American Fashion Groups Such As Ralph Lauren And A&F Have Implemented Pay Cuts And Pay Breaks.

Recently, a number of fashion and luxury goods groups in the United States have announced the implementation of employees' pay leave and corporate pay reduction system in order to cope with the severe challenges posed by the new crown virus epidemic.

　　 Capri

The US luxury goods group Capri Holdings Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Capri") said on Monday that 7000 employees of North American stores in the North American region will be paid off from April 11th, and the closed stores are expected to be reopened after June 1st.

Last month, "gorgeous ambition" reported that Capri will close its brand Versace (Versace), Michael Kors (Mike Cross) and Jimmy Choo (Zhou Yangjie) in a number of outlets in Europe and America until April 10th. The company said it would continue to pay wages during this period, and consumers everywhere could still shop on the official website of the brand.

By the end of 2019, Capri had a total of 17 thousand and 800 employees. The company said that employees who had no pay leave were eligible for unemployment insurance and other government relief programs. The company plans to allow more workers to return to work in the second half of this fiscal year, but the company expects that the labor force will be reduced after the outbreak.

Capri plans to reduce the board's cash remuneration by 50% this year. Many executives of Group CEO John Idol, chief creative officer of its major brands, Michael Kors, Donatella Versace and Sandra Choi said they would also give up the salary in the 2021 fiscal year. In addition, the company also seeks to reduce the overall remuneration at all levels by around 20%, so as to ensure the company's cash flow.

As of April 1st, Capri had about $900 million in cash and cash equivalents, and the company also withdrew 300 million US dollars of available funds in revolving credit.

Capri group also issued a series of measures to deal with the epidemic, as follows:

Restructured company's organizational structure is expected to reduce staff in the future to save extra wage expenses, and apply for the national wage subsidy scheme in Europe to reduce the company's wage expenditure.

Substantially reduce capital expenditure and minimize operating costs, including reducing marketing expenses, delaying or abolish store opening, and reducing third party services.

With the closure of stores in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the company will significantly reduce the scale of purchase and adjust its inventory level.

Efforts should be made to reduce the relevant payables or extend the payment period, while suspending the stock repurchase program, so as to maintain the company's cash flow and financial strength.

John Idol, chairman and chief executive of Capri, said: "the impact of the new coronavirus is unpredictable and changing rapidly, which is very challenging for the company. We are working hard to take measures to protect the safety of our employees and ensure the company's financial stability."

John Idol also said, "we have solid cooperation with suppliers, and the liquidity of our company is also very good. We believe that Capri can continue to operate in this unprecedented situation."

On Monday, Capri group's share price rose by about 14.5%. As of April 6th, Capri's share price was $10.74 per share, down about 71.8% from December 31, 2019.

　 Ralph Lauren

The US luxury goods group Ralph Lauren Corp (Ralph Lauren, hereinafter referred to as "Ralph Lauren") closed its stores in North America in mid March, and continued to pay wages to the affected store employees. Similarly, retailers in other areas of the company, such as parts of Europe, will receive similar compensation.

Recently, Ralph Lauren announced that, after April 11th, all pay staff and staff members of the retail sector will be given a pay leave system. The employees can continue to enjoy regular benefits and receive employee benefits.

Ralph Lauren said it would redistribute its employees to other business areas to support the production of medical supplies. Previously, the company expressed the hope that it could cooperate with the US manufacturing partners to produce 250 thousand masks and 25 thousand protective clothing to fight the epidemic.

Ralph Lauren, executive director and chief creative officer of Ralph Lauren, agreed to give up the salary in the 2021 fiscal year and all the bonuses in the 2020 fiscal year. The company's chief executive and chief executive, Patrice Louvet, also agreed to reduce the salary by 50%.

In addition, the salaries of the other 140 members of the executive level and the global leadership team will also be reduced by 20%, and the board of directors will give up the cash remuneration in the first quarter of fiscal 2021.

Ralph Lauren said that at present, the company has reached a consensus with suppliers, promising to pay for manufactured products and products already put into production. The company will work with government, non-governmental organizations and peer companies in the future to provide workers with stable wage sources.

Ralph Lauren's distribution center has been temporarily shut down due to the outbreak, which has improved health and restarted operations.

Previously, Ralph Lauren has donated 10 million US dollars through the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation to fight against the new crown epidemic, which mainly provides financial support to all employees of the company under special circumstances such as medical care, pension or childcare.

　 Abercrombie & Fitch

The US youth fashion group Abercrombie & Fitch (abbegon Bi & Fitch, hereinafter referred to as "A&F") said on Monday that the group decided to take a pay vacation for retail stores in these regions because of the closure of its stores in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

A&F group said it will continue to provide benefits for employees affected by the epidemic and pay 100% of its health insurance costs. It is reported that about 15% of the staff of A&F group will be affected by the temporary shortening of working hours and the corresponding reduction in salaries.

Members of the leadership of the vice president level above the company, including all the top executives and CEO Fran Horowitz, will be temporarily reduced by 10%-33%. The cash reserve of the board will also be reduced by 50%.

The A&F group will take further steps to extract the $210 million of available funds in the revolving credit arrangement while extracting excess funds from the Rabbi Trust and suspending stock buybacks.

Note: Rabbi Trust is a trust that provides funds to creditors and employees of enterprises and other entities when acquiring another enterprise, mainly providing security for employees.

Fran Horowitz, chief executive of A&F, said in April 2nd that the group is actively taking additional measures to deal with the epidemic. It is currently cooperating with local authorities and following local guidelines for epidemic prevention. In addition, the company has temporarily closed all stores outside the Asia Pacific region since March 15th.

Fran Horowitz also said that at present, the group has suspended international and domestic travel to ensure staff safety, and promoted staff to work at home to reduce the possibility of epidemic transmission, and to maximize the cleanliness of the distribution center to ensure product safety.

Last month, A&F announced the key financial data for the 2019 and fourth quarter of fiscal year third, which achieved sales growth for third consecutive years. Net sales in the fourth quarter increased by 3% over the same period last year. Its newly opened small stores attracted more customers to buy jeans and women's clothing during the holiday season.

The retail industry in the United States was hit by the epidemic. The Macy s Inc and Neiman Marcus of luxury department store last month announced the closure of all the stores. The Gap group of American clothing group (Gap) also announced the extension of the closing time. Most of their employees will be laid off temporarily. Messi,