7 ways retail jobs exploit and steal from their employees

Date: Apr 22, 2015

7 ways retail jobs exploit and steal from their employees

BagBoy · Guru

That article is right on the money about the state of retail employees in this day and age. Especially when talking about having to take on multiple jobs to support oneself and their family.

Lord_Uboat · Guru

One thing I didn't see in that article was the lack of real opportunities in retail if you're not a college grad. You can be a department head at Kroger, Walmart, or Target and that's about as high as you'll climb. $15 an hour is great for throwing boxes onto a shelf, but there seems to be a glass ceiling.

thestruggleisreal · Guru

Thing is...I don't want $15/hr. I would be happy with even 10(although working in Kroger's deli should get at least 12, LOL). I want to be able to have ONE job that can support my family for at least the necessities, and have enough wiggle room to go out once in a while.

It's why I would love to get out of retail, but it's a job, and when you need to support yourself or a family, and there's nothing else with your skillset (and don't say go to school, because sometimes even financial aid won't cover it all).

I recently got a second job because of how erratic Kroger's scheduling is (in some cases, it's bordering on "on call" since they never schedule enough people for the entire day). What happened when I asked to schedule around this other job? I got my hours cut to below union rules (was barely getting 15 before then). Luckily this other job has been giving me 23-32 hours a week. What that article forgot to mention was that by working multiple jobs, it not only cuts into family time and the like, but depending on the person, it's just stressful as hell, causes burnout, and guess who feels the brunt of said burnout? The customers. It's not that retail workers are innately rude (and some customers are bona fide a-holes), but they're overworked (whether at one job or multiple) and underpaid. So it's hard to keep a smiling face when you're tired and barely making enough for bills.

There was another article linked to that one (www.beyond.com/articles/are-retailers-abusing-young-workers-with-scheduling--11809-article.html) and this part of it struck a nerve:

In Maryland, ABC News reports that a former Best Buy employee, 23-year-old Ricah Norman, had to quit school because she couldnt support herself working two part-time jobs. Scheduling between classes and work shifts clashed, causing a constant source of stress, and something had to give. When Norman tried to talk to her supervisors she was basically told, That's the way the business is.

**** like this is sad. We're told if we want something better then to go back to school, but when you're forced to make a decision between higher learning and a way to support yourself, that means it's gone too far.

Date: Apr 23, 2015

thestruggleisreal wrote:

In Maryland, ABC News reports that a former Best Buy employee, 23-year-old Ricah Norman, had to quit school because she couldnt support herself working two part-time jobs. Scheduling between classes and work shifts clashed, causing a constant source of stress, and something had to give. When Norman tried to talk to her supervisors she was basically told, That's the way the business is.

**** like this is sad. We're told if we want something better then to go back to school, but when you're forced to make a decision between higher learning and a way to support yourself, that means it's gone too far.

I've seen this happen way too many times.

FrontEndSlave · Guru

BagBoy wrote:
That article is right on the money about the state of retail employees in this day and age. Especially when talking about having to take on multiple jobs to support oneself and their family.

Feh.

Multiple jobs.
Just got off the phone with my union rep.

Multiple jobs was the reason I had to call out last week and the reason why my bitc-h Front End Manager is so mad at me.

Kroger could not pay me a living wage -- you try living on $65 a week (12 hours), hell, I could get more with unemployment.

Union rep says "I understand, I really do."
But does Kroger? Nope.

This company is horrible and I hope they go bankrupt before 2020.

-- Edited by FrontEndSlave on Thursday 23rd of April 2015 02:28:15 PM

kroagrr · Guru

"The inevitable consequences," writes Zeynep Ton of underpaid labor, "are understaffed stores with high turnover of low-skilled employees who are often part-timers and have little or no commitment to their work."

All evidence suggests that treating employees well makes for a more productive, healthy, and happy workplace--which is good for workers, good for employers, and good for the nation. -- S.E. Smith