Hudson’s Bay ends employee commissions on cosmetics, big-ticket items: Unifor

Pedestrians pass the Hudson's Bay store in downtown Calgary, Alta., Thursday, March 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

TORONTO — Canada’s largest private sector union says Hudson’s Bay has ended commission pay for workers as the company liquidates most of its stores.

Unifor said Tuesday that its members were informed that commissions were eliminated as of April 20 for staff working in cosmetics departments and those who earn extra cash on sales of big-ticket items such as appliances.

The union said the department store chain that holds the title of Canada’s oldest company told workers who are eligible for commission that they will be shifted to a base salary only.

“This is a blatant violation of our members’ collective agreements and a cruel blow especially since managers have been rewarded with bonuses,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a news release.

“We’re talking about workers who’ve spent years working for this company, and now they’re being denied income they’ve rightfully earned and are entitled to.”

Hudson’s Bay spokesperson Tiffany Bourre confirmed in an email that the company is “adjusting to wage-based compensation for its associates going forward” and framed it as a result of the restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Two Unifor locals represent about 595 HBC employees at Ontario stores in Windsor, Kitchener, and Toronto, as well as workers at the company’s fulfilment centre in Scarborough.

The loss of commissions would be the latest hit workers have taken as their jobs hang in the balance with Hudson’s Bay winding down all but six of the stores it and its sister Saks companies run as its creditor protection case continues.

The company, which had 9,364 when it filed for creditor protection last month, issued termination letters to 179 staff in corporate roles on April 2, court documents filed last week said. Another 93 workers in similar jobs got letters on April 8 and documents said the company anticipates “further headcount reductions as a result of store closures over the coming weeks.”

The filings note that terminated staff will be paid accrued vacation but not severance.

The company is exploring setting up a “hardship fund” that would “provide monetary assistance to current and former employees who are experiencing financial difficulty after the loss of their benefits,” document say.

All but six Hudson’s Bay stores are due to complete liquidation sales by June 15 with the company vacating properties by June 30.

By Sept. 30, a key employee retention plan approved by the court last month, will see 121 staff -- 94 store managers, 10 workers in senior management roles and 17 in other “non-store” jobs -- receive a collective $3 million.

Such payments, which unions like Unifor have been framing as “bonuses,” are common in creditor protection proceedings because they’re believed to help retain staff, so companies don’t fold for lack of leadership during a liquidation.

Hudson’s Bay has been working to find a buyer or investor to help save what’s left its business and is expected to return to court this week to seek permission to run an auction for its 1,700 pieces of art and more than 2,700 artifacts.

At that hearing it also plans to ask the court to appoint Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP to represent current and former employees. The firm was involved in past creditor protection proceedings involving Sears Canada, Nordstrom Canada, Air Canada, Silicon Valley Bank’s Canadian branch and Essar Steel Algoma.

By Tara Deschamps

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2025.