Kroger is gettin to be a joke! At our store they are hiring many part time associates. With all this going on our full time associates are getting hours cut cutting them to part time! We hear its going to get worse.
I doubt that is actually occuring. Most contracts usually strictly state that Full Time is 40 hours, and also have stipulations that new employees cant be hired in if it reduces existing employees hours that they are available for.
Kroger likes to try and ignore that part of contracts, though. Many times PT20 employees will get more than 20 hours, because they are avaialble for them. Theres no sense in hiring in someone else to take up the extra hours, unless theres an extreme need for flexibility in scheduling, or limited availability. But if you are 100% available, you should generally get scheduled up to 40 hours, then the next employee's hours start.
Also, at least in our contract, it explicitly states that if hours are reduced in a department, the cuts start at least senior, and work the way up. Employees with lesser seniority must be laid off completely before senior employees see any reduction. Now of course anyone can willingly give up their hours, and there have been a couple of times that management has asked people to go home early if they can. But scheduled hours can't be eliminated once scheduled unless by mutual agreement.
Company-wide, Kroger is purging as many full time employees as possible. Store management has been mandated to get to a 70% part time/30% full time ratio in every store ASAP! Store managers are to accomplish in any way possible so long as doing so causes no legal problems. You can expect to see more disciplining for relatively minor offenses, lots of documentation of infractions of store rules (many of which have not heretofore been enforced), replacing full time with part time when full time employees retire, quit in disgust; or otherwise thru attrition.
All of this is a way for Kroger to decrease operationg expenses...and the easiest way to do so is by cutting personnel costs. It costs Kroger more to have full time employees than part time. Kroger can hire 2-3 part time worker bees (drones) in place of 1 full time employee (usually more experienced and better workers), plus get greater flexibillity in scheduling with 2-3 warm bodies to shuffle around the schedule. Because of union contracts Kroger is limited in how it can cut personnel costs....reducing full time employees and cutting hours is the most expedient way to do so.
Expect more of it in the near future...after all, there's no time like the present jfor store managaers to start working on their performance bonuses!
Finally, don't forget that its only 5 months until its time for the annual Employee Tracking Survey. Keep all this Krap in mind and be ready to answer the those Survey questions accordingly. Store managers will start getting all nicey-nicey and try jto foster warm & cuddly feelings in their employees starting in June-July in hopes that they will forget all the screwing their employees endured over the past year and answer tahe Survey questions in the best light for the managers. Of course soon as the Survey is completed its back to business as usual...Let the Beatings Begin!...and its time time to start working on building the store managers' bonus again.
I read the produce daily mail the other day because it was laying on the desk. It was from the district produce coordinator. In the one the bullet points it read. "Schedule as many 4-6 hours shifts for clerks as possible. This way we can meet our customer needs during peak business hours."
I don't see how this works because all the 4-6- hour shifts are scheduled between 6am-2pm. Hardly peak business hours especially during weekend and weekday prime time. I do believe Kroger is trying to get more part time help.
At my store we got a letter hanging in the break room about the markdown policy, and that were not to buy stuff unless it's offered to customers first, and we can't be on the clock.
And it also gave a big lecture on not falsifying records and being honest in our business practices. Rumor has it that somewhere 11 employees and a manager were fired.
Why would it matter? if you're going to buy it, you are the customer. I've stuffed bakery items i'm going to buy in the cooler if i'm going to buy it that night.
Why would it matter? if you're going to buy it, you are the customer. I've stuffed bakery items i'm going to buy in the cooler if i'm going to buy it that night.
"please stick this in the cooler for me i'll pick it up after my shift" (employee forgets, clocks out and goes home, then the next day i have to scan it out as a loss cause it's out of date)
next time: "can you hold this in the back" "no feck you"
then somehow i'm the ass-hole
-- Edited by styles on Friday 16th of March 2012 09:52:07 PM
-- Edited by styles on Friday 16th of March 2012 09:52:37 PM
I read the produce daily mail the other day because it was laying on the desk. It was from the district produce coordinator. In the one the bullet points it read. "Schedule as many 4-6 hours shifts for clerks as possible. This way we can meet our customer needs during peak business hours."
I don't see how this works because all the 4-6- hour shifts are scheduled between 6am-2pm. Hardly peak business hours especially during weekend and weekday prime time. I do believe Kroger is trying to get more part time help.
here is the problem with the prime time scheduling. First you have a lot of old timers that believe they can only get a department ready by bringing in all the help early . That will leave only one ( and usually the least experienced new person ) clerk available when the majority of the business is there.
That will leave you with a ****y close and the rest of the department workers using that clerk or the closer as the escape goat.
If the department is to be able to function the way Kroger needs and deserves to have it run, then there needs to be better closes. That way you do not need all the help in during the non peak hours. Need to have experience personal working later, if that means pissing off the old timers and getting more part timers( moving out full timers) then that is what needs done.
