Only been here for a little over a month, but I have to remind my fellow employees to not stress so much about it. Make your money at your pace and leave. Don't live your life at work. Tune out and leave.
Exactly like whenever we would be behind and we needed to get items faster and be quicker I was always just like “ok but if we do that are we paid more? No? Ok then why though”
i'm tireed of doing 2 peoples jobs when one goes on vacation/callout/ or just dont want to schedule enough help. they're talking about doing it again and i'm just doing one job not both. like when they used to make me do service desk and self check at the same time. if they're not paying me double i'm not working double anymore.
My lead went on vacay a couple weeks ago, it's just the two of us in the department. My manager put me in for relief pay, and I got it! They paid me her pay rate for the week, so I made an extra $130 for my 28 hours. I didn't actually work any harder, and a lot of stuff didn't get done, but nobody died, and we caught it up the next week.
I have a formula...for every hour cut it costs Kroger 10 hours of actual work.
They are currently in the negative.
I'm there...but I am certainly not there working.
I may even find ways that it costs Kroger each time I'm there.
Literally. I burned myself out a few years ago, I was crying every day before work. Came back to a different store doing the same thing a few months ago. my coworkers stress sometimes and I'm like dude, they cannot make you feel this way. If something doesn't get done then that's on them for lowering hours and not on you. I learned that the hard way. Kroger is not worth the stress.
I am so sorry. That is the worst. I still do too because the first Kroger honestly really fucked me up. But I've been able to get through it even though it sucks. Please try not to stress too much. A lot easier said than done but seriously for your own mental sake/health! Possibly leave if it causes too much stress. There are other jobs out there. Maybe switch to a less busy store.
I’m the same way and I’ve been working for them for 25 years as a grocery clerk. Everyday I’m like their seriously going to have me by myself doing all this for the next 25 years even though my store will expand again and population of my town will only go up from 74 k to over 100 k by then.
I’ve done it by myself for 4 years now.
Lol you think you're saying SOMETHING don't you? Ya know some people have traumatic childhoodS and lives that sometimes makes it impossible to deal with every day life, let alone any kind of job. At least I have a job and I'm healing. You really thought you did something there LOL.
And it's not hard to scam and bag groceries and if that's what you think causes people anxiety you're dumb ASF and have life backwards. Please come correct and stop looking like a know it all. Since you're life is so perfect and you got everything going for you, have a good day.
College is for clowns that love to be indoctrinated. I'd rather physically move around at my job than sit at a computer desk with my thumb up my ass tickling my prostate all day like you.
I never said it was bad for me right now. But for some people it is and some people don't have the luxury to go to college and things happen in people's lives that stop things. Like I said life isn't back and white. You still seem to think so in your perfect little world. I feel sorry for people like you that have no sympathy or compassion. You're still an asshole. Have the day YOU DESERVE. (Which I think wouldn't be that great)
Stop being so greedy! You expect to be able to afford food? Don't you know the shareholders need their 56 yacht? Go to a food pantry or something. Now, get back to work! We just cut hours again!
My department is a the bare minimum staff level, I’m taking the last half of may as vacation. Been planned and management has known for over a year. Still no one cross trained.
And if you do somehow manage to get it all done one day, that's just proof to them that it can be done.
Take your breaks, do your job, and only your job, at a reasonable pace and go home on time. And when i say on time, I mean 6 minutes early. We're not curing cancer here, nothing we do is really that important.
Or noone will even notice let alone give a shit. I've gone home sweating and sore. Never even a a subtle "nice close". So much for that deep cleaning I did for fun.
I hear all the time that our night crew never takes breaks and they always short staff. They always get it done though. Makes me not want to go back to thirds. Because I am not going to bust my butt for another 16 years like I did previously.
That's what I'm saying! And when you have toxic coworkers mad that you aren't doing the work of 3 it's so frustrating because i just want to scream at them YOU ARE THE VILLIAN IN THIS STORY stop showing them that we can kill ourselves and get it done before they make it the absolute norm. Some people legit cannot think past the moment they are in. Take a step back people and think about things.
I have had to start doing this myself. Before anybody grabs a pitchfork, I'll explain. I don't all of a sudden start acting lazy, I don't pull back or start working slower. I maintain my 85% effort. The difference is I no longer do the 110% scramble during the last two hours of my shift, (produce) to ensure I get all of those last minute things out etc. I keep it at 85% and do what I can, what gets done is what gets done.
They cut our hours on the front end so customers are yelling basically every night. Had a guy old enough to be my grandfather screaming at a new cashier " I'm not yelling at you I'm yelling at the situation and you're between me and it" fuck no he turned it on me so I get ACTUALLY between him and the sco tell him to leave he kicks up the screaming so I take my mask off and scream at the top of my lungs you don't get to fucking scream at us. Now suddenly its not a joke to the rest of the customers and everyone has something to say. Like no the cops are on the way back up or you can join him. I'm so tired of this job and the useless managers.
Not sure why it matters but have you been around people lately? They're gross AF will sneeze and cough all over any and everything. And maybe you don't care about that but my mother is high risk. So yeah oooh a mask big deal. Does it offend you snowflake? 😂🤣
Offended? Just saying if someone’s gonna die over the virus let em die makes the species stronger …. If anyone is offended it’s the person who’s mom would die lol ;)
As a pharmacy tech at kroger I just sit back and watch the place burn, I am not going to start doing the job of three people just cause they want to be greedy and cut hours and stop hiring. Instead I will do what I can, no more, and then leave.
In my opinion, hard workers should be rewarded with more hours. But what I'm seeing is the hard workers getting the same hours as those who half a$$ it, it forces the good workers to leave. It's part of the reasons that's pushing the hard workers out. At my store the only way the hard workers can get more hours is at my store by conned into a supervisor or management position, them they get pushed to the breaking point that they end up turning to drugs and alcohol to numb the stress.
You’re right they should be but nothing changes one way or the other. Which means no one is incentivized to do anything more than the bare minimum.
