So this June, it will be my 2 years at kroger. I have senrority over most of the people there because people typically stay at my Kroger for 6 months or less. Ever since I turned 16 in March and starting asking for more hours I or to transfer departments (which apparently have no more room but they are hiring for them) Ever since I turned 16, I kept working less and less hours. I kept working the same shifts you have to work when you have a work permit (3 hours on weekdays and 5 hours on weekends during the school year), I kept asking my manager for more hours every week, left her notes and did everything possible. It finally got down to I was working only 5 hours a week. I didn't know what to do because it's gonna sound awful, but I like working at Kroger,I've gotten soo used to my job and the people I love most of the people I work with and I like getting paid. [hehehe].
I went to put a request in (because since I wasn't working any hours I might as well just work Sundays because I got a new job) and I was talking to my mom as I was filling it out. One girl who think she owns the store comes walking out and just looks at me, giving me this death stare with her stupid eyebrow percing looking right at me. And when I go to turn this request in...they have the nerve to not only read it, but snicker about it. I talked to my mom as we were leaving and she said not to worry about it. And if anything she would take care of it.
Not but a week later my mom goes to Kroger and guess who she sees. Yes, my mother runs across Miss ''Hard-Core'' Tack Eyebrown Percing. My mom just happens to be walking down an isle and she has the nerve to almost run into my mother and acted all snooty, like she shouldn't even shop at Kroger. Really? Have some respect.
A few days later I call in to get my time to work and the first time Miss Pericing hangs up on me. I call back pretty much pissed off and demanding my times. She gave me attuide and told me I didn't work on Sunday because I ''request the day off'' I have only requested 10 Sundays off my whole time in being there. I never requested this f-ing weekend off. Hello!!! I need to make money for my car!!!!
I tell my mom what they did to me, and she told me to blow it off, so I did. Not but a day later Miss Eyebrow Percing has THE NERVE to call me at 8'30 on MY CELL PHONE and ask me to work on my ''requested day off''. I told her since I never worked I ''made plans'', but she still had the NERVE to still talk to me. She told me since I already ''had plans'' that if I could work 7-9pm. And I was like No! I MADE PLANS!
So I go to Kroger not 20 min. after the phone call and I made sure she heard me talk to my boyfriend (who is also a kroger employee) ask him what time he worked (even though he was with me the whole time of that phone call) I made SURE she heard me ''That's cool, I was gonna work but I said no, because working two hours is a WASTE of my time!''
So I don't think my stay at Kroger will be much longer, and if it is, I would like a promotion or a change of departments because it all based of favorites and who you party with.
Way to go! You're right, working for only 2 hours does seem like a waste. Good to see someone stand up for themselves. Its a shame when departments give work based on popularity. Have you tried talking directly to other department managers to let them know you're interested? You've already said something to your manager, so you wouldn't be stepping on any toes. Possibly they haven't even told the other depts that someone is interested. Hopefully some other folks on here will have some good advice for you as well... Good Luck.
I've asked the dairy man, the frozen dude, drug/gm people and floral ladies. they ''don't have space'' but yet they are still hiring for these departments... I'm getting ready to go to the sotre manager if I don't work sundays.
im sorry that you got called on your "requested day off" that you didnt ask for. but i dont know how many times they have called me in on my days off that i needed. if they call again say yes cause it makes you look good and it makes you look really dependable. once they see that you are dependable they will give you more hours. more hours means more money and a possible promotion. plus i think you would do a better job than k.c. if you do like your job, but arent getting the hours needed at this store maybe ask to be transferred to the one down the road. they might be able to work with your schedule better. but idk.
i couldn't really follow all of the original post...but here's my perspective, for whatever it is worth:
two hours or four hours or six hours...it doesn't matter. when you are called in to work, it's because they are in need of help. if you come in, then you are telling your supervisor (and the store manager) that you are dependable. Kroger doesn't care about your personal life...anymore than you care about Kroger's issues outside of your job description. either you can work the hours, or you can't work the hours. the fact that you made the effort to come up to Kroger to talk to your boyfriend so that this pierced eyebrow person could hear you...but you weren't willing to work for two hours...really makes you look like a child.
well thats what i am. I am barley 16. I'm sorry you i don't feel like driving down from Salem for only two hours of work. i would do it for 4 or more, but none of this 2 3 hour crap.
