Liberal Return Policies For Consumers Can Reduce Retail Workers’ Pay

Some of the country’s leading department stores allow returns for up to one year, like Nordstrom, or set no time limit at all, like Macy’s. The commissions paid to sales representatives at Macy’s can be affected by returns made within six months, while returns at Nordstrom affect workers for up to a year. These windows, union leaders say, are too long and fuel a culture of returns that has added instability to the paychecks of retail workers. “Macy’s used to have a 10-day return policy,” said Ken Bordieri, president of Local 1-S, which represents Macy’s workers in New York, one of the largest organized groups of the retailer’s workers in the country. Macy’s eliminated its time limit on returns, which had been six months, in 2010. Read more at The New York Times.