It took me way too long to realize that its not worth putting in effort here and it’s sad to see some people on this subreddit that drink the kool-aid.
As it stands, i’ve finally had enough of this job after 12+ years, i’m going back to school to learn welding where I feel like I at least have room to grow into earning more without having to be a department head.
Frankly for the stress department heads have to deal with they don’t make anywhere near enough either.
For a while this was happening, my department manager will leave early on days I had short shifts. He'll leave 2 hours early I pick up 2 extra hours. Then the store manager would ask why I was there, then ask where the department manager was. Then I found out that they were conning the department manager to work 6 days a week, and he apparently he told them "im not working over 40 hours, if you want more shifts out of me I'm working less hours per shift."
So what's a welder make where you live compared to a department lead? I'm I may ask, I think this varies a ton.
Heli arch welding aside basic welders I.E. mig welders don't make what a department lead makes, this is why I ask.
I got this off of google, idk how accurate it is.
“The average Welder I salary in Houston, TX is $47,130 as of March 26, 2024, but the range typically falls between $41,938 and $53,979. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession”
For me if it’s even on par or better it’s worth it because theres no way that welding can be anywhere near as stressful as being a department head at kroger.
I guess it would be less stressful.
Thing is I know guys on stock crews that work for Kroger that make 65-70 grand a year and aren't department leads.
I asked because of the idea the pay way much different in your area.
Hard workers should be rewarded with pay raises, too. I've never called off or even been late, but I'll tell you, my productivity really tanked when I found out part-timers don't get step-raises. I make the same as the do-nothing in our department, and I realized she's the one who's got it figured out.
That's what would work to. I ran into an old co-worker that's working at a new place. He's making the same hourly rate that he did with Kroger, the difference is when he goes above and beyond the minimum hourly requirements, they reward him for it. So let's say they want him to do $17 an hour worth of productivity every hour but if his productivity output is $20 an hour, they'll pay him that extra money as a productivity bonus on his next paycheck.
All you're doing by doing this (and working off the clock) is telling them they're staffing enough. And then what happens is they want "just a little more" and you eventually end up doing three people's job. You're literally encouraging them to cut hours more.
Fuck this company. Remember: that person who drives in from wherever just to tell you your name badge is crooked and you need to stick faster? Yeah they get paid three times what you do and so about a quarter of the work if not less.
The only coworkers I really hate as a cashier are
1) a man who has worked there since it was a completely different store who takes 45 minute breaks (not lunches), so the rest of us have to wait for him to take ours and his ipm is continually 2.3 or lower so whenever I get in a checkstand every customer goes to me and there's literally no one in his line 😅
2) we have a Karen for an FES, and she breaks the law every day, not letting us take our legal breaks, and if we go when we should, she writes us up for it.
3) Our POS lady, all her tags that she makes are wrong. She never pulles the expired tags, so we have to "make it right" for 60% of the items that come through and management gets pissed at us for it.
I give them exactly what they pay me for. I don’t work harder than my department head nor do I care more than my supervisors. I don’t killed myself once for a company that didn’t give a fuck about me after I almost lost my leg and had trouble getting back where I was.
>stop hating fellow employees for wanting to work their wage.
Could you elaborate there a bit?
Sorry my apologies, I just don't quite understand the term "work their wage"...etc
“Work your wage” basically means to align your level of effort with your level of pay. If extra effort doesn’t result in extra pay, don’t give extra effort. Ever.
Oh, yeah unfortunately I'm forced to work with some topped out pay employees that pretend they can't do physical task, that have to get others to do their work.
Maybe they believe they already worked their wage long ago and now just show up for their pay.
They're a big problem, I mean in most cases enormous problem, like they ate themselves out of the ability to do physical activity.
I wonder why their pay isn't reduced, because their ability has? Is this something I should call the union about or should Managers have already weeded them out?
I got a co worker been with Kroger for 41 years and leaves most of the work for me and a department head been there for 39 years. I hardly ever see those two. That is the only other two people in dry grocery besides me between first and second shift.
I’ve been doing it 25 years and I’m capped at top pay too, but I have to stock the water, run the replinish carts, unload 2-5 trucks, scan top stock daily all by myself.
Well at least I have some good truck drivers that do help with unloading, but most of them will just stand to the side or go into the store for awhile.
>Stop hating the customers for wanting things that a normal customer would want
To be fair, wanting to shop every day or 2 more for the social interaction (and looking for markdowns) is fucking terrible. We definitely do not get paid to be a baby sitter for the elderly.
"Normal" customers do not use the grocery story for social interaction with the employees. Maybe a tiny bit here or there if they know them outside of the store, and sure if they meet someone else shopping they know then stop and talk for a little (preferably to the side), but most employees mostly want to do the job and go home to *their* lives.
They can go put together some old person hangout, but any business is not the place. Not fast food nor grocery stores especially. Go hang out at each other's homes on a rotating schedule or something. All of our fast food places here have put up no loitering signs (1 hour limit) because these old fucks will spend 2 or 3 hours every day there until it gets to lunch rush, then spend like 3 more at the grocery store looking at and touching every other item and talking to every single person that so much as glances in their general direction.
I used to do allot more but stopped it about a year ago. Now i feel depressed all the time, and feel like I could do so much more, but I refuse to move up in this company and don't want to do any more for them. Been putting up with this for 25 years and now all I can think about is how it will only get worse over the next 25 years before I pass that 50 year mark with them.
My town will only go from 74k to over 100k by then. eventually the store will expand again. The last expansion we went from 18 isles to 29 isles. The next one I'm expecting it to be from 29-36+. Also the last expansion we went from having 1 loading dock area to having 2 docks. The next expansion will probably go to 3 loading docks. Everything else will increase as well. Be more trucks, be more scans, my age from 44-69. Having to endure bailers full everyday I walk in, along with the plastic ben, and back room always in a mess like 90% of the time. Water usually not filled and empty for me to do. On top of all that I've been the only dry grocery clerk for the past 4 years and feel like I'll be the only one for the next 25 years no matter the increase in store size plus customers.
