She was hired on the spot. "I was so excited," Mitchell said in an interview. "I had a great interest in fashion and thought where else to go than the Bay." Two decades later, the retail veteran said she was in shock when the company unilaterally altered the terms of her employment, changing her permanent part-time status to that of an "auxiliary associate." Mitchell, who had been on a temporary layoff since April 2020, last month received a letter from HBC outlining the status change. It not only meant Mitchell would go from a guaranteed 30-hour work week to an arbitrary range of zero to 27 hours a week, she would also lose her health and dental benefits, five-weeks vacation and potentially her pension entitlements going forward, she said.