our (senior) bonuses.”

Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg
8 years ago

Completely disapprove. This is capitalism run amok and Urban Outfitters should be ashamed. If an employee is being asked to work extra hours he should be paid for that work. Not only is a salaried worker not being paid, but hourly workers are losing the chance to make more money. Hopefully Urban will see the error of its ways. If not I hope that the State of Pennsylvania will step in and stop the practice.

Frank Riso
Frank Riso
8 years ago

In the retail industry, salaried workers are expected to do more. It may be charity work, it may be trade shows on weekends, or it may be to work longer hours at times when the job has to get done. Typically these workers have other forms of payment such as stock options, restricted stock units and/or an annual bonus. Working in the fulfillment center creates more profit and indirectly pays all of its salaried workers.

So I would approve of this form of request as long as those who elect not to work are not singled out for any reason as they may have other obligations on the weekends.

Paula Rosenblum
Paula Rosenblum
8 years ago

Yes this type of request is historically very common in retail. I never liked it, but truth be told, I learned a lot working in stores and distribution centers.

Clearly the days when this is acceptable are behind us. I blame the redistribution of wealth and stagnant wages more than anything.

I feel bad but not bad all at the same time. But I miss the garment district in New York, too.

Dick Seesel
Dick Seesel
8 years ago

This is not appropriate, especially for the lowest-paid salaried workers who are earning about $17 per hour — assuming they are working 40-hour weeks without being asked to put in extra hours already. In light of proposed regulations to pay salaried workers under $50,000 per year for overtime hours, this is tone-deaf on Urban’s part. Just because “this is how it’s done in retail” doesn’t make it right — and retailers wonder why Millennials want to find other careers.

Roger Saunders
Roger Saunders
8 years ago

First things First, and it’s an easy one — obey the labor laws — Federal, State or Municipality.

On the opinion side: Great to see organizations of any kind rally the troops to work closely together on projects that need an “all-hands” support for times like grand openings, new merchandising lines or holiday seasons. These requests should be done within limits.

Hourly employees who are asked to participate should be paid. Salaried employees should be encouraged as a support and learning experience about their company.

Those salaried employees should be offered more than a meal — perhaps an added day off during a slower time of the year or an additional vacation day(s) for their support.

Tony Orlando
Tony Orlando
8 years ago

Really! If this was known ahead of time when these salaried employees were hired, then fine. If this idea was sprung on them then it is going to create problems, as resentment for the top echelon will grow. I had this happen to me in the very early ’90s, as I ended up putting in an extra 10 to 15 hours of “volunteer” work opening new stores and was not compensated anything extra for it as I was salaried. I did it because working long hours was something I always did, but most of the generation today would probably not buy into this, and it should be spelled out ahead of time if in fact this is going to be part of their jobs. Pay them for their time and make them accountable for results, in any new venture.

W. Frank Dell II, CMC
W. Frank Dell II, CMC
8 years ago

This is simply a bad idea. We have seen salaried personnel working the distribution center during labor strikes. Productivity was very low. Time lost training people. Pick accuracy was poor. Then there are the accidents. Not the least is watching people trying to run a forklift without training or a license. This is a rare request due to the above.

Gene Detroyer
Gene Detroyer
8 years ago

The only problem I have with this is the “volunteer” part: … and if you don’t?

Separate from that, I think it is a great idea to get exempts from the office into the warehouse to work side-by-side with the people who are going to make or break the holiday season.

As a manager, and even a vice president, I have had several situations where I and others put in extra hours to work with hourly workers too because of a crunch on time. Sometimes it meant late nights. Sometimes it meant whole weekends. I found it fulfilling and the relationships built with the hourly workers was invaluable.

Ian Percy
Ian Percy
8 years ago

I think Phibbs has it right … except for the Bernie Sanders part.

Look — if there’s a problem that’s going to hurt the company, give the problem to those who can fix it. When the “solution” is a directive from above it’s not likely to add the hoped-for energy or “esprit de corps.” After all, “When people plan the battle, they don’t battle the plan.”

It is odd, if there was a team-building intention of people “standing side-by-side,” that hourly employees weren’t permitted to join in. No one in Urban Outfitters seems to understand change processes very well. Saying “come work for free and our customers will be happy and you’ll feel like a team!” (exclamation mark theirs) is HR malpractice. Never mind what your family says while you’re gone all weekend working for free: a little family-building in the holiday season might be appropriate.

There are ways to handle situations like this that really do bring people together — this isn’t one of them. I’d like to know how many execs earning over $150,000 were willingly standing side-by-side with their $35,000 colleagues for six hours every weekend.

