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Global News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Hudson's Bay says 8,300 employees will lose jobs, benefits by June 1
More than 8,300 workers will have lost their job and some benefits by the time Hudson's Bay closes all of its stores at the start of June, new court documents filed by the collapsing retailer say. The cut will span the majority of the 9,364 workers at Canada's oldest company and form one of the country's biggest retail layoffs in recent memory. The peek at how Hudson's Bay will part ways with staff came in court filings made late Monday in the company's ongoing creditor protection case. They arrived ahead of June 1, when liquidation sales at its Bay stores and 16 Saks locations will end. The 355-year-old business must vacate all of its properties by the end of June but will spend the weeks after dismantling the stores and letting people who bought furniture and fixtures during the liquidation pick them up. Story continues below advertisement Some 1,017 staff will be on hand to help with tasks after the closures but many won't stick around for longer than two additional weeks. After June 15, about 118 employees will remain with 50 dedicated to the company's retail operations, 58 in its corporate division and 10 at distribution centers. Most corporate employees will depart by mid-August. The filings say workers will not get termination or severance packages but will collect accrued vacation pay based on their last day of work. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Up to 200 former and current employees with insured long-term disability plans will continue to receive payments from Manulife beyond June 15, but the 183 receiving other long-term disability benefits will see their coverage terminated. Also ending is a package of post-retirement health, dental and life insurance benefits which about 2,200 retirees received. While some benefits are abruptly ending, pensions will continue. 4:34 Hudson's Bay finds a buyer for its brand trademarks. Will the sale diminish the brand's consumer appeal? Susan Ursel, a lawyer appointed to represent Bay employees, said in an email that benefits from registered pension plans 'remain in pay and there are no plans to change this.' Story continues below advertisement Court documents previously filed in the case show the company's pension plan had more than 21,000 members as of Dec. 31, including some that were previously employed by Hudson's Bay acquisitions Simpsons, Zellers and Kmart Canada. The documents say the plan was 'sufficiently funded' and 'able to satisfy its liabilities.' When Hudson's Bay returns to court on June 3, it is also expected to ask for an order that will make its employees eligible for the Wage Earner Protection Program. The program run by the federal government is designed to help workers owed wages, vacation, termination or severance pay from employers that filed for bankruptcy or made certain proposals under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. People who qualify under the program can earn up to $8,844.22 this year. 'For some HBC employees and former employees, WEPP may fully compensate them for the termination and severance pay they would have otherwise been entitled to receive from HBC,' Ursel said. Hudson's Bay is also exploring the possibility of setting up a hardship fund that would provide cash to current or former employees facing financial difficulties. Unifor, which represents about 595 Hudson's Bay employees at Ontario stores, as well as workers at the company's fulfilment centres, appears to believe what the workers are being offered is not enough. Story continues below advertisement It planned to host rallies on Tuesday at two Hudson's Bay sites in Toronto and Windsor, Ont., to push the company to 'honour its obligations to employees by protecting wages, pensions, and benefits.' The union said it wants the WEPP cap to be raised, workers to get priority status for amounts they are owed and ways to hold corporate directors liable for unpaid compensation.
Globe and Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
More than 8,300 Hudson's Bay employees will be out of a job by next week, others to lose disability benefits
By the time Hudson's Bay Co. winds up the last of its liquidation sales this coming Sunday, the vast majority of its employees – more than 8,300 people – will have been terminated by the company without severance payments. Canada's oldest retailer will return to court next Tuesday, June 3, to seek an order that will instead trigger employees' entitlement to benefits under the federal government's Wage Earner Protection Program, which is designed to pay severance to workers whose companies are bankrupt or in receivership. Court documents filed on Monday also confirmed that many current and former Hudson's Bay employees who receive long-term disability benefits will lose that support as of June 15. Hudson's Bay filed for protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) on March 7. The maximum eligible amount under the Wage Earner Protection Program is $8,844.22 per employee, according to law firm Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP, which was recently appointed by the court as representative counsel for the HBC employees. In a statement, lawyer Susan Ursel wrote that the move would be 'good news' for current and former employees. Roughly 189 people will soon lose their disability benefits, a group whose payments were covered under an 'administrative services only' (ASO) arrangement, which were paid out of the company's own cash. Last month, The Globe reported on the existence of the ASO plan, and the employees' concerns that their benefits could disappear. Another 100 to 200 current and former employees receive benefits under an insured plan; their benefits will continue to be paid. Hudson's Bay has already cut off other benefits: on April 30, roughly 2,200 retirees lost their health and dental benefits and life insurance policies that were provided by Hudson's Bay. The company and its senior lenders, along with the lawyers for the employees, 'continue to explore the possibility of implementing a hardship fund or structure to provide monetary assistance to current and former employees who are experiencing financial difficulty after the loss of their benefits,' Hudson's Bay chief operating officer and chief financial officer Michael Culhane wrote in an affidavit filed with the court on Monday. Ms. Ursel wrote in her statement that the parties are also exploring 'other avenues of alleviation for affected employees and will advise as developments allow.' Hudson's Bay has been letting store employees go as their locations' closing dates – which vary – have approached. All of the company's 96 stores across Canada will be closed by June 1. At that time, the remaining 1,107 staff will assist with the wind-up of the business, including clearing out furniture and fixtures from the stores, according to court documents. Another approximately 900 employees will lose their jobs on June 15, with the rest remaining to assist with winding up the company's operations. Unifor, the union that represents nearly 600 employees who worked at the company's e-commerce distribution centre as well as stores in Mississauga and Kitchener, Ont., has called on the Bay to honour its severance agreements. On Tuesday, Unifor planned solidarity rallies in Toronto and Windsor, Ont., to push the company to 'prioritize workers' wages, pensions, and benefits during its liquidation process,' according to a news release.
