Does Kroger ever close or give their employees a "half day" in the event of bad weather such as icy roads? Or do they cut employees slack if they call in due to these conditions?
I remember that ice storm here in the DFW area last year. It started during my afternoon/evening shift. I was fortunate enough to get home. I called in the next morning since I couldn't get my car unstuck from the driveway.
And... not that they give "half days", but at that point it's whoever makes it to work to make sure they get a full paycheck. Most (because there are some terrible ones) wouldn't make a whole lot of fuss about it.
Though, I do believe that employees HAVE to be sent home if the governor declares a state of emergency and orders everyone to return/stay in their homes (if possible), period. Kinda like that snowstorm over the Northeast back in November.
Where I live they never close because of weather. In fact, bad weather is not an excuse not to come in. If your car wont start and you can't get a ride or a taxi then they will send people out to pick you up. One time the snow was so bad no one could even leave the store to get people let alone to get home so they camped out at the store (on the clock). Those paychecks must have rocked!
I remember seeing pictures of other convenience stores in flooded out areas, surrounded by sandbags with several inches of water around them still open and running "for the customers". I think the only time my store has ever closed was due to massive power outages during graveyard shift. Those were the nights!
Where I live they never close because of weather. In fact, bad weather is not an excuse not to come in. If your car wont start and you can't get a ride or a taxi then they will send people out to pick you up.
Management is too cheap and lazy to do that. Besides, it utterly depends on who, if any, they'd be able to get a hold of for the task.
Our head manager will pick you up but you're on your own for arrangements to get home!
This January, I had to call in because the snow surprised everyone so the roads weren't salted and I lived at the bottom of two separate hills. My sister came home from her job and a ten minute trip took 45. In a truck. So it was not happening.
I know that they sent people home early when we had a power outage due to weather.
Of course, working the deli department, had to put things in the freezer and hoped that our generator lasted long enough to do so (it didn't).
I live 45 minutes away from my store. I also don't drive, so someone takes me to work every day. She hates driving in the rain, let alone snow. If she can't make it out to my house, then I won't have a choice but to call in, especially if it's for a short shift. Sorry, not risking 2 lives for 4 hours.
I remember that ice storm here in the DFW area last year. It started during my afternoon/evening shift. I was fortunate enough to get home. I called in the next morning since I couldn't get my car unstuck from the driveway.
That was not fun. I was lucky enough to be off the day before that storm hit (apparently, it was so busy ahead of that winter event the lines stretched from the front of the store to the back, by dairy) and the next day, I got a call asking if I could come in early. I took one look out of my window and said, "sorry, I don't think I'm going to be coming in at all!" Thick sheets of ice on roadways, walks, several inches of snow... it was impossible to go anywhere driving more than five miles per hour. Police and local government officials told everyone to "stay in" and encouraged people to not go into work unless it was absolutely necessary. Kroger isn't absolutely necessary, so stay in I did, and management was okay with that. When I asked one of the co's if it was busy, he said, "you'd be surprised..." and I called in the next day too.
You can blame the idiotic customers for retail opening on really bad weather days. These poor-planning, inconsiderate (is it REALLY