Recently our full time utility clerk was fired and they've been making several of us part time front end people have the utility hours.
Most of us weren't trained on utility and they didnt bother training us for it either. All I know is to do the bathrooms every 2 hours, trash and the occasional spill.
But 90% i'm up at the front taking peoples breaks or on cashier because according to my manager utility clerks are suppose to take peoples breaks/lunches. Is this true? The full time utility clerk did not even know how to do register.. I just feel like they're screwing with me because they make me take every single persons break/lunch and it's real annoying to do especially when half the time people take 45-50 lunches or 30 min breaks.
Why did the utility clerk get fired? Did he complain about taking everyones' breaks? lol.
If a manager decides the utility clerk will fill in for breaks, then it is true. Ours doesn't clean bathrooms but does clean everything else in the store and changes bales(I trained him on bales, thank you very much)...
Try to enjoy your job until they find a replacement. Follow the managers' directions with a smile and enjoy the change in work scenery.
Nah, she got fired for something else. Not sure what but it wasn't cause she didn't do her job correctly.
No one gets fired here unless you do something that's illegal. You can be late every day, call out multiple times a week, never actually do any work and you wont even get talked to about it.
I don't mind utility, I actually prefer it but every time i'm going to clean the bathrooms or take trash out, they call me back up just to take someones break while the supervisor or manager is just standing there watching and not helping even to bag.
The other week I had been taking everyone's break and lunch, and when it got to 11 and I finished someone elses break, I went to tell the supervisor I was going on lunch (i had been there since 7). He told me I needed to take someones elses lunch (who is notorious of taking a hour lunch) I told him no, you have plenty of baggers cross-trained and i'm going to lunch.
it's just frustrating because they don't do that to anyone else who is on utility.
Utility really needs to be its own department, separate from the front end, as that would eliminate the front end's ability to exploit the person on utility. Utility is responsible for the entire store, inside and out, and should be walking and sweeping the store to ensure the store is clean and safe for both customers and employees. Utility is supposed to keep up on the restrooms, ensuring they are clean and stocked with supplies. Utility is needed to be "free" as in, not stuck on a register checking or outside getting carts, should a spill happen, as a quick response is crucial to ensure no customers end up getting hurt and, potentially filing a lawsuit later on. Front end has no business keeping utility clerks up front, but until utility is removed from being a designated front end position, it comes down to your store's particular management team/floor supervisors. If you have management/floor supervisors that understand the importance of keeping utility free to do the work he/she is responsible for, then typically, the store will look more presentable and clean and utility will only be called to the front as an absolute last resort. Yes, that means grocery/produce/drug/gm needs to go up before utility because typically, unless it's a Marketplace, there is only one utility clerk scheduled at a time, and that utility clerk needs to be free to immediately respond to spills.
You're being used, treated as an "extra person" who can make the lives of supervisors easier, and the unfortunate reality of the situation is that probably none of those supervisors will take the blame if something happens and you were stuck on a register and thus not able to "do your job". They obviously don't care about you or your responsibilities. Unfortunately, you really have very little that you can do about it, since the managers and supervisors want to use you primarily as a break giver. I think it's a bad situation what could lead to you being used as a scapegoat should corporate come in one day and find the store "dirty" and tasks expected of the person on utility undone or if a customer should get hurt by slipping on a spill/tripping on something on the floor that you didn't know about/couldn't get to because you were on a register. Your store sounds like one of the worse ones... I would try and transfer to a different store where the environment is better and more respectful or just flat out find something else.