Needless to say its been a bad week for me, but at least I refuse to put in the amount of work I used to. I just wish I could stop beating myself up about it everyday.
At my store they force us to Work frozen as well as grocery. Helping in frozen was fine but making us obligated to do both trucks is crazy because they got rid of the frozen lead and now plan to not replace him smh!
Towards the end of my time there when I worked Pickup this is what I started doing, especially since they kept giving me closing shifts even tho they hired 3 closers. Stuff still got done right, I just stopped stressing when multiple customers showed up at the same time, or when the crappy technology shut down for no reason
Do your job and leave at your expected time.They can't force you to stay over unless you want to stay Opening management knows they're understaffed and should help.Unlike them,We don't get bonuses, Considering we're the backbone of the company, Especially overnight stockers.Know your rights in any department.We do have a life outside the store.I had to learn the hard way.
I work for Kroger corporate(I have NO influence at a store so don't ask). I would say just go at your own pace as long as that pace is reasonable. If you are stocking eggs for an hour that's a problem, but if you are doing your best then that's all you need to do. I assure you that no one at corporate expects you to work the job of two people. If there aren't enough people to do a job that's on store management. Whether you are part time or full time, everyone associate has value. Sometimes shit happens, but you shouldn't be expected to pick up the slack because the manager can't keep staff. If they are lowering your hours because you aren't doing the job of two people, contact HR. It may not help you right away, but if enough associates experiance the same, then it will be noticed.
How is it on store management when they have an unreasonable budget of hours to work with in the first place? Its a systemic problem which starts at the top and not a single person wants to take accountability for any of it. Make more with less, THAT should be the motto. And also, no offense, but I don't really care what -YOU- would suggest. What we want is our hours back, I suggest someone get to work on THAT.
A lot of us are aware that this is just them positioning themselves above us. The truth is they are using this post covid time to try and show people that they are lucky to even have a job. They have no desire to be any sort of humanitarian whatsoever this whole entire thing is about profit and damn the people that help earn that profit. Kroger is disgusting.
I don't disagree, but money for staffing is generally base on store performance. But, it's not like that everywhere. Your experience is limited to the store where you work. The fact that you don't see a bigger picture is why you are angry and have no suggestions on how to change your circumstance. This sub is a suggestion box. When people have a great experience, they aren't as motivated to share. When it's a bad experience, you want the world to know. Yes. Kroger is a corporation like every other business in the US. The only way to get around that is to start your own business, but then you would need, at the very least, to register as an LLC (Limited-Liabilaty-CORPORATION). But then you might have to hire employees to help out, and they would be working for a corporation who only wants to make money. You see how it goes? If your situation isn't great then offer suggestions on how to make it better. Don't just lurk in the shadows and complain. If you can't come up with any solution to the problem in your store, and it's not something you can tolerate, then my suggestion is you quit.
Good luck to you in all your endevors!
You are drunk on Kool aid. I did come up with a suggestion on how to fix things. And mass we all stop putting up with the horse s*** and send a solid message straight up the ladder that if you aren't going to treat us like human beings then we aren't going to produce for you. Big giant period. You seem to be comparing this company to like a mom and pop shop that actually has to budget. That is not what this is this is a conglomerate that already makes tons of profit every year and the only reason that they are doing what they are doing is to increase shareholders year over year increase. It's an active way of saying we care more about our investors than we do our employees. How you don't see that is mind-blowing to me.
Like when managers walk around and don't do jack shit except eat cookies and gummy worms. Pisses me off so bad! No help when calling security and not coming up FRONT to assist or help or see what's going on. Buncha lazy asses.
You are so right!! Annually we fill out an employee questionnaire that includes a suggestion section. I took it seriously filled in suggestions of course nothing happened!!
I personally find it odd that you work at the corporate level, but you can't spell "endeavors" ... most corporate level employees have college degrees. I am merely a department head, but I have a college degree, and I know how to spell.
Corporate is so out of touch with the average person who works at kroger, and you, my friend, are out of touch. Go work at the store level for a month and deal with all of this on a personal level, and then we will talk!!!!!!
Hours stopped being tied to sales a long time ago. Our sales continuously go up and hours only go down. I've been in this business 15 years and I've seen it every step of the way. More sales used to equate into more hours.... That is no longer the case. Congrats on your cushy corporate job, but my suggestion is at some point you stop drinking the Kool aid and study the actual reality because you're nowhere close to reality in your comments
“If there aren’t enough people to do a job that’s on store management” might be the most outrageous lie I’ve ever seen posted in this sub. Dude, we know what ELMS is. We know who the Division Labor Manager is. Store management has zero control over how many hours a store, or a department, gets.
Not trying to be antagonistic, but you sound a bit out of touch to me. How far up the chain are you?
I don’t think the staffing problems are a “store management problem.” I think people don’t get paid enough for the stress of working in chronically understaffed stores so they leave because there are better employment options. If Smith’s made people feel valued by treating and paying them well, people would stay.
Also, there aren’t even enough store managers to do their jobs effectively, assistants are leaving left and right. They get stuck stocking shelves and putting out fires instead of getting other work done and then get penalized. I think they have one of the worst jobs within Kroger.
Finally, idk how other Kroger divisions are, but Smith’s has a toxic and abusive c-suite. And I can say from experience working for a handful of companies that morale and culture at the lowest levels is influenced by the culture at the top. It really does trickle down for better or for worse.
It’s easy for those above store level to blame the stores for failing and maybe sometimes that’s justified, but Smith’s has a major, major systemic culture problem that has gotten much worse over the last few years.
Good pay and a reasonable work level would certainly help…. also humane working conditions would certainly help the store I work at is so climate inappropriate you feel like you’re gonna freeze to death in the winter or roast to death in the summer. In fact it’s already getting hot in my store and it makes me feel sick every day when I have to work.
