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  • Current employer is not financially stable; need advice

    I work as a cashier for a *major grocery store chain*, and I overheard yesterday that my employer is not financially stable.

    I was told by the Customer Service Manager that every cashier must scan 25 items per minute for their entire shift. The location I work at is already short handed at the front-end. Baggers/courtesy clerks are also cashiering, but they are only being paid the bagger/courtesty clerk hourly rate.

    My feeling is that my employer wants to do more with less, and requiring the cashiers to scan 25 items per minute "allows" my employer to have less cashiers at the front-end so payroll is reduced.

    How should I go about my workday regarding all of the above?

    I am currently looking for a new job. Do I still need to give my employer my 2 weeks notice once I get a new job?

  • #2
    Do your best, but don't hurt yourself trying to get the quota done. Doing it RIGHT is better than doing it FAST.
    You technically don't *have* to give 2 weeks notice, but it's the professional thing to do. Even if your employers are horrible and liable to go belly up soon, don't be unprofessional. Give the proper notice.

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    • #3
      What should I put down as the reason why I am looking for a new job when applying for jobs?

      Comment


      • #4
        LadyJane is correct -- unless you have a contract that says otherwise, you can technically just walk out, tho it is a bit unprofessional. If you have managers/CWs there who have your respect, let them know.


        As for the "new job" reason: Seeking new opportunities, Desire to find a job with potential upward mobility (don't use this if it's a job where this just won't happen, such as another grocery store), etc. As with anything else on a resume, never use a negative word; always spin it to the positive (e.g. for an office job with serious potential for promotion later on: "I would like to expand my career horizons" instead of "I can no longer tolerate these sucky CW's and MiM's" )
        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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        • #5
          Personally I put in "lack of hours" when asked why I'm leaving
          My Guide to Oblivion

          "I resent the implication that I've gone mad, Sprocket."

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          • #6
            Quoth snugglegirl05 View Post
            How should I go about my workday regarding all of the above?
            Malicious compliance for the win. Make every effort to scan at 25 items per minute. If the customer tries to slows you down, refer them to customer service. For everything! Returns, price adjustments, voids, questions. Everything!

            If management doesn't like the extra customer service business, just point out that you are following their instructions.

            I do realize that may be hard to do.
            "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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            • #7
              That sounds like a nightmare situation -- 25 IPM. I also work as a cashier for a grocery store and you never know what might slow you down: a customer picking through their wallet for the correct change, a customer who can't get their debit/credit card to work, a customer who questions a price or decides to return something ...

              As for reasons for leaving, is distance an issue? I have half an eye on a different grocery store (no rush to leave this one, though) and if I do apply to this other store, "closer to home" will be my explanation (it's VERY accurate, LOL).
              Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
              ~ Mr Hero

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              • #8
                Quoth snugglegirl05 View Post
                What should I put down as the reason why I am looking for a new job when applying for jobs?
                Oh, pretty much anything that isn't trash-talking your past company. Looking for more experiences, need a job closer to X (home, school, your family, whatever).

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                • #9
                  Found an article on-line which states my current employer is rebranding itself because according to our customers, my current employer is trying to be too many things to everyone.

                  Apparently my current employer is trying to follow the Walmart model, but obviously it is not working.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth Ironclad Alibi View Post
                    Malicious compliance for the win. Make every effort to scan at 25 items per minute. If the customer tries to slows you down, refer them to customer service. For everything! Returns, price adjustments, voids, questions. Everything!
                    Going the "malicious compliance" route is only a good idea if you disagree with where your employer is going. If they're in poor financial shape, are they also cutting in the management department, or are they foisting the whole thing on the cashiers? If the latter, then yes, you might want to add to the load. If no, then your actions will only make it more likely for the whole thing to come tumbling down.

                    My advice is, keep looking for new work as you've been doing; if it'd help you look for work to have more time to do so, you might consider asking for fewer hours, if you're financially stable yourself.

                    Note that a lot of people are talking recession right now, and if so this might make things triply more difficult.

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                    • #11
                      According to one of my co-workers, the 2 baggers/courtesy clerks who are currently cashiering, are supposed to receive the hourly rate of a cashier in 2 months.

                      But with all the cost cutting measures currently happening, I wonder if that will happen.

                      Would any of you wait 2 months to receive the pay raise you are supposed to get if you were either one of them?

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                      • #12
                        That would depend on the financial situation I am in. It is easy to say that I would not accept that in my current situation. However, I remember the BS that I put up with because I could not afford to walk away.

                        On the plus side for them, they can now put "cashier" on their resume. It has probably opened them up to additional hours also.

                        So yeah, I could see that, and I would want it in writing.
                        Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                        Save the Ales!
                        Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                        • #13
                          If you're overall a pretty good employee and management is basically decent, of course there's always a few that make things miserable, I'd say just go in try your best and forget about it at the end of the day.

                          And keep looking for a new job. I think that it's probably a given to any prospective employer that you're not happy with your current job and that's why you're looking. Better hours and more opportunities are perfectly valid reasons to move on. Good luck with the job hunt.
                          I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

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                          • #14
                            Quoth snugglegirl05 View Post
                            I am currently looking for a new job. Do I still need to give my employer my 2 weeks notice once I get a new job?
                            There are strong arguments either way.
                            Ifwhen the store goes under they will give you less notice also, when you give a notice they will easily make that the longest fortnight of your life. Come to think of it, one sucky ex-supervisor treated me even worse (he already treated me like dirt) when he found out that I was interviewing elsewhere.
                            OTOH, bolting immediately might not look good to the new employer.
                            Last edited by taxguykarl; 11-05-2019, 08:53 PM.
                            I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                            Who is John Galt?
                            -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                            • #15
                              Quoth snugglegirl05 View Post
                              I am currently looking for a new job. Do I still need to give my employer my 2 weeks notice once I get a new job?
                              My brother has a standard policy on this: if an employer asks at hiring that he gives two-weeks notice if quitting, he says "will you give me two weeks notice if you decide to fire me?"
                              In most cases the answer to that is "no", and they totally understand that his answer is the same.

                              It is part of his broader policy of reciprocal behavior. For example, if he needs a day off he may say so at any time before the relevant schedule is posted: you get the same warning that I am unavailable that you give me that I am expected to work.

                              I do not have the same policies, but I also recognize that my desire to "go along" often results in my being taken advantage of, and I aspire to the fairness of his policies.

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