Nah. There are worse jobs at Kroger than utility clerk.
Our utility clerks also much prefer being utility than courtesy clerks as well.
As far as uniform goes, our utility clerks wear the same uniform as the rest of us. Kroger shirt, black pants, black shoes.
I take it your utility clerks don't work random shifts like midnight one day, 7 am another, 4 am the next day, then 7pm the last day. But then again, different contracts have different kinds of "utility clerks."
If it's the type of hours sucking that you're referring to, then I can guarantee you that File Maintenance backups have it worse. The only difference between them and your Utility Clerks is that Utility Clerks go home when their shift is up. File Maintenance Clerks rarely get to go home at the end of their shifts due to most stores being short-staffed in that area, and it's a job that you can't just say "Well I did a lot today. I'll just finish the rest tomorrow."
Heck, even departments like Bakery and Grocery can have the same kind of hours you're describing.
If it's the type of hours sucking that you're referring to, then I can guarantee you that File Maintenance backups have it worse. The only difference between them and your Utility Clerks is that Utility Clerks go home when their shift is up. File Maintenance Clerks rarely get to go home at the end of their shifts due to most stores being short-staffed in that area, and it's a job that you can't just say "Well I did a lot today. I'll just finish the rest tomorrow."
Heck, even departments like Bakery and Grocery can have the same kind of hours you're describing.
Um, aren't you forgetting about the fact of pay? Usually everyone other than courtesy clerks and utility clerks gets better pay and benefits.
That's where you work your way up from that point. For as much as people say Courtesy Clerks have it the worst, my store manager started out as a Courtesy Clerk. Show that you're good at what you do, volunteer to help out with things that aren't even your job, and other departments and such, and you eventually get more say in what department you want to be in and start working your way up from there.
That's where you work your way up from that point. For as much as people say Courtesy Clerks have it the worst, my store manager started out as a Courtesy Clerk. Show that you're good at what you do, volunteer to help out with things that aren't even your job, and other departments and such, and you eventually get more say in what department you want to be in and start working your way up from there.
...except for the fact were talking about utility clerks, not courtesy clerks. You're ignorance is becoming kind of annoying. Utility clerks, depending on the contract, are already promoted. Meaning, they can't "work up" and they forced to do everything everybody else does (except stocking) for less pay and little or no benefits.
So, how is it not the worst job in the store? To summarize and add-on some points:
Utility Clerk=Weird shifts, less hours, less pay, little or no benefits, can't "work themselves up," and slaves to the front end (and every department for that matter.
Anyhow, I don't know TC's exact situation, but, if your position is one where it's not considered a "promotional position," get out of the front end as fast as you can. Believe you me, you'll thank me for this advice. Ignore this other anon that clearly hasn't done his or research.
You're just telling him "It's a bad job, don't do it," but you're not providing him an alternative.
Also, remember that the way things are in your particular store or region are not how it is done in all Krogers. At my store, Utility Clerks actually have more consistent hours than almost every other position.
You are correct about Utility Clerks being considered already promoted, but you forget that you can always transfer departments when needed, and having the experience can only help you as well. As far as benefits and such go, I know that in my region at least, we don't get any benefits until after a year of working at Kroger. With that in mind, within that first year, it really doesn't matter much which position you work in since you won't be getting those benefits any time soon anyway, and you can transfer to another department later on when you get closer to that year and get your benefits at the same time as you would if you worked elsewhere in Kroger. It's not a bad starting position, and there's a reason it's considered a promotion from being a Courtesy Clerk rather than a demotion, otherwise no one would do it.
Now, if he's someone who has been with Kroger for years, it wouldn't be a very good position to get promoted to. Keep in mind, I'm not disagreeing with your points. I'm just trying to point out the brights sides though, and the fact that other departments have it just as bad, if not worse. I mentioned File Maintenance because it has many of the similar downsides to being a Utility Clerk that you listed. File Maintenance is also a job where you don't get paid more, unless you're the head of File Maintenance, which you still aren't considered a department head so the extra pay is not that much. Yes, some jobs suck, but you'd be surprised how many times I've seen someone in my store transfer to another department because they claimed that their department was the worst one to work in, only to wish later that they hadn't switched because the one they transferred into was worse.
If it's the type of hours sucking that you're referring to, then I can guarantee you that File Maintenance backups have it worse. The only difference between them and your Utility Clerks is that Utility Clerks go home when their shift is up. File Maintenance Clerks rarely get to go home at the end of their shifts due to most stores being short-staffed in that area, and it's a job that you can't just say "Well I did a lot today. I'll just finish the rest tomorrow."
Heck, even departments like Bakery and Grocery can have the same kind of hours you're describing.
Um, aren't you forgetting about the fact of pay? Usually everyone other than courtesy clerks and utility clerks gets better pay and benefits.
Which is one of the reasons I got promoted. Now they ask why I do a better job and I replied "I got crap pay, no benefits, why shoud I have even tried? Treat me like crap, you're gonna get crap in return. INCLUDING on the job." Lol...yeah. They did NOT like that too much. Haha oh well.
Transfers aren't allowed between certain departments? Really? That really sucks then, I hadn't heard about that. I guess my store is different with a lot of things since we're so severely understaffed that if one area has enough people, they'd be glad to transfer them to another department that needs more help, since we barely have enough people to run the store currently.
If it's the type of hours sucking that you're referring to, then I can guarantee you that File Maintenance backups have it worse. The only difference between them and your Utility Clerks is that Utility Clerks go home when their shift is up. File Maintenance Clerks rarely get to go home at the end of their shifts due to most stores being short-staffed in that area, and it's a job that you can't just say "Well I did a lot today. I'll just finish the rest tomorrow."
Heck, even departments like Bakery and Grocery can have the same kind of hours you're describing.
Um, aren't you forgetting about the fact of pay? Usually everyone other than courtesy clerks and utility clerks gets better pay and benefits.
Which is one of the reasons I got promoted. Now they ask why I do a better job and I replied "I got crap pay, no benefits, why shoud I have even tried? Treat me like crap, you're gonna get crap in return. INCLUDING on the job." Lol...yeah. They did NOT like that too much. Haha oh well.
And this is the sad reality were left with. People are given incentive to do a horrible job. You do a bad job, you might get promoted! And you probably won't lose your job because that's the one thing the union is actually pretty good with (helping people keep their job). I've seen it happen to lots of courtesy clerks actually. They sucked at bagging, so they got an instant promotion to cashier! To be fair though, the people who sucked at bagging typically sucked at checking so they were let go before their 90 days.
Anyhow, it's just another case of Kroger taking advantage of the workers.
