Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Members of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) elected Elizabeth Holland as chairman, marking only the fourth time in the past 59 years a woman has chaired the organization.

Holland brings a unique skill set to the role given ICSC’s top legislative priority and the upcoming presidential election. The period following the inauguration of a new president is always a critical time in Washington, heralding what is traditionally the most active time in the legislative cycle, according to ICSC.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is saying thanks to representatives in Congress who back retailers on important issues.

Retail mergers have long been subject to scrutiny by the antitrust authorities at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). But perhaps no two retail chains have found themselves more often in the FTC’s cross-hairs than the two largest office supply providers in the United States, Staples and Office Depot.   
     

Going-out-of-business sales will start before Memorial Day at Sports Authority’s remaining 450 stores nationwide.

The moves comes after the retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, was unable to find a buyer.

The nation’s two leading retail associations issued critical statements in response the release of the overtime rule by the U.S. Department of Labor. Under the new regulation, issued by the Labor Department on Wednesday, most salaried workers earning up to $47,476 a year must receive time-and-a-half overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours during a week. The previous cutoff for overtime pay, set back in 2004, was $23,660.

The long-awaited changes to federal overtime rule will be unveiled later today at an event in Columbus, Ohio, headlined by Vice President Joe Biden, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D). The most notable change is a nearly doubling of the current salary threshold from its current $23,360 to $47,476 under which virtually all workers will be eligible for time and a half pay. The dramatic change would make nearly five million currently exempt employees nationwide eligible and will go into effect Dec. 1.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is no fan of Amazon, its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and The Washington Post, which Bezos also owns. Trump told Fox News personality Sean Hannity that "Amazon is getting away with murder, tax-wise. He's using The Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don't tax Amazon like they should be taxed.”

The Department of Labor's (DOL) proposed overtime regulations are one step closer to becoming a reality for the American workforce. On March 14, 2016, the DOL submitted their final version of the regulations to the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, signifying the last step in the regulation becoming law.

The risk associated with a possible security breach claimed the top spot for the first time ever in an annual ranking of the top 25 risk factors by retailers. Security risks shared the top spot with general economic conditions, which have remained tied at the top since 2013.

Folks in the state of South Dakota can no longer buy baubles from popular online jewelry retailer Blue Nile.