Re: I can't wait for LIDL to come to my town! I'm so sick of every grocery store ripping me a new ass for basic products!
Posted by:
random advice
()
Date: May 24, 2017 04:05PM
Ok people- let me be honest right here.
I was working @Giant Food when I was 17/18 (so ~1995/1996). I worked there for about 6 months. My car broke down and I could no longer get to work, there were no buses near the store either, I honestly tried to get to work but could not, a $25 taxi ride each way would have eaten up my 15 hours a week I got anyway.
I called the manager and said so, they accepted my resignation over the phone, asked me to put it in writing and send it to them and I did, and I never heard another peep from them. I even walked in on my final payday having been able to borrow my mom's car for the day to get there and got my final paycheck with no incident or a word from HR, even dropped off another copy of the letter I mailed and they had it in my file which they showed me they received it.... they were sad to see me go and said I could reapply when i got my car situation straightened out.
TWENTY YEARS LATER ( which made it last year) I applied for a part-time job there needing extra cash on top of my 9-5. They rejected me for being TERMINATED before. I couldn't even get to the application as soon as I put in my SSN I was rejected saying I was ineligible to apply due to past work history. How the fuck???
So I call my old store- since the takeover by AHOLD happened, of course they had NO record of me having worked in said store (when I did and I have the old paystubs to prove it I am a pack rat I admit), but they said the records were sent to some central office. I called said office in pennsylvania to inquire, they said all my file said was terminated and NO word of me having that conversation with said manager or even the copy of the letter I put in writing and mailed to them. No records except a computer printout that said TERMINATED. I argued I was not and resigned and they didn't care "we have to go by what the computer says".
I didn't know retailers kept records for THAT LONG. I thought industry standard was 10 years?
Just be careful if you take ANY retail jobs, don't resign/quit without putting it in writing, sending it CERTIFIED MAIL (although that would not have helped me now 20 years later as the USPS recycles tracking numbers after so many years but legally it would have helped if i wished to take it there), and even getting notes on the managers name, date and time you spoke, and for further assurance when you leave said job get it IN WRITING FROM HR that you ARE eligible for rehire.
Otherwise, expect them to not take you back if you ever needed to go back in the future for whatever reason. They have done it to others, I got the HR rep to admit that on the phone, during the transition those that did not have paperwork in their file were all marked TERMINATED if there was no paper proof that they were NOT. All because someone in the company "lost a lot of the old paperwork" they got lazy.
I mean I am not mad- just disappointed. I of course found a better job a week later.
Just a warning to those working retail as a "stop gap" job until they find something better. Leave on GOOD TERMS and GET IT IN WRITING FROM THEM ON THEIR LETTERHEAD YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR REHIRE.
But DO apply for Aldi/Lidi/Trader Joes, they pay the most in grocery. About $11-12 per hour to start.
Harris Teeter pays about $10 per hour to everyone- but good luck getting hours. They love to hire you, gas you up- then put you on the schedule for only 10 hours a week. No one can live off that!!
Giant- still $9 to start, I asked the cashier at the store i went to the other day.