im a cashier/bagger and today i ended up out on lot for a good one and a half hours+
which is fine whatever kind of annoying but i do my job. but it started raining some and it was about 8.31 that i decided to go to my locker and get my stuff to leave. so i'm in the store around 8.33 or 8.34 walking to the break room and the female that is the stand-in supervisor/traffic director (wearing red vest but not an actual authority afaik) looks right at me and then i get called up to the front. and i noticed two employees having an angry exchange near the break room bordering on violence so i come back and tell the manager
anyway, thats not totally relevant but the "supervisor" asked what i was doing -- we've had this issue before. my clock-out time on the schedule is 8.45. the lot is very close to caught-up and the store has gotten very slow (after a busy, hectic day). it's just aggravating like i could literally stand in the lobby and not do **** but what is the sense in that
*question* is the 7-minute grace period an actual company policy, meaning is it something you can not be punished for, or does it only affect the time clock
now i am worried about them looking at the punch-in times and seeing that i failed to clock out on a break (you can technically be fired for purchases made on the clock)
the front end manager gets it, praises me for the work i do which is more than sufficient
the store manager is also appreciative because for the most part i have helped in different departments and come in early/stayed late.
this "supervisor" took it so personal for it to not really be something that should affect her at all. furthermore i see her fuming about it and then writing stuff down on the schedule. guess what tho, i waited until 8.45 to clock out
on a brighter note, i have an offer to work in the pharmacy from an employee i went to high school with. so that's what, a dollar thirty raise and then if i attend these training classes he was talking about i get a quarter raise each class. unless he was talking out of his ass, i am really looking forward to that
do you think if the pharmacy manager agrees to take me in the store manager will block it? is this something they can do?
Yeeaaahhh...So if you're off at 845, you would work until 845, then punch out, THEN get your stuff and leave once your off the clock. In a department like front end it would be a really good idea to let your supervisor know that you're off before you do any of this. That's when they say either "can you take care of x really quick before you go?" or "thank you, see you tomorrow" The seven minute window applies to how you get paid, as in hours aren't broken down into periods of less than 0.1 when they are added up. It doesn't mean you can come in 7 minutes late and leave 7 minutes early every day. The manager has every right to expect you to work until your off time unless you discussed it with them and got the go-ahead from them.
oh, well. nothing came of it at all. and i'm going in on my off day today and that will make eight days straight i have worked
if there is no work to be done i want to go
There is ALWAYS work to be done. If you have to, go down aisles and straighten up shelves. Go stock some groceries. Grab a broom and sweep. This is a problem I'm always having with associates at my store. If you can't find something to do, I will find something for you to do, but leaving early is throwing time down the drain that we can't get back. Every minute is valuable, especially with overtime limits and some of us already pushing those limits trying to make up the work that lower level associates don't do because "there's nothing to do".
While some people have power trips, I always let the good associates slide with stuff. These associates knew when I meant business, but sometimes you have to let associates have some freedom (specially if there is down time). I have always thought they should eliminate the 7 min rule and pay people in the clock per minute. Before electronic time clocks I'm sure the 15 mins pay cycles were easier, but with electric time clocks why not just pay people for the time the actually work. If most likely would save companies big $$ as most associates play the time clock game.
Under where I am in Roundy's at least, if you did that without MOD permission, you just committed job abandonment aka you self-terminated / resigned. My Store Director doesn't play at all with peeps who do stuff like this. Either you work till you are done, or "there's the door. Turn in your shirt / badge, and go clean your locker out." I never leave less than two minutes before my clock out time unless given specific authorization to by my CSR / Lead as it being ok to. Otherwise the Night Lead who is hourly management can still say to the situation above "go home, you're done, get out" as they are still the MOD in charge of the store.
Don't mess with things like this, as out by me, union will not be able to do much, if anything, about it if you walk off, then that is on you. This is because the union does take management's report into consideration. And out by me, the CSR is in charge of Front End along with whoever is manning Service Desk, period. You cross them, prepare to get a write up possibly. Cross the Front End Lead, however, you're guaranteed a write up and management meeting.
Like Anon says, there is always work to be done. I am even sometimes guilty of over working trying to finish what I am doing sometimes because it was so close to clock out time. But I like this job too much to be one who is just "i'll leave now, that sounds nice." You could easily set yourself up to be fired.
-- Edited by UC151 on Tuesday 13th of February 2018 12:56:52 AM