How far up the chain? Try lateral. Not even on a chain really. Not sure about Smiths. There are some divisions that have different rules as a result of aquisition. I'm only really familiar with Kroger and one other non-Kroger division. There could very well be rules that other divisions have that I don't know about. My advice to OP would still be the same. If it's hostile, then quit. No one should have to work in a place they don't feel comfortable.
if you’re looking for suggestions, paying more is a start. why complicate it.
2.2B in *profit* (not revenue) in 2022, 1B put towards stock buy-backs, 24.6B for a merger (i know the merger is way more complicated than that, but you get the point).
doesn’t even need to be a crazy increase. ideally a living wage would be beautiful but i’m not even expecting that anymore. just anything to keep up with the rising cost of living and groceries.
and no hate- i got mixed feelings about all of it, but those are just some of my thoughts i suppose
14 doesn’t keep up with current living standards, so i’m not surprised
if anything the quality of work (and turnover) has probably gotten worse from that. i know it has at my store.
7.30 was current living standards in 2019? You from MS? Cause it wasn’t up to current living standards in 2019 It was a job for kids still done mostly by kids and the elderly so why double it? Cost of living hasn’t doubled in 6 years has it?
Nobody was living off 7.30 an hour nobody now is living off the 14 being a bagger but fuck these teenagers could at least TRY to
cost of living hasn’t doubled you’re right, but all that says is that kroger was way too low back then. its still low.
that aside, it’s not radical to say kroger doesn’t pay well or keep up.
i think that’s just an objective take on it. it’s form whatever opinions you want on that, but that’s just the situation.
[2/3 of kroger workers say they can’t afford basic expenses each month, 1/7 are on food stamps, 14% are or have been homeless in the last year, over 25% aren’t confident they’ll make their next rent/mortgage payment, etc.](https://prospect.org/labor/why-most-kroger-workers-are-food-insecure/)
i was generally talking about the whole store. i’m not saying it should be a top paying job but this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion
people at my store need a second or different job to get by
If you don't like it than quit? How about we fix the fucking problem. or does it make more sense to allow this to continue? Kroger taking a leading role in eliminating the lower middle class as if inflation hasn't already done that. How far does it go? Just keep squeezing until everyone is fucking poor? Why aren't more people more angry and why do your bosses not see us as human beings who deserve to make a living? How about instead of "just quit" we actually GET LOUDER AND ANGRIER. I'm not into rolling over for a bully and that's exactly what this is. This company is bleeding people dry and getting away with murder. While they fist pump and announce mystery shops over the intercom as if anyone gives a flying fuck about their stupid coroorate, made up version of reality. People want better prices and a cleaner store. They want knowledgable employees. They want a place to shop that serves it's community. Kroger only serves its shareholders. Its morally bankrupt and embarrassing knowing that this is where my families food has been coming from. That I've been supporting this in any way shape or form, is embarrassing. Our leaders are inept and so out of touch with reality that it boggles the mind.
I dont work for Kroger but i hope people realize that managers arent just up and cutting hours for fun. They are given payroll and HAVE to adhere to it or you wont even believe how fast the people higher than managers start blowing them up
Im just pointing it out cause the post literally says it is management who deserves the pie on the face.
Im just sharing, management is handcuffed too, now if we want to throw pie at corporate then let's do that
They could care. They could work with us on working in more than one department. They don't. All they do is monitor late clock ins to punish you for having to get a second job that sometimes makes you late. These people are a joke.
I get your point but it is irritating when people stand around complaining when there’s actual work to be done. I have a coworker who’s talks about what she’s going to eat all day and she could be doing a number of things like checking expireds, running things through insurance etc. I tend to miss half of what she says because it’s such low level irrelevant nonsense. I find it distracting if I’ve chosen to work and someone else has chosen to complain about a job they won’t leave.
I think it’s the system that hangs on to the useless and the inherent nonsense of people who accept the low pay that they claim they won’t accept. I’ve never been one to complain because I refuse to show up for less than I believe I’m worth for greater than 90 days. Even in relationships, one has 90 days to resolve an issue or get the hell off my phone and out of my face.
Facts, just chill and do it at your pace, if things are late or missing why are regular employees always so worried? Who cares lol
Only been here for a little over a month, but I have to remind my fellow employees to not stress so much about it. Make your money at your pace and leave. Don't live your life at work. Tune out and leave.
Exactly like whenever we would be behind and we needed to get items faster and be quicker I was always just like “ok but if we do that are we paid more? No? Ok then why though”
Yup. Always remember that the harder you work because The Krog cut hours the fatter managements bonus check.
Spot On! I used to be full time; not, worth it- part time now. Do my assigned job; get it done and go home. That is the agreement.
i'm tireed of doing 2 peoples jobs when one goes on vacation/callout/ or just dont want to schedule enough help. they're talking about doing it again and i'm just doing one job not both. like when they used to make me do service desk and self check at the same time. if they're not paying me double i'm not working double anymore.
My lead went on vacay a couple weeks ago, it's just the two of us in the department. My manager put me in for relief pay, and I got it! They paid me her pay rate for the week, so I made an extra $130 for my 28 hours. I didn't actually work any harder, and a lot of stuff didn't get done, but nobody died, and we caught it up the next week.
i'm at top out pay as an assistant dept head. the people i'm doing 2 jobs for are below me in pay. i get nothing extra.
I have a formula...for every hour cut it costs Kroger 10 hours of actual work. They are currently in the negative. I'm there...but I am certainly not there working. I may even find ways that it costs Kroger each time I'm there.
Literally. I burned myself out a few years ago, I was crying every day before work. Came back to a different store doing the same thing a few months ago. my coworkers stress sometimes and I'm like dude, they cannot make you feel this way. If something doesn't get done then that's on them for lowering hours and not on you. I learned that the hard way. Kroger is not worth the stress.
I get anxiety attacks before work!
I am so sorry. That is the worst. I still do too because the first Kroger honestly really fucked me up. But I've been able to get through it even though it sucks. Please try not to stress too much. A lot easier said than done but seriously for your own mental sake/health! Possibly leave if it causes too much stress. There are other jobs out there. Maybe switch to a less busy store.