David Livingston
David Livingston
8 years ago

It’s more common than you might think. It’s really no different that having salaried managers in the stores work longer hours during the holidays. What’s the difference? Except when I worked in the stores, we were required to work extra hours with no pay. Often when I was a salaried analyst for larger retailers, I would come in on Saturdays and Sundays to complete a project with no extra pay. It scores points with higher-up management. Consider it a down payment on job security.

Ron Margulis
Ron Margulis
8 years ago

My daughter worked at Urban Outfitters last summer and she got a lot out of the experience. She’s a fashion major at Parsons and it opened her eyes to the retailing end of that business, reinforcing her decision to stay at the design end. She did have several “on-call” days that limited her ability to work elsewhere, but she and her co-workers seemed okay with that. I actually had a bigger issue with the fact that a good chunk of her pay went right back to Urban Outfitters as clothes purchases.

I’m more interested in any blowback for salaried workers who don’t participate in the effort. What happens to the analyst who has a wedding that day or the merchandiser who’s on vacation? Will their bosses look negatively on their not volunteering?

Jack Pansegrau
Jack Pansegrau
8 years ago

Perhaps I missed it, but why is it Urban Outfitters isn’t simply hiring more workers — either temp or permanent? I understand surges in demand for retailers — so either hire more workers, pay overtime or hire temps. I’m strongly against this practice for the reasons stated above.

Ed Rosenbaum
Ed Rosenbaum
8 years ago

Confused? Yes I am. On one hand I see this as a good team building effort. But on the other hand, what is the true motive behind this? It can’t be as simple as “bring your executive to work day.” Truly, it is a labor saving tool because orders will be shipped timely with no labor dollars expended except for those already on an hourly basis.

Gordon Arnold
Gordon Arnold
8 years ago

It may be a good investment in time to search for a company that can afford to pay for the work they need done. There is nothing positive about this for the company or the employees.

Li McClelland
Li McClelland
8 years ago

“I’d like to know how many execs earning over $150,000 were willingly standing side-by-side with their $35,000 colleagues for six hours every weekend.”

Stop Ian! You’re ruining the image that there are no decent paying jobs in retail. 🙂

Lee Kent
Lee Kent
8 years ago

Oh the times they are a changin’…. Back in the day, when I worked retail as a salaried employee, I was required—not asked to volunteer—to take inventory however many times a year we did it. This meant working after an already long day and until the job was done. The more senior you were, the more areas you were responsible for. I remember mad dashes to the Atlanta airport trying to make cut-off time when the sun was just coming up. Anyone else remember that?

We were also asked to visit our new stores opening in our area and to make sure they seemed to be operating smoothly from our perspective. At Home Depot, we even had to pick a “home” store and attend their in-store meetings on a regular basis. All on our time.

Just think about about all the long hours you may have to put in to make deadlines in your job? Again, on your time. Everyone does that and you know it.

Now, asking folks to simply work in the fulfillment center to offset expense, I suppose I could balk at that. But is that what they are really doing? They have said that they are targeting higher level employees. Why would they do that if there isn’t some thinking around learning and getting to know what the customers needs and expectations are?

My verdict is out on this one. And that’s my 2 cents.

Jerome Schindler
Jerome Schindler
8 years ago

I disapprove and wonder if the senior, senior management folks (those making north of $100,000 a year) volunteered.

vic gallese
vic gallese
8 years ago

Easy target to pile onto Urban Outfitters at this time. This is NOT an uncommon practice. Some retailers even do this annually to help non supply chain personnel understand their impact on moving merchandise.

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
8 years ago

I’m curious if this is even legal: “exempt” is a status that must meet several standards with regard to “involve(ing) the exercise of discretion and judgment,” and I’m not sure how having exempts perform non-exempt duties would stand up. It probably would depend on how much of it there was. But no doubts as to the PR side: a big angry emoji on this one…guess if you’re used to creating controversy, you might as well go for broke.

Donna Brockway
Donna Brockway
8 years ago

No, I do not approve of this abuse to full time workers, and it should be against the law to ask people to work hours outside of their regular schedule. This is a ruse for Urban Outfitters to save money on work they should be paying for. Shame on them.

Tim Moerke
Tim Moerke
8 years ago

Extra work or not, most fulfillment centers (especially high-volume, highly automated ones) are really no place for people that aren’t familiar with their operating and safety procedures. Not only do you risk work being done incorrectly, you also risk people getting injured due to a lack of familiarity or caution. I’m sure the people running this facility would rather have additional trained (and paid) help than a bunch of people who don’t know what they’re doing, particularly when things are already busy and hectic.

Kim Stuart
Kim Stuart
8 years ago

No idea whether or not it’s common, but if they have employees who are willing to do it, then I’d say there’s something in their culture that fosters that kind of atmosphere. They must be doing something right.