If you feel comfortable, ask your fellow courtesy clerks if they have any shifts they want to give up. Also, make sure your front end manager and all supervisors are aware that you are willing to pick up some shifts.
Minimum hours vary by state/contract. Child labor laws often only limit your hours during the school year, but not when school is out of session.
-- Edited by techelite on Saturday 13th of July 2013 11:00:34 PM
I'm 15 and recently started working at Kroger for about two weeks now and it its really starting to tick me off!!! Now don't get me wrong the atmosphere in the store is amazing. The employees are cool and management is really helpful. Those were the pros... Now the Cons... One thing that ticks me off is that the hours are really low... I know I'm the new guy and things like that, but good God! My first week was twenty hours and my second week is only thirteen hours!! I would like to hear others experience about the hours for new comers especially ones with no experience and if so, did they get more hours the longer they worked there... Secondly I hear all this talk about union and after doing research I joined it... People at my store who have worked for 5 years plus have said it keeps you from getting fired for no reason on your behalf or getting more hours than new comers and things of that nature, as a new comer I observed things other employees have done and completely agree with that statement seeing how they operate and little things they do and they should get fired for...Does anyone else have any opinions with Union and if I don't like how they operate, can I cancel my services with them so they don't take 7.92 out of my check each week? Also if I would be willing to work my hours, who should I speak to, to request more? Please do not chastise me as I am only fifteen and this is my first job! Before I go, I would like to ask why the supervisor who told me about it stressed that I tell the Union guy HE told me about it?
What are the child labor laws in your state? When I first started working at Kroger there was a bagger who was only 15 years old (He'd be about 40 now.) He could only work 3 hours a day for a maximum of 15 hours a week.
the minimum depends on the contract. in my division they have to give you 12 hrs, nothing more. if you want more hours, work hard show initiative, ask what you can do to keep busy. i have courtesy clerks who call in to ask me for hours. many times we'll bring them in for added coverage. also, in my division, once you join the union you can't leave it for a year.
lol, Wait until you have to buy gas for your first car! You will be in for a shock. When I was 15, gas was $.89 a gallon and cigarettes were $1.75.
Your decription is how Kroger functions. They do not want anyone to have a lot of hours. When you go back to school from summer break, there is a state/Federal law regarding the maximum hours you can work and how late. I think the ruels are more relaxed during the summer time.
They pull that on cashiers at my store. They actually give them 0 hours every once in a while for a week and then schedule them for 12 to avoid paying unemployment.
Get to know your store manager and comanagers well. Smile and be clean cut. Keep your language public appropriate. Always be on your best behaviour. Volunteer for extra hours even if in other departments like Dairy, Frozen, grocery, produce. Always answer your phone when called in to work. Always say yes if you are able to. Do the best job you can like you are being monitored from a distance.
I know one 17 or 18yo kid that started 3 months ago as a bagger. He has been promoted to tags team/utility clerk. The other day he was the dairy guy(only person working the department).
As for the union protecting your hours, you need more senority under your belt for that. Basically, anyone hired after you can not be scheduled more hours than you are scheduled for that week. Anyone hired before you gets the choice of volunteering for extra hours before you do. They get the phone call first. If you get a call for extra hours, take it. There are exceptions but it starts a lot of unwanted drama if you tell everyone how many hours you are getting. If you are already in the store, they can ask you to work longer instead of calling in a senior employee. If they call you in, our contract states that you are gauranteed 4 hours at the least.
You write very well for a 15 year old. Make the best out of your time at Kroger but focus on higher education. You have the opportunity of finding success elsewhere. I get the impression you want to make cash for a car or electronic toys. Look at the big picture. Money is a nice tool but stressing over hours at 15 and money is foolish. Get a good education in a well paying carreer and you can have a lot of toys during your midlife crisis. Think Corvette!!
I don't think 15 year olds can work in Dairy, Frozen, Grocery, or Produce but I might be wrong.
But in my store, they wait until the courtesy clerk turns 18, then drag them over to a department...
I guess it depends on how mature the kid is. My nephew was transferred into produce when he was 16 or 17.
Currently, we have a gang of kids(4 or 5 16 yos) working day grocery. What a stinking mess they are making. Not properly trained, literally throwing product on shelf, cramming product on shelf, putting product in wrong places, not properly putting backstock away and when they can't find where something goes, they put it with our new products. I cleaned out half our new product area and filled holes one day..