i get that you are upset about not getting more hours, and that you have opened up your availability to work on Sundays but haven't been put on the schedule yet. you are certainly justified in being upset about that! but you complained about not being on the schedule and so they called YOU to see if you could work a couple of hours...and you say you have 'plans' and then drive down to the store anyway, just to talk to your boyfriend....? did i get that right or am i missing something? if you had 'plans' then why were you at Kroger?
just because you are 16 doesn't mean that you should behave like a child. if you want to be taken seriously, then you need to behave in a serious manner at work. work is just work, sweetie. it's not life and death.
i am upset, but i did legit have plans on Sunday. and pretty much, you don't understnad how far i would have to go for 2 hours, and it's the second time in like 2 years i have said i can't go in.
sometimes they call people in because they have extra hours and would like people to use them. usually they need help. My store has a policy that they never call anyone in unless its for at least 4 hours of work. i would have worked the two hours because i need all the money i can get and two extra hours for me means overtime!! but i can understand why you wouldn't because you only get around 5 hours anyway. No you probably wont get fired but they might not call you in for a while and most jobs at Kroger ask that you be 18 to do them because a lot of them involve using machinery.
oh i'm not worried about getting fired, it's just the fact they bothered to call for 2 hours. it bugs me because they never want me to work anything but 2 or 3 hours.
i was truly asking a question up there...am i understanding the situation? did you drive all the way to Kroger to talk to your boyfriend at the time that you said you couldn't work because you had plans? i guess i don't understand why it's okay to drive all that way for a conversation, but it's too much to drive for two hours of work.
on the other hand...i totally get your resentment about your hours. i've been there! when i first started, i was given 30 hours a week and then i was dropped down to like 9...out of the blue and no reason given. i was so mad i actually cried about it when i talked to my husband...i only cry when i'm really pissed off. anyway, i kept asking my manager why my hours were getting cut so much and she would not give me an answer, just said that she had to give the hours she had available to everyone. i went to my union steward and asked him and he said 'if you want more hours, open up your availability'...and that made me really mad! i felt like i was being bullied into working hours i didn't want to work in order to get enough hours to make working worth it. to make a long story short, i opened up my hours of availability, i sat down with my front end manager and told her how many hours i had to work in order to meet my financial commitments, and she scheduled me more hours. i am working on going full time right now, which will be great as i'll have benefits for my family.
obviously, if you are 16, you can't work full time because of school (yes, i am assuming that you go to school...) and, at least in our state, there are laws about the hours that a minor can work. i don't know who the pierced eyebrow person is in relation to your job...is she a supervisor? a coworker? if she is not your front end manager or your back up front end manager, then i would pay her absolutely no mind at all when it comes to your hours at work. go talk to your FE manager...and be prepared to listen with an open mind. if you want more hours, tell them and ask what you can do to get more hours. the truth is, there may be very little you can do right now because you are 16 and in school....but that will change...in time.
I get the 2 hours is a waste of time thing. If you're getting ready, driving say..30 minutes, then working for 2 hours (probably about $8 or $9 after taxes, half of which you've burned in gas to get there and back) it's really not worth it. It was petty though to make that same drive just to talk to the boyfriend and flaunt it to the pierced girl. Sewphisticate has some good advice though. Ask to sit down with your FE manager, ask what you need to do to be scheduled more hours, and be prepared to do what they ask. You may not like what you hear, they may tell you they don't see the quality in the work you do, or that you spend too much time talking to your boyfriend (just made up examples). But that is their perspective and they are the ones making the schedule to fit the needs of the business. Take any constructive critisism they offer and let them know you'll work on those issues. The hours will come. I noticed in one of your posts that you want to keep working there because you have a lot of friends there. That may be part of the problem. Do you talk with your friends instead of the cutomers? Do you stay at your register or wander to talk to friends? I've watched many younger cashiers get their hours cut drastically for things like this, just some food for thought. Hope it works out for you...
They shouldn't be asking for only 2 hours. Theres a minimum they can pull you in for. 4 hours in our division. Next time just tell them, yea, i'll come in to work 4 but not to work less. Its nothing personal but just good business not to end up working for free. Afterall, Kroger will slash your throat to make a buck, your business is just as important but not near as large. 2 hours don't cover gas or personal time for travel in.
