Can your Store Manager refuse a transfer? How can they make you stay where you don't want to be. I feel like I'm being forced to quit with the company altogether rather than just transferring.
Yep. If the store you want to transfer to does not want you or need you, then the store ou originaly work at you shall stay. You cannot make another manager take you if they don't want to.
Also normally if you have recent write ups that have not "expired" then that also screws up your transfer (at the store I use to work at).
Where I am at, the way to get a transfer without signing a bid is to quit the store you are at and reapply to the store you want to go to. If you have been there longer than 2 years, it is best to find a different job if you want out that bad. You lose all your vacation, time off and seniority.
I have seen special transfers where there was an HR issue between two employees and instead of firing one, they were transferred.
If there is a major issue causing you to want to transfer, try asking HR to get involved. They might be able to help you and might not.
Also, at your current store, even if you find a store that will take you, your current store manager does not have to let you leave. At one time I was considering moving to another city, and my manager refused to release me, stating "where you live is not my problem". The union would not help, Their response was "we don't get involved with transfers". I felt the same way, like I was being forced to quit. I eventually was able to transfer and move after several years.
I guess it depends on the division/store. We just had someone who transferred from another store and she keeps all her seniority, vacation, etc. I know someone else who transferred but went to King Sooper's in Colorado and he lost his seniority but had a job waiting for him out there.
I should have specified part time employees usually need to quit and reapply at the other store. I know of one part time employee that was able to transfer and keep seniority. But, I think her dad was in upper management. I am not sure how it works for full time employees. There are always bids being posted and they can get into another store that way. We have so many stores in our area close to each other that there are plenty of places to transfer to.
In my division, employees can transfer to another store and not lose anything - seniority, vacation hours, and so on. Nothing changes. It gets a little more complicated if you're full time or a department head/assistant department head or lead, because obviously, one store can't have two department heads within the same department, but if a store is losing a department head for whatever reason, then another department head from another store can transfer over and lose nothing; same for assistant department heads and leads, although department heads/assistant department heads usually get "told" to move while leads have to contact their respective coordinators to apply for the vacated lead position at another store. Part timers, however, can easily transfer from store to store and everything carries over.
Ultimately though, your current store manager and potential new store manager at the other store have to both agree to the transfer request for it to happen and yes, a store manager can refuse to let the request go through for "whatever reason". I've known plenty of people that have transferred stores without an issue, myself included, but it's always been within the division and I'm sure transferring from one division to another is a lot more tricky and complicated.
