Well, officially I have been with Kroger for about two weeks (since I received my first paycheck in paper form on Friday) but Saturday and Sunday was my 'Baptism by Brand' at the store. I am a Courtesy Clerk so I have been bagging, bringing in carts from the lot, helping people with their groceries to take carts out, or put groceries in their cars, etc.
Last night (Sunday) I was the one who had to clear the lot of carts. I was out at the lot right at 10 p.m. but for some weird reason we stayed busy even then. I wasn't finished until 11:45 p.m. and clocked out as soon as I could, but when I walked through those sliding doors that last time, not a single cart was on the sides of the building or in any of the cart collectors!
My question is, is 1 hour 45 minutes a good time for a single person to clear the entire lot? We are a large store, I don't know if we would have the "Superstore" title as Wal-Mart brags on itself (I haven't been working here long enough to learn that just yet if Kroger does...), but I figured I did pretty damn good for a single individual.
Apparently at our store it is common to have two individuals clearing the lot during the day on an hourly basis but as the sun goes down and statistics show that we will be getting "slow" it trickles down to one person. There was only one person for me to relieve when I went out at 10 p.m. and that person had been clearing carts since 9 p.m.
I'm proud of the effort that I gave, and a little concerned about going 45 minutes over my schedule (although the extra $, small as it will be, will be nice...), but with only one person to remove all the carts, what the hell do they expect? I talked with at least four other individuals who had been there longer than me (which is most right now) and every one of them individually told me that yes, for a single person doing it, it's common to go past the time clock schedule for you if you are the one at the end -- but that sometimes if a single person is still at it past the 11 hour, that an extra Courtesy Clerk can be sent out to assist and move things along. This did not happen to me.
Oh well. I'm sore, but tired (and sore -- that stupid pulley smacked me a time or two) but that is a big damn lot and I cleared ALL of it on my own, frankly I don't care if it was a management screw-up, a time clock issue or anything. I wouldn't want to do it again on my own like that but I was fast and I was effective! Nobody could have said anything else and that is what counts to me in my work ethic.
1 hr and 45 mins is a long time... I work at a mega Kroger too and when I was a bagger it took about an hour to clear the lot. I never went inside to help. Why? Because my task was lot clearing; not bagging for the supervisor so that they could 'direct' non-existent traffic. Also, nice job staying 45 minutes over. Do it as much as ****ing possible because your max hours will be in the mid teens as a front end employee.
Well I talked with the guy who had to clear the lot last night. I got off at 9 p.m. and was still around right before 10 because I was doing some grocery shopping and was just taking my time, tired from work.
This person told me he was informed that the person or persons who clear the lot at the 10-11 hour (ish) only need to get "90 percent" of the carts off the lot and out of the cart holders.
Wish I'd known that before I spent 1 hour 45 minutes clearing every damn one of them last week. Still, since I'm new, they'll apparently forgive the 45 minutes I stayed overtime, so that is nice.
Well I talked with the guy who had to clear the lot last night. I got off at 9 p.m. and was still around right before 10 because I was doing some grocery shopping and was just taking my time, tired from work.
This person told me he was informed that the person or persons who clear the lot at the 10-11 hour (ish) only need to get "90 percent" of the carts off the lot and out of the cart holders.
Wish I'd known that before I spent 1 hour 45 minutes clearing every damn one of them last week. Still, since I'm new, they'll apparently forgive the 45 minutes I stayed overtime, so that is nice.
But, you are a go getter. You go 100% clear or don't go!! :)
Always get permission to stay after your scheduled shift. The CC in the AM will have to finish the task if the CSM doesn't want you to stay late. It can wait for the next CC to finish. Anything after 8 hours is overtime. Never work overtime, not even 15 minutes, without a store managers' permission. If it was only a 6 hour shift and you stayed over 45 minutes, then that is just extra 45 minutes straight time.
They don't start locking you up in the storage closet for mistakes until after you have been there 3 months. So, you still have some grace period left to make mistakes while learning the ropes. If you get write-ups, then that is time to get serious...
Always ask your supervisor or manager about staying later to get the lot totally cleared. If you might go into OT, make sure they know it because they'll say stop now and go home.
The system isn't always correct. It'll send my last clerks home when I'll need four registers open. It's insane.
...... (and sore -- that stupid pulley smacked me a time or two)....
Pulley? You mean that strap that was sent to my store last summer, but was never used for anything. Just hangs there so district thinks we use it? I don't do courtesy clerk anymore, but when I did (as now), we just got 10-15 of the big buggies and manhandled them into the store.
...... (and sore -- that stupid pulley smacked me a time or two)....
Pulley? You mean that strap that was sent to my store last summer, but was never used for anything. Just hangs there so district thinks we use it? I don't do courtesy clerk anymore, but when I did (as now), we just got 10-15 of the big buggies and manhandled them into the store.
Same here. We used a pulley when we had it (LIFESAVER) but when we were left with straps, we decided to just push like 7 or 8 in the store on our own strength. The pulleys actually seemed to be more dangerous since they left you with one hand to steer. Hated it when the supervisors would force us to take a strap with us. I'd just make him watch me take it outside and then chunk it in the bushes while I was getting real work done by not using the strap.
