Human Resources

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would delay by six months the effective start date of the Department of Labor's (DOL's) new overtime regulations.   The new rule will require employers to pay overtime to salaried workers earning less than $47,500 a year, double the current threshold of $23,660.      Five House Democrats joined 241 Republicans to support moving the rule's effective date from Dec. 1 to June 1.   

In line with Staples, more retailers are choosing to turkey over Thanksgiving Day sales.    Retailers across a variety of categories — from club stores and discount chains to department stores — are letting “their employees enjoy the holiday with their families instead of staffing the cash registers” on Thanksgiving, according to a story in the Sun Herald.  

Who says you can’t go home again?   Certainly not Gap Inc., which appointed Jamie Gersch as the senior VP, chief marketing officer of its Old Navy banner, reported adage.com. She replaces Ivan Wicksteed, who left the company in March. She will come aboard at the end of October.  

There is a leadership change underway at Stein Mart.   Dawn Robertson resigned from her position of CEO and company direc-tor. D. Hunt Hawkins, the chain’s president and COO, has been named interim CEO.  

In response to public concern that wages at the low end of the pay scale were slow to rise, particularly for store managers and assistant store managers, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) updated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations defining which white collar workers must be paid overtime pay.     The DOL estimates that more than 4 million employees nationwide who are not currently paid overtime will now have to be paid overtime, and the majority of those will be employees of retail stores and restaurants. 

American Eagle continues to strengthen its management team to further drive its growth.   Bob Madore has been appointed executive VP and CFO, starting Oct. 28. In his new role, Madore will oversee all aspects of finance, merchandise planning and allocation, and investor relations. He will report to American Eagle’s CEO Jay Schottenstein.  

Gilbert Bankston, who’s managed shopping centers for both Simon Properties and General Growth Properties joined Levin Management as VP of property management.   Ten of his 13 years in commercial property management were spent at GGP, where Bankston rose to senior general manager with a focus on maximizing net operating income. At Levin, he is charged with delivering best-in-class service in property management and maintaining positive tenant-landlord relationships.  

The key to success is customer satisfaction. By arming itself with a fleet of “great personnel,” The Container Store is always ready to deliver top-notch store-level service. This message was delivered during “Doing Well by Doing Good — How to Build Trust and Win the Modern Customer,” a topic discussed yesterday at “Retail’s Digital Summit 2016.” The event, sponsored by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, was held in Dallas.