So I was originally supposed to have Thanksgiving Day (yesterday) off but due to the fact that one of my co-workers had to work their other job ,I traded shifts with them to where I worked yesterday and was supposed to have today off while they worked my shift. We even signed the trade shift forms to make it official.
2:20 PM today, 20 minutes past my original shift time, I get a call telling me that I am supposed to be there and that I am late. I explain to the Head Clerk about the traded shift and she said that she would call me back after she spoke to upper management (let us call today's upper manager T.)
She calls back and says that T told her that I have to come in as I am responsible for the shift time. I am livid at this point but still agree to come in just to straighten this out.
I get there and I tell the Head Clerk that I am not clocking in until I see the "trade shift form" so that I may prove that I am right. I'm supposed to be off today.
I go upstairs to the managerial offices to try and find the trade shift paper but cannot find it. My co-worker, whom I traded with, was the one that took the paper initially as I was busy.
As I am going downstairs, I encounter T, the member of upper management. T starts to arrogantly and snidely say that I'm still responsible for the shift when the other person didn't show. "Sorry, that's just the way it is. You are responsible."
So I go downstairs to the timeclock area and tell my head clerks that if I clock in today, consider this my two weeks notice. They panic and try to get me to calm down and one of them pages T to tell him. T then tells them that I need to make a decision because he needs someone to clock in right now. They need to keep their books straight. They were willing to let me quit right then and there.
I don't clock in but instead call the co-worker that I traded shifts with, I ask them what is going and they told me that they were in the parking lot ready to walk in which they were. She said that she told another member of upper management that she was going to be late today as she has another job but it appears as if this manager told no one else. That's cool I was no longer mad with her but with upper management and their sheer incompetence.
Anyone else deal with this garbage from their management team?
Communication doesn't exist in the world of Kroger. It simply doesn't.
Life lesson here... never trust someone to do something and assume it was done. You trusted your co-worker to turn in that sheet of paper, but who knows what happened to it or where it ended up. You gotta check up on these things yourself. I'm not saying you're the one to blame here; I'm saying you gotta make sure you're covered so that something like this doesn't happen.
Whenever you're trading shifts with someone, it's also a good idea to either inform your department head so he/she is aware of the change if he/she is working that day or the back up to the department head if he/she is working that day. Take it upon yourself to communicate with others because as I said, you can't trust others to relay the information.
It's hard to find a good management team in a Kroger store. It really is. You've got the clueless types, the know-it-alls, the laziest of the lazy, the ones with a plate so full they're struggling to not give in to the weight that they're desperately trying to maintain and the occasional good ones. This probably won't be the last time you find yourself agitated at management, either. It's just something you gotta realize comes with the territory working at Kroger.
-- Edited by GenesisOne on Saturday 28th of November 2015 12:02:53 AM
That's why I never trade shifts with anybody unless the department head is the one who comes to me and asks me if I'll trade shifts with someone. Even then, I'll only do it in case of extreme emergencies such as a death in the family.
Should have clocked in. Then when the other person showed up, clocked out. Then let them know on the way out the door they owe you 4 hours pay for showing up lol!
So I go downstairs to the timeclock area and tell my head clerks that if I clock in today, consider this my two weeks notice. They panic and try to get me to calm down and one of them pages T to tell him. T then tells them that I need to make a decision because he needs someone to clock in right now. They need to keep their books straight. They were willing to let me quit right then and there.
Anyone else deal with this garbage from their management team?
Welcome to Kroger. I faced a similar attitude about four months in when I worked as a courtesy clerk. This company doesn't give a damn because they are so used to high turnover rates they know they can easily find someone to replace you. Probably someone who will make a slightly less wage and / or be younger than you and not be aware of the company's internal operations.
