I'm so sick of my coworkers walking out of the deli and not coming back for long periods of time. I don't generally like to make waves, but I don't like being taken advantage of either. Today a girl went off for break at around 8:30 (if not earlier) and didn't come back til 9:15, and she insists she clocked out for break at 8:50 even though I was looking at the clock, waiting for her to come back to the deli since 8:45. At around 9:05 I paged her, she didn't come back, so I paged a manager and she paged the girl. She didn't answer, and came back in at around 9:15 and keeps saying she had clocked out for break at 8:50. I don't know if the manager will do anything about it, they're kind of on friendly terms and she seemed to believe her story. So now I look like the bad guy who over-reacted to someone coming back from break 5 minutes late. Last time when I worked with this particular coworker, she went off with another friend to the in store starbucks to get a drink and stood in line and waited while it was being made, not on break. It's pointless to report these things, they'll always have an excuse and they'll always be believed. It's to the point where I feel like, if someone walks out, I'm just going to stand there not doing work either. At least if there's trouble we'll be both get in trouble. (Well, that may be wishful thinking on my part. I'm sure it will just be me.)
it's maddening when my cashiers randomly wander off on the front end. they'll congregate at the service desk, where they don't belong, or to furthest register in a circle like some conspiring coven. sometimes they just leave for the 'bathroom' and they don't tell any body. the worst though are the ones who don't come back from breaks on time. they're due 15 and take 30. they're due 30 and they take 45. i hate to do it but i write down when they left and give them 5 min grace in getting back after their time. i'm pretty sure they clock back in on time and just hide until someone pages them to get back up front because we're being rushed.
Sorry to say there really isn't anything you can do about lazy co-workers. I think the best course of action is to simply do your job and do it the best you can. Focus on what you're responsible for and strive to finish your tasks in a timely manner. As long as you are doing your job, nobody can say anything about your work. Now if a task needs to be completed by you as well as others as a group, and that task isn't finished or done right, and you get asked about it, then you should say that you did what you could but you didn't have the help of your co-workers. Hopefully, eventually, the ones slacking off and taking advantage of the situation will be caught one day.
Kroger isn't known to be a fair place to work at though, unfortunately. Favoritism tends to play a role and as a result some employees get away with stuff others never could. When you work with someone and you see that someone isn't the top-notch employee a supervisor/co-manager believes him or her to be, it can often times be a losing battle to try and get the supervisor/co-manager to see that person's true colors, sadly.
It's just hard to strive to do my work when I'm doing my work and I still get yelled at. For instance, the other day I was on break for exactly 15 minutes. I even clocked back in a minute early. I still got told "why did it take so long?" Wtf? And yet someone who goes off and has fun for 45 minutes or longer and the manager just shrugs it off. It's just too hard to take anymore. I used to not mind working for Kroger, it wasn't the best job, but I liked my coworkers. But then 3 workers came and they formed a clique and they all hate waiting on customers, so they all do whatever it takes to not wait on customers. I would like to leave the deli soon, but due to limitations in my schedule (I'm a college student) I don't know if they would transfer me.
I agree that it's frustrating and yes it's amazing how some employees seem to get away with practically anything and everything, but that's how it seems to be at Kroger in general. You could try and invoke positive change by going to your department head/a co-manager/the store manager and explaining how customers aren't being put first by the people in the deli, but that could make things uncomfortable for you because the slackers aren't going to like you one bit and may even try to get you in trouble/fired as a way of getting even. You could also consider transferring to another nearby Kroger and hope for a better work environment, but that's a risky move because there's no guarantee it's going to be any better at another store. Transferring departments might be something to look into though. Just talk to the different department heads and get an idea if your work schedule would be fine with them. Lastly, there's always the option of going elsewhere, as scary as that can be sometimes. People that leave a job for another sometimes regret leaving, but other times end up in a far better environment and with better pay/benefits. It's a risk though, to be sure.
That is how my store is, but they learn from the top brass. Front end Leads come in, punch in then put their coat and purse away, go to the bathroom, stand around and talk and then get busy doing business. Same thing to leave. They yell at me to punch out and then they'll ask me to "watch" their purse, or coat while they go to the bathroom, break room, office, whatever. Pick up their food they stashed in the fridge, then punch out. Meanwhile, I am expected to punch out and wait for them while they get paid to do personal business.
