Every time we get a new hire in the deli, they work a few Sundays (our busiest day) and decide "I'm going to be unavailable on weekends from now on." Back when I was first hired many years ago, if you were a new hire you had to work weekends and evenings. But now it seems like they give permanent weekends off to whoever requests it. So it never fails, we get a new hire and they immediately request weekends off. Which leads to us being severely understaffed on those days because no one wants to work them.
I have to work weekends because I need some weekdays off, but its so annoying when you look at the schedule and it's just a sea of unavailables and I'm the only one working. I don't see why they approve all these requests. I don't mind working weekends but I hate having an endless line and no one to help me.
I don't work in the deli, but it sorta sounds like your store has department heads and/or management that are just like mine. Those responsible for hiring/writing schedules at my store seem to pretty much give in to whatever availability/requests new hires want because my store, and seemingly Kroger in general, has such a hard time hiring/retaining help. The fear is if the availability request change/time off requests are denied, the new employee will just up and quit, once again leaving department(s) even more understaffed than they already are. It's unfair, I know, but that's the reality of the situation nowadays at Kroger.
This is going on at every Kroger store. At my store a few weeks ago my head cashier had to start making people with over twenty years work weekends because management was telling new hires that they could have weekends off. When I started working for Kroger 31 years ago you worked weekends regardless. I had over twenty years before I could get weekends off. Management finally started telling new hires they had to change their availability. Probably because older employees was complaining about this. New employees comes in and think that they should get the early shifts weekends off.
I'm having a similar situation right now. We have two new hires, who are great, really great so far. But the problem? One has morning only availability and the other "prefers" mornings and we're basically giving in to her. One of my veteran employees is only available in mornings/afternoons, and the other person is the baker who always works early mornings. So basically, i'm the only one right now who can close, and as dept. head, i can not and should not be closing every night. So we really never have anyone after 4pm in the bakery. It's better than only running a dept on 3 people, but since when did new hires ever have this much power?
It all changed in 2014, part of it to do with CORE/Health Care Laws and also the retirement of "Kroger Lifers" that started in 70/80's. 90's/00's is when retail expanded and over saturated the market and caused wages to be stagnant, because everyone was competing on price. Also, with the expansion of the 24/7 word, people became accustom to "Service on Demand" which forced expanded hours and services. Its actually only going to get worse and worse, in the next 5-10 years when the remaining "Baby Boomers" retire.
Every time we get a new hire in the deli, they work a few Sundays (our busiest day) and decide "I'm going to be unavailable on weekends from now on." Back when I was first hired many years ago, if you were a new hire you had to work weekends and evenings. But now it seems like they give permanent weekends off to whoever requests it. So it never fails, we get a new hire and they immediately request weekends off. Which leads to us being severely understaffed on those days because no one wants to work them.
I have to work weekends because I need some weekdays off, but its so annoying when you look at the schedule and it's just a sea of unavailables and I'm the only one working. I don't see why they approve all these requests. I don't mind working weekends but I hate having an endless line and no one to help me.
I thought as a new hire you had to work evenings and weekends until your probation period is over. Then after that it goes on seniority. Those who have higher seniority than the new newer ones can claim those days. Talk to your union. I would. Seniority has power over the hours and days of the week. Read your contract. That is the only thing seniority has power over
Correct, items submitted in eScheduler are considered a request in Kroger's eyes. When Associates submit something in eScheduler they see it as "this is my availability...PERIOD", its too easy to request/change whatever you want to change. eSchduler should ideally be setup to allow changed, but changes within set guidelines. Have a setting in eScheduler that does not allow an availability to end before 9/10pm, and makes availability on weekends a required field.
when I was hired i requested sunday off for religious reasons, and because that is also the only day that hubby has off from his job that we can spend together. All of my other days off (I work PT for kroger, I have another job) are on weekdays and I have to say I like it that way, I can get more done because more things are open, and everyone else is at work, so if I have to do something like get my oil changed, I can do it without waiting in a huge line :)
What I REALLY hate is them hiring these young kids, who were supposed to work front end, then they stick them in the back with us and they cane use box cutters or use the baler -_-
-- Edited by TheDragoness on Wednesday 25th of April 2018 09:43:10 AM
Thats the new Kroger way. Hire anyone who applies and can be hired, kiss their ass, let them do whatever they want and treat your hard workers like ****.
Thats the new Kroger way. Hire anyone who applies and can be hired, kiss their ass, let them do whatever they want and treat your hard workers like ****.
That's because all Kroger wants is a never ending supply of new hires that last maybe six months, or a year, at most. Those of us that stick around year after year seem to be viewed little more as an ever increasing cost (rather than an asset) because we make more money, get more paid time off, get a pension a so on. Kroger would rather have cheap help that has earned no raises or benefits... but the trade-off is you're getting people with less experience and potentially people that are less reliable/care less. Maybe if Kroger treated long time employees better, there would be more long term employees and the stores would be in better shape.
Every time we get a new hire in the deli, they work a few Sundays (our busiest day) and decide "I'm going to be unavailable on weekends from now on." Back when I was first hired many years ago, if you were a new hire you had to work weekends and evenings. But now it seems like they give permanent weekends off to whoever requests it. So it never fails, we get a new hire and they immediately request weekends off. Which leads to us being severely understaffed on those days because no one wants to work them.
I have to work weekends because I need some weekdays off, but its so annoying when you look at the schedule and it's just a sea of unavailables and I'm the only one working. I don't see why they approve all these requests. I don't mind working weekends but I hate having an endless line and no one to help me.
I would like to say that is the case at my store. But it's the opposite as there are far more lifers that refuse to touch weekends or nights in the deli. And it's only happening so often in the bakery now, is because we lost another new person and until the one college girl comes back from her other job. There hasn't been ANYBODY available to work the closing shift. As I'm needed down in the deli a lot more do to so many call offs over there as well.
So I feel your pain OP. Just more so in regards to the lifers or some peeps that haven't even been working there 10 years just yet. Putting in for working only a certain amount of time and being on days only. Like we have a chick now that said clear as day that she wants to only work days and not on closing as much. Which is crazy knowing that we only have about 3 closers. But guess what? She did it. Changed her availability to unable to work on Mondays and during the rest of the week she won't work past 2 or 3 p.m. It's like dude, she wasn't even getting all that bad of hours as she was on more 8 to 4's than anybody else in bakery and maybe one or two times of closing. Dude that would have been my dream schedule.
