California Apparel News

Manufacturers and retailers assist employees on military leave

The men and women of the U.S. military are beginning to return home from their tours of duty in Iraq. Several apparel manufacturers and retailers are making sure that when they arrive, they will have jobs waiting for them.

Some are offering differential pay packages to ensure soldiers are financially secure. Others are keeping jobs open so reservists can pick up where they left off when they return home.

“Retail companies across the country support the efforts of our troops overseas and on the home front,” said Daniel Butler, vice president of retail operations at the National Retail Federation.

Those companies include Nike, Kmart Corp., Gap Inc., Kellwood Co. and Levi Strauss & Co., as well as several textile companies located around military bases in North Carolina.

At a recent global employee conference, Phil Marineau, chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co., took a moment to recognize seven company employees currently on military leave.

The San Francisco–based denim giant, which employs approximately 5,000 workers in the United States alone, supplements the salaries of its employees who are called for up to six months of military service. The salary supplement equals the difference between the employees’ military pay rates and their normal pay rates. Also, the company extends employee health benefits up to six months, as long as employees continue to pay their portions of the premiums. The company will review this policy at six-month intervals to assess the need for additional extensions.

“It hits closer to home when our coworkers are out there serving our country,” said Elizabeth Owen, a Levi’s spokeswoman.

At San Francisco–based Gap Inc., spokeswoman Claudia Hawkins said a small number of employees are currently on military leave, although she did not specify how many are serving for reasons of personnel confidentiality.

Those on leave get supplementary military pay as a benefit of Gap’s “Military Service Leave of Absence” rule, which the company revised to provide increased benefits after Sept. 11. The policy allows employees to take time off work for active duty in the military services under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Hawkins said.

At Kellwood Co., 10 of its 28,000 employees are on active duty in the Persian Gulf, said Karina Taylor, the company’s director of corporate communications.

The New York–based company guarantees and holds jobs for its employees on military leave. The company does not compensate employee wages, but employee benefits remain active while workers are serving, Taylor said. The company also allows employees to take additional time off work to be with their families.

“We will do everything we can to accommodate our employees who are serving overseas,” Taylor said.

Nike is known for recognizing the achievements of individuals and for promoting its “Just Do it” motto. That’s why the Beaverton, Ore.–based athletic-apparel and footwear company recently profiled several employees on military leave in an article for the company’s internal Web site. The article described the employees’ jobs with Nike and the roles they play as reservists.

“It’s part of an ongoing series of profiles about employees and what they do beyond their jobs at Nike,” said Nike spokeswoman Jill Zanger.

Nike has 13 employees on active military duty. The company said it will continue to protect its workers’ jobs for the lengths of their military leaves or up to five years. Additionally, Nike subsidizes employee TrekCredits—monies the company gives its employees to help pay for their cafeteria-benefits options—for the duration of their time spent overseas. Employees also accrue paid time off for their first six months of military service, according to Zanger.

Employees on military leave can make up any missed contributions to their 401(k) plans, and Nike will make up any missed profitsharing contributions upon their returns. Employees and their families can continue to receive health benefits. Employees can also continue their personal contributions to reimbursement or educational accounts once they resume their work with the company.

Kmart Corp. spokeswoman Maria Searig said the Troy, Mich.–based company offers a number of benefits to its 168 employees on military leave.

The company, which just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, offers employees differential salaries to make up the disparities between their military pay rates and their normal pay rates. This type of benefit is concurrent with the lengths of time employees are on military leave, Searig said.

“We will continue to pay that for as long as it is required or needed during the current activities going on in Iraq,” she said.

Kmart offers similar benefits to employees and family members of employees who were affected by Sept. 11.

Although some East Coast textile mills are located close to military bases, few said they have employees on military leave.

Greensboro, N.C.–based textile mills Burlington Industries, Cone Mills and Guilford Mills are just a few operations located a short distance from military bases such as Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station.

Cone Mills said four of its 3,179 employees are on militar y leave. Guilford Mills, which has 3,400 employees worldwide, said none of its associates has been called for active duty.