Dive Brief:

• Because of the Affordable Care Act​'s benefit requirements for part-time employees, Staples has stiffened its consequences to workers who work more than 25 hours a week, the kind of move that is increasingly seen as unfair to retail employees.

• The move is a public relations debacle that has garnered the attention of no less than President Barack Obama, who recently told Buzzfeed, “I haven’t looked at Staples stock lately or what the compensation of the CEO is, but I suspect that they could well afford to treat their workers favorably and give them some basic financial security. If they can’t, then they should be willing to allow those workers to get the Affordable Care Act without cutting wages.”

• The issue is something that could interfere with the Federal Trade Commission’s scrutiny of Staples’ proposed $6.3 billion acquisition of Office Depot, says Fortune magazine.

Dive Insight:

Staples is defying the Affordable Care Act, the Obama Administration’s signature legislative achievement that is designed to broaden health care coverage, by preventing employees from working the number of hours that would kick in benefits. And it's playing hardball with employees just when it needs the blessing of the Federal Trade Commission.

Not smart, according to Dan Primack, writing in Fortune magazine. 

“For the FTC to bless the Staples-Office Depot merger, it basically will need to admit that it erred 19 years ago (likely under the guise of evolved market conditions). Or, more specifically, Staples will need to persuade the FTC that its 2015 deliberations should reach a different conclusion,” Primack writes. “So why on earth is Staples going out of its way to antagonize President Obama, who happens to have nominated all five FTC commissioners?”