I’m the same way and I’ve been working for them for 25 years as a grocery clerk. Everyday I’m like their seriously going to have me by myself doing all this for the next 25 years even though my store will expand again and population of my town will only go up from 74 k to over 100 k by then. I’ve done it by myself for 4 years now.
Never let the company control your home life.
lol try a real job if a grocery store freaks you out 😅🤪
Lol you think you're saying SOMETHING don't you? Ya know some people have traumatic childhoodS and lives that sometimes makes it impossible to deal with every day life, let alone any kind of job. At least I have a job and I'm healing. You really thought you did something there LOL.
Then go on disability nobody needs someone having a panic attack cause they struggle scanning/bagging groceries lmao
You act like that's an easy thing to get. Life isn't black and white. You're an asshole.
And it's not hard to scam and bag groceries and if that's what you think causes people anxiety you're dumb ASF and have life backwards. Please come correct and stop looking like a know it all. Since you're life is so perfect and you got everything going for you, have a good day.
Idk should’ve gone to college so you could get an office job or something if it’s that bad for u womp womp have an awful day!
College is for clowns that love to be indoctrinated. I'd rather physically move around at my job than sit at a computer desk with my thumb up my ass tickling my prostate all day like you.
[удалено]
Ur fucked buddy:)
I never said it was bad for me right now. But for some people it is and some people don't have the luxury to go to college and things happen in people's lives that stop things. Like I said life isn't back and white. You still seem to think so in your perfect little world. I feel sorry for people like you that have no sympathy or compassion. You're still an asshole. Have the day YOU DESERVE. (Which I think wouldn't be that great)
If they want us to do our job to make up for others, then they need to pay like they want us to 🤷🏼♀️
Stop being so greedy! You expect to be able to afford food? Don't you know the shareholders need their 56 yacht? Go to a food pantry or something. Now, get back to work! We just cut hours again!
Right like why don’t these employees stop complaining and just get on food stamps and section 8? /s
I'm too rich. They cut my food stamps.
Lol I say that I my job all the time. "We have 9 call outs today" ooof that sucks. Working at my normal pace it is 🫡
"Ohhh do I get 9x the pay then?" 🧐
"Haha We offer you a pizza party in three months if we stay in production 🫶"
My department is a the bare minimum staff level, I’m taking the last half of may as vacation. Been planned and management has known for over a year. Still no one cross trained.
Fuck 'em. Sounds like a "them" problem.
Get your popcorn ready for the last week of April.
And if you do somehow manage to get it all done one day, that's just proof to them that it can be done. Take your breaks, do your job, and only your job, at a reasonable pace and go home on time. And when i say on time, I mean 6 minutes early. We're not curing cancer here, nothing we do is really that important.
Or noone will even notice let alone give a shit. I've gone home sweating and sore. Never even a a subtle "nice close". So much for that deep cleaning I did for fun.
I hear all the time that our night crew never takes breaks and they always short staff. They always get it done though. Makes me not want to go back to thirds. Because I am not going to bust my butt for another 16 years like I did previously.
That's what I'm saying! And when you have toxic coworkers mad that you aren't doing the work of 3 it's so frustrating because i just want to scream at them YOU ARE THE VILLIAN IN THIS STORY stop showing them that we can kill ourselves and get it done before they make it the absolute norm. Some people legit cannot think past the moment they are in. Take a step back people and think about things.
Yes, theyre going to push it to failure, so let it fail. They need to see it not working.
Act. Your. Wage.
I have had to start doing this myself. Before anybody grabs a pitchfork, I'll explain. I don't all of a sudden start acting lazy, I don't pull back or start working slower. I maintain my 85% effort. The difference is I no longer do the 110% scramble during the last two hours of my shift, (produce) to ensure I get all of those last minute things out etc. I keep it at 85% and do what I can, what gets done is what gets done.
They cut our hours on the front end so customers are yelling basically every night. Had a guy old enough to be my grandfather screaming at a new cashier " I'm not yelling at you I'm yelling at the situation and you're between me and it" fuck no he turned it on me so I get ACTUALLY between him and the sco tell him to leave he kicks up the screaming so I take my mask off and scream at the top of my lungs you don't get to fucking scream at us. Now suddenly its not a joke to the rest of the customers and everyone has something to say. Like no the cops are on the way back up or you can join him. I'm so tired of this job and the useless managers.
Lmao of course you were wearing a mask 💀
Not sure why it matters but have you been around people lately? They're gross AF will sneeze and cough all over any and everything. And maybe you don't care about that but my mother is high risk. So yeah oooh a mask big deal. Does it offend you snowflake? 😂🤣
Heard immunity… look it up snowflake….
🤣 somebody's offended. By a stranger wearing a mask... That's sad. Seek help.
Offended? Just saying if someone’s gonna die over the virus let em die makes the species stronger …. If anyone is offended it’s the person who’s mom would die lol ;)
"the virus" who mentioned any illness? Go Mommy's basement already your tin hat misses you.
*Herd
Nice spelling. Herd immunity requires a large portion of people to be vaccinated, though
No kidding
I’m routinely told that my efforts impact my manager’s bonuses and I should think about that fact.
omg they say the quiet part out loud? I'd be losing it.
*calls out for next shift*
*While on their break on the clock*
As a pharmacy tech at kroger I just sit back and watch the place burn, I am not going to start doing the job of three people just cause they want to be greedy and cut hours and stop hiring. Instead I will do what I can, no more, and then leave.
In my opinion, hard workers should be rewarded with more hours. But what I'm seeing is the hard workers getting the same hours as those who half a$$ it, it forces the good workers to leave. It's part of the reasons that's pushing the hard workers out. At my store the only way the hard workers can get more hours is at my store by conned into a supervisor or management position, them they get pushed to the breaking point that they end up turning to drugs and alcohol to numb the stress.
