currently i work in produce but a manager said me and another co worker are going to HAVE to learn how to use one. Is there anyway to get out of this because my department is already having to cover another department because lack of employees and It causes us to fall behind on our work. Im willing to even go as far as talking to the union about this problem
Be as incompetent as you can be when they try and train you. Make the front end NOT want to call you to surge check because of how slow you are and how "forgetful" you are when it comes to how to do stuff like run checks, deal with coupons, etc...
They can't punish you for being bad at checking because you're not classified as a checker. If they try to, get the union involved and watch how fast management backtracks.
Learn as much as you can even though it means you might have to cashier. Also, department heads have to know how to cashier, so even if you're not lead, it'd be helpful to know regardless.
Being made a surge checker just means more work/more pressure for the same amount of money. It's Kroger being cheap and greedy... the company refuses to properly staff the front end, so they push the employees that are there to do the work of two or three people. The more you learn, the more they will abuse you and the more you're abused, the more you'll hate your job.
Take it from someone that used to be a surge but thankfully got out of it by switching to a department that can't be called to the front end. So many days I was ready to quit on the spot because of the stress. I was somehow supposed to be responsible for getting all my work done despite being called repeatedly to the front. Screw that. Don't let it happen to you.
At my store, produce kept skipping cashier training until writeups were threatened.
Stack up quarter punches and overtime until you get a talking to. Keep a log of time spent up front for demonstration purposes.
Then, let your department suffer. It's wonderful when survey after survey complains about it. Keep on that log of time spent cashiering, and make sure to threaten union involvement if there's trouble. Know your Weingarten Rights.
Also, be slow and terrible at cashiering. You don't have to go very slow to cause lines to build up, and especially if you have to bag as well. Print checks wrong, do WIC wrong, everything. Make some work for the bookkeepers. As long as your till balances, you should be ok.
How brave are you?
A daystocker at my store got out of it by talking back to a customer. It escalated to shouting, and almost a fist fight. It was absolutely beautiful. And not only was he "bad with people", but he was simply terrible at operating the register. They stopped calling him up. I never figured out if he was brilliant and dangerously bold, or if he was just a regular Kroger ****-up who was lucky to keep his job.