NO one closer has the ability to get the job done when left alone during prime time sales. All that is going to be accomplished is poor customer service and constant blame on the night clerk for not getting the job done.
At my store we got a letter hanging in the break room about the markdown policy, and that were not to buy stuff unless it's offered to customers first, and we can't be on the clock.
And it also gave a big lecture on not falsifying records and being honest in our business practices. Rumor has it that somewhere 11 employees and a manager were fired.
Last I remembered on the markdown policy was that you could not set it in the back but had to buy it , off the clock, and have it out of the store. Have had other employees looking over the meat mark downs and want them saved. Told them all to get it and have it anywhere they want but not in my department.
Two problems here and these are just two of them
#1 employees will leave them set until they can not be sold and then want it reduced to a lesser amount.
#2 They will not have the money and now it is past any sell by point and has become total shrink.
I have had to have a few employees written up before for these two things.
I tell people if they want to leave something in my cooler for when they get off work, it better have a receipt. If it's still there in 2 days (or if company comes), it's trash.
I'm status 3 full time and over the last 3 weeks I've had my hours cut after 8 months of 40 to 20 hours a week, I asked the union and they said I only have to get schduled the 40 if there are hours open, so the difference between status 3 and part time is nothing.
Anonymous wrote: The statements below are very correct ! You should all know that NO Company is going to absorb the higher medical benefit costs by maintaining a workforce of full-time employees! Kroger doesn't set record earnings time after time by letting something like Obamacare affect their bottom line. So you, the front line work force that makes it all happen so your mgrs. and the General Office mgmt can make the big salaries with the big bonuses(I heard central division made 140% bonus!) will be the casualties in this master plan. My condolences to the store mgmt. who will be assigned the ruthless task of purging/ensuring that only 3 out of 10 workers are fulltime with full benefits. It will be even more difficult for store mgmt to achieve desired conditions such as the Key Retailing program with mostly transient, casual part time workers who will have many other priorities/agendas that will rank way above their entry level, part time job.
Company-wide, Kroger is purging as many full time employees as possible. Store management has been mandated to get to a 70% part time/30% full time ratio in every store ASAP! Store managers are to accomplish in any way possible so long as doing so causes no legal problems. You can expect to see more disciplining for relatively minor offenses, lots of documentation of infractions of store rules (many of which have not heretofore been enforced), replacing full time with part time when full time employees retire, quit in disgust; or otherwise thru attrition.
All of this is a way for Kroger to decrease operationg expenses...and the easiest way to do so is by cutting personnel costs. It costs Kroger more to have full time employees than part time. Kroger can hire 2-3 part time worker bees (drones) in place of 1 full time employee (usually more experienced and better workers), plus get greater flexibillity in scheduling with 2-3 warm bodies to shuffle around the schedule. Because of union contracts Kroger is limited in how it can cut personnel costs....reducing full time employees and cutting hours is the most expedient way to do so.
Expect more of it in the near future...after all, there's no time like the present jfor store managaers to start working on their performance bonuses!
Finally, don't forget that its only 5 months until its time for the annual Employee Tracking Survey. Keep all this Krap in mind and be ready to answer the those Survey questions accordingly. Store managers will start getting all nicey-nicey and try jto foster warm & cuddly feelings in their employees starting in June-July in hopes that they will forget all the screwing their employees endured over the past year and answer tahe Survey questions in the best light for the managers. Of course soon as the Survey is completed its back to business as usual...Let the Beatings Begin!...and its time time to start working on building the store managers' bonus again.
60--70 % of operating over head is pay roll, that's true. When you're a manager who cares about the people you've been laffin and jokin around with, tho, making those cuts can be tough. People aren't stupid. They'll come to me complaining about hr cuts and requests for things I can't supply them with. To keep my job, I cannot even give them the real answers they're seeking. In keeping my job, I have to keep playing the game.
60--70 % of operating over head is pay roll, that's true. When you're a manager who cares about the people you've been laffin and jokin around with, tho, making those cuts can be tough. People aren't stupid. They'll come to me complaining about hr cuts and requests for things I can't supply them with. To keep my job, I cannot even give them the real answers they're seeking. In keeping my job, I have to keep playing the game.
O KAY so answer this one. Once they are full time, to what level of hours can your people be cut down to and still maintain the full time benifits and pay rate.
Our local has as low as 32 hours a weekto maintain the pay and 28 hours a week to maintain all others benifits. Mosy times HR has left the pay rate say with the maintaining of 28 hours a week.
I can , if I choose , to be able to cut amm myfull timesrs to 32 hours a week and management has requested that a few times. That would let them hire and schedule more part timers . I will usually choose to find them more hours at another store if they are union. If not them they are on their own.