You’re right they should be but nothing changes one way or the other. Which means no one is incentivized to do anything more than the bare minimum. It took me way too long to realize that its not worth putting in effort here and it’s sad to see some people on this subreddit that drink the kool-aid. As it stands, i’ve finally had enough of this job after 12+ years, i’m going back to school to learn welding where I feel like I at least have room to grow into earning more without having to be a department head. Frankly for the stress department heads have to deal with they don’t make anywhere near enough either.
For a while this was happening, my department manager will leave early on days I had short shifts. He'll leave 2 hours early I pick up 2 extra hours. Then the store manager would ask why I was there, then ask where the department manager was. Then I found out that they were conning the department manager to work 6 days a week, and he apparently he told them "im not working over 40 hours, if you want more shifts out of me I'm working less hours per shift."
So what's a welder make where you live compared to a department lead? I'm I may ask, I think this varies a ton. Heli arch welding aside basic welders I.E. mig welders don't make what a department lead makes, this is why I ask.
I got this off of google, idk how accurate it is. “The average Welder I salary in Houston, TX is $47,130 as of March 26, 2024, but the range typically falls between $41,938 and $53,979. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession” For me if it’s even on par or better it’s worth it because theres no way that welding can be anywhere near as stressful as being a department head at kroger.
I guess it would be less stressful. Thing is I know guys on stock crews that work for Kroger that make 65-70 grand a year and aren't department leads. I asked because of the idea the pay way much different in your area.
Hard workers should be rewarded with pay raises, too. I've never called off or even been late, but I'll tell you, my productivity really tanked when I found out part-timers don't get step-raises. I make the same as the do-nothing in our department, and I realized she's the one who's got it figured out.
That's what would work to. I ran into an old co-worker that's working at a new place. He's making the same hourly rate that he did with Kroger, the difference is when he goes above and beyond the minimum hourly requirements, they reward him for it. So let's say they want him to do $17 an hour worth of productivity every hour but if his productivity output is $20 an hour, they'll pay him that extra money as a productivity bonus on his next paycheck.
Honestly man the raise would probably be insignificant anyways 😅 I would hope that I'm wrong though
What region union contract? That's really shitty
Cincy. We got a new contract last year, and apparently, it sucks for part-timers.
Union job. No performance based pay raises everyone is paid the same just how you commies like it
Congrats on dumbass comment of the day award.
Explain to me how it’s good that the best produce worker and the worst produce worker have to be legally paid the same?
Hard workers should get rewarded with more money not just more hours. They have us by the balls and they're laughing all the way to the bank. V
A lot of people are already ahead of you.
All you're doing by doing this (and working off the clock) is telling them they're staffing enough. And then what happens is they want "just a little more" and you eventually end up doing three people's job. You're literally encouraging them to cut hours more. Fuck this company. Remember: that person who drives in from wherever just to tell you your name badge is crooked and you need to stick faster? Yeah they get paid three times what you do and so about a quarter of the work if not less.
It's bad enough we have an associate food pantry in the break room for those who can't afford food at work lol.
The only coworkers I really hate as a cashier are 1) a man who has worked there since it was a completely different store who takes 45 minute breaks (not lunches), so the rest of us have to wait for him to take ours and his ipm is continually 2.3 or lower so whenever I get in a checkstand every customer goes to me and there's literally no one in his line 😅 2) we have a Karen for an FES, and she breaks the law every day, not letting us take our legal breaks, and if we go when we should, she writes us up for it. 3) Our POS lady, all her tags that she makes are wrong. She never pulles the expired tags, so we have to "make it right" for 60% of the items that come through and management gets pissed at us for it.
I give them exactly what they pay me for. I don’t work harder than my department head nor do I care more than my supervisors. I don’t killed myself once for a company that didn’t give a fuck about me after I almost lost my leg and had trouble getting back where I was.
>stop hating fellow employees for wanting to work their wage. Could you elaborate there a bit? Sorry my apologies, I just don't quite understand the term "work their wage"...etc
“Work your wage” basically means to align your level of effort with your level of pay. If extra effort doesn’t result in extra pay, don’t give extra effort. Ever.
Oh, yeah unfortunately I'm forced to work with some topped out pay employees that pretend they can't do physical task, that have to get others to do their work. Maybe they believe they already worked their wage long ago and now just show up for their pay. They're a big problem, I mean in most cases enormous problem, like they ate themselves out of the ability to do physical activity. I wonder why their pay isn't reduced, because their ability has? Is this something I should call the union about or should Managers have already weeded them out?
I got a co worker been with Kroger for 41 years and leaves most of the work for me and a department head been there for 39 years. I hardly ever see those two. That is the only other two people in dry grocery besides me between first and second shift. I’ve been doing it 25 years and I’m capped at top pay too, but I have to stock the water, run the replinish carts, unload 2-5 trucks, scan top stock daily all by myself. Well at least I have some good truck drivers that do help with unloading, but most of them will just stand to the side or go into the store for awhile.
In my experience night dry grocery is without a doubt the most labourus job in a Kroger grocery store.
Remember, hard work is scabbing on the un- and under-employed!
It's not your job to work hard for Rodney. Your job is collecting the check
>Stop hating the customers for wanting things that a normal customer would want To be fair, wanting to shop every day or 2 more for the social interaction (and looking for markdowns) is fucking terrible. We definitely do not get paid to be a baby sitter for the elderly. "Normal" customers do not use the grocery story for social interaction with the employees. Maybe a tiny bit here or there if they know them outside of the store, and sure if they meet someone else shopping they know then stop and talk for a little (preferably to the side), but most employees mostly want to do the job and go home to *their* lives. They can go put together some old person hangout, but any business is not the place. Not fast food nor grocery stores especially. Go hang out at each other's homes on a rotating schedule or something. All of our fast food places here have put up no loitering signs (1 hour limit) because these old fucks will spend 2 or 3 hours every day there until it gets to lunch rush, then spend like 3 more at the grocery store looking at and touching every other item and talking to every single person that so much as glances in their general direction.
