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Hagan’s bill seeks to triple holiday retail pay
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Retailers who choose to open early for Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving would have to pay their employees triple their normal rate under legislation proposed by two Democratic state lawmakers.
Response by local businesses, however, is mixed.
State Reps. Bob Hagan of Youngstown, D-58th, and Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, want to counter retailers’ decisions to open on a holiday, taking workers away from their families in the process.
“The overall goal of HB 360 is to draw attention the plight of low-wage workers who are forced to forgo their holiday in the name of massive profits for the retail industry,” Hagan said. “Hopefully retail stores will carefully consider the decision to open on Thanksgiving.”
Foley added, “I find the idea of taking people away from their loved ones abhorrent.”
Foley commented Wednes- day before the House’s Commerce, Labor and Technology Committee, where the legislation had its first hearing.
HB 360 would require retailers to pay employees at triple their regular wage rate for time worked Thanksgiving.
The increased rate also would apply to hours worked on Friday “if the retail establishment is open earlier than it normally would be open on a Friday,” according to an analysis by the state’s Legislative Service Commission.
Retailers also would be prohibited from penalizing employees who refuse to work on Thanksgiving.
The bill is not supported by Republicans in the chamber and is not expected to move this session.
“Even if this hypothetical bill would take effect it is hard to project what it would have in practice,” said Joe Bell, director of corporate communications for Cafaro Co., which operates the Eastwood Mall.
The Eastwood Mall will open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving because of popular demand from many of its retailers. The early openings are usually driven by the national retailers.
“They see what their competitor down the block is doing and they don’t want to be upstaged, and they want to cater to the consuming public,” Bell said.
Bell did not want to speculate on how the bill would impact businesses, but he did say “whenever you start tinkering with what employers want to do it has adverse effects.”
Tom Gober, owner of Gracylane in the Eastwood and Southern Park malls, said, “I would like to see retail stay closed on the holidays. We only take three days off a year: Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. Three days out of 365 is not asking too much.”
Shelley Genova, owner of La Ti Da Boutique in Poland, doesn’t open her store on Thanksgiving and doesn’t even like opening for a few Sundays before Christmas.
She doesn’t think this bill would make a difference to some retailers choosing to open on Thanksgiving.
“I do feel sorry for those who have to work those crazy hours,” she said. “I will never open on Thanksgiving.”
Shandra Tollefson, a spokeswoman for national chain store Best Buy, declined to comment on the matter but said in a statement: “All Best Buy affected hourly store employees will, of course, receive holiday pay this year.”
Foley and Hagan listed more than 20 national retailers who plan to open on Thanksgiving this year.
“Employees are being asked to rise before the sun, to head to work on a national holiday to deal with long lines and irritated customers,” Hagan said. “The Thanksgiving holiday has devolved in to a mess of consumerism and hollow capitalism, which places corporate desire to accumulate profit over traditional morals and family values.”
Contributors: staff writers Kalea Hall, Brandon Klei