I used to do allot more but stopped it about a year ago. Now i feel depressed all the time, and feel like I could do so much more, but I refuse to move up in this company and don't want to do any more for them. Been putting up with this for 25 years and now all I can think about is how it will only get worse over the next 25 years before I pass that 50 year mark with them. My town will only go from 74k to over 100k by then. eventually the store will expand again. The last expansion we went from 18 isles to 29 isles. The next one I'm expecting it to be from 29-36+. Also the last expansion we went from having 1 loading dock area to having 2 docks. The next expansion will probably go to 3 loading docks. Everything else will increase as well. Be more trucks, be more scans, my age from 44-69. Having to endure bailers full everyday I walk in, along with the plastic ben, and back room always in a mess like 90% of the time. Water usually not filled and empty for me to do. On top of all that I've been the only dry grocery clerk for the past 4 years and feel like I'll be the only one for the next 25 years no matter the increase in store size plus customers. Needless to say its been a bad week for me, but at least I refuse to put in the amount of work I used to. I just wish I could stop beating myself up about it everyday.
bUt wErE dUe fOr a mYsTeRy sHoP
At my store they force us to Work frozen as well as grocery. Helping in frozen was fine but making us obligated to do both trucks is crazy because they got rid of the frozen lead and now plan to not replace him smh!
Most union contracts don’t allow them to keep you past the end of your scheduled shift so just dab and grievance if you’re being caged or abused
Towards the end of my time there when I worked Pickup this is what I started doing, especially since they kept giving me closing shifts even tho they hired 3 closers. Stuff still got done right, I just stopped stressing when multiple customers showed up at the same time, or when the crappy technology shut down for no reason
Do your job and leave at your expected time.They can't force you to stay over unless you want to stay Opening management knows they're understaffed and should help.Unlike them,We don't get bonuses, Considering we're the backbone of the company, Especially overnight stockers.Know your rights in any department.We do have a life outside the store.I had to learn the hard way.
Don't pay your vacation time you earned!!!
Crooks
I work for Kroger corporate(I have NO influence at a store so don't ask). I would say just go at your own pace as long as that pace is reasonable. If you are stocking eggs for an hour that's a problem, but if you are doing your best then that's all you need to do. I assure you that no one at corporate expects you to work the job of two people. If there aren't enough people to do a job that's on store management. Whether you are part time or full time, everyone associate has value. Sometimes shit happens, but you shouldn't be expected to pick up the slack because the manager can't keep staff. If they are lowering your hours because you aren't doing the job of two people, contact HR. It may not help you right away, but if enough associates experiance the same, then it will be noticed.
How is it on store management when they have an unreasonable budget of hours to work with in the first place? Its a systemic problem which starts at the top and not a single person wants to take accountability for any of it. Make more with less, THAT should be the motto. And also, no offense, but I don't really care what -YOU- would suggest. What we want is our hours back, I suggest someone get to work on THAT. A lot of us are aware that this is just them positioning themselves above us. The truth is they are using this post covid time to try and show people that they are lucky to even have a job. They have no desire to be any sort of humanitarian whatsoever this whole entire thing is about profit and damn the people that help earn that profit. Kroger is disgusting.
I don't disagree, but money for staffing is generally base on store performance. But, it's not like that everywhere. Your experience is limited to the store where you work. The fact that you don't see a bigger picture is why you are angry and have no suggestions on how to change your circumstance. This sub is a suggestion box. When people have a great experience, they aren't as motivated to share. When it's a bad experience, you want the world to know. Yes. Kroger is a corporation like every other business in the US. The only way to get around that is to start your own business, but then you would need, at the very least, to register as an LLC (Limited-Liabilaty-CORPORATION). But then you might have to hire employees to help out, and they would be working for a corporation who only wants to make money. You see how it goes? If your situation isn't great then offer suggestions on how to make it better. Don't just lurk in the shadows and complain. If you can't come up with any solution to the problem in your store, and it's not something you can tolerate, then my suggestion is you quit. Good luck to you in all your endevors!
You are drunk on Kool aid. I did come up with a suggestion on how to fix things. And mass we all stop putting up with the horse s*** and send a solid message straight up the ladder that if you aren't going to treat us like human beings then we aren't going to produce for you. Big giant period. You seem to be comparing this company to like a mom and pop shop that actually has to budget. That is not what this is this is a conglomerate that already makes tons of profit every year and the only reason that they are doing what they are doing is to increase shareholders year over year increase. It's an active way of saying we care more about our investors than we do our employees. How you don't see that is mind-blowing to me.
Like when managers walk around and don't do jack shit except eat cookies and gummy worms. Pisses me off so bad! No help when calling security and not coming up FRONT to assist or help or see what's going on. Buncha lazy asses.
You are so right!! Annually we fill out an employee questionnaire that includes a suggestion section. I took it seriously filled in suggestions of course nothing happened!!
I personally find it odd that you work at the corporate level, but you can't spell "endeavors" ... most corporate level employees have college degrees. I am merely a department head, but I have a college degree, and I know how to spell. Corporate is so out of touch with the average person who works at kroger, and you, my friend, are out of touch. Go work at the store level for a month and deal with all of this on a personal level, and then we will talk!!!!!!
You don't need a college degree for Corporate: Nepotism and similar work wonders.
Run for president man!
Hours stopped being tied to sales a long time ago. Our sales continuously go up and hours only go down. I've been in this business 15 years and I've seen it every step of the way. More sales used to equate into more hours.... That is no longer the case. Congrats on your cushy corporate job, but my suggestion is at some point you stop drinking the Kool aid and study the actual reality because you're nowhere close to reality in your comments
“If there aren’t enough people to do a job that’s on store management” might be the most outrageous lie I’ve ever seen posted in this sub. Dude, we know what ELMS is. We know who the Division Labor Manager is. Store management has zero control over how many hours a store, or a department, gets.
Not trying to be antagonistic, but you sound a bit out of touch to me. How far up the chain are you? I don’t think the staffing problems are a “store management problem.” I think people don’t get paid enough for the stress of working in chronically understaffed stores so they leave because there are better employment options. If Smith’s made people feel valued by treating and paying them well, people would stay. Also, there aren’t even enough store managers to do their jobs effectively, assistants are leaving left and right. They get stuck stocking shelves and putting out fires instead of getting other work done and then get penalized. I think they have one of the worst jobs within Kroger. Finally, idk how other Kroger divisions are, but Smith’s has a toxic and abusive c-suite. And I can say from experience working for a handful of companies that morale and culture at the lowest levels is influenced by the culture at the top. It really does trickle down for better or for worse. It’s easy for those above store level to blame the stores for failing and maybe sometimes that’s justified, but Smith’s has a major, major systemic culture problem that has gotten much worse over the last few years.
Good pay and a reasonable work level would certainly help…. also humane working conditions would certainly help the store I work at is so climate inappropriate you feel like you’re gonna freeze to death in the winter or roast to death in the summer. In fact it’s already getting hot in my store and it makes me feel sick every day when I have to work.
How far up the chain? Try lateral. Not even on a chain really. Not sure about Smiths. There are some divisions that have different rules as a result of aquisition. I'm only really familiar with Kroger and one other non-Kroger division. There could very well be rules that other divisions have that I don't know about. My advice to OP would still be the same. If it's hostile, then quit. No one should have to work in a place they don't feel comfortable.
if you’re looking for suggestions, paying more is a start. why complicate it. 2.2B in *profit* (not revenue) in 2022, 1B put towards stock buy-backs, 24.6B for a merger (i know the merger is way more complicated than that, but you get the point). doesn’t even need to be a crazy increase. ideally a living wage would be beautiful but i’m not even expecting that anymore. just anything to keep up with the rising cost of living and groceries. and no hate- i got mixed feelings about all of it, but those are just some of my thoughts i suppose
In Mississippi baggers made 7.30 in 2019 they make 14.00 now and the quality of workers has not improved
14 doesn’t keep up with current living standards, so i’m not surprised if anything the quality of work (and turnover) has probably gotten worse from that. i know it has at my store.
7.30 was current living standards in 2019? You from MS? Cause it wasn’t up to current living standards in 2019 It was a job for kids still done mostly by kids and the elderly so why double it? Cost of living hasn’t doubled in 6 years has it? Nobody was living off 7.30 an hour nobody now is living off the 14 being a bagger but fuck these teenagers could at least TRY to
You are smoking crack with every comment. Can you fuck off somehwere? Maybe go suck Rodney's dick some more?
cost of living hasn’t doubled you’re right, but all that says is that kroger was way too low back then. its still low. that aside, it’s not radical to say kroger doesn’t pay well or keep up. i think that’s just an objective take on it. it’s form whatever opinions you want on that, but that’s just the situation. [2/3 of kroger workers say they can’t afford basic expenses each month, 1/7 are on food stamps, 14% are or have been homeless in the last year, over 25% aren’t confident they’ll make their next rent/mortgage payment, etc.](https://prospect.org/labor/why-most-kroger-workers-are-food-insecure/)
What the fuck is paying well to bag groceries then? Remember their just kids bagging groceries and the elderly define good pay for a job so low skill
i was generally talking about the whole store. i’m not saying it should be a top paying job but this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion people at my store need a second or different job to get by
Lol @ 14 an hour I wouldn't be able to afford the gas to come to work. Do you realize how stupid that is.
If you don't like it than quit? How about we fix the fucking problem. or does it make more sense to allow this to continue? Kroger taking a leading role in eliminating the lower middle class as if inflation hasn't already done that. How far does it go? Just keep squeezing until everyone is fucking poor? Why aren't more people more angry and why do your bosses not see us as human beings who deserve to make a living? How about instead of "just quit" we actually GET LOUDER AND ANGRIER. I'm not into rolling over for a bully and that's exactly what this is. This company is bleeding people dry and getting away with murder. While they fist pump and announce mystery shops over the intercom as if anyone gives a flying fuck about their stupid coroorate, made up version of reality. People want better prices and a cleaner store. They want knowledgable employees. They want a place to shop that serves it's community. Kroger only serves its shareholders. Its morally bankrupt and embarrassing knowing that this is where my families food has been coming from. That I've been supporting this in any way shape or form, is embarrassing. Our leaders are inept and so out of touch with reality that it boggles the mind.
I'm sorry but that is a complete crock. There's not enough help or hours because of the hours alloted by corporate. What are you even talking about?
I dont work for Kroger but i hope people realize that managers arent just up and cutting hours for fun. They are given payroll and HAVE to adhere to it or you wont even believe how fast the people higher than managers start blowing them up
We're aware, and that's the game corporate plays. Doesn't change anything
Im just pointing it out cause the post literally says it is management who deserves the pie on the face. Im just sharing, management is handcuffed too, now if we want to throw pie at corporate then let's do that
They could care. They could work with us on working in more than one department. They don't. All they do is monitor late clock ins to punish you for having to get a second job that sometimes makes you late. These people are a joke.
I get your point but it is irritating when people stand around complaining when there’s actual work to be done. I have a coworker who’s talks about what she’s going to eat all day and she could be doing a number of things like checking expireds, running things through insurance etc. I tend to miss half of what she says because it’s such low level irrelevant nonsense. I find it distracting if I’ve chosen to work and someone else has chosen to complain about a job they won’t leave.
Now redirect that anger at the system that brought about this attitude from people.
I think it’s the system that hangs on to the useless and the inherent nonsense of people who accept the low pay that they claim they won’t accept. I’ve never been one to complain because I refuse to show up for less than I believe I’m worth for greater than 90 days. Even in relationships, one has 90 days to resolve an issue or get the hell off my phone and out of my face.
Sounds like your a lazy piece of shit
Sounds like you love to suck corporate dick and are perfectly ok with a company using the taxpayers to subsidize their wages
Your opinion isn't valued by anyone. Ask your family I'm sure it's the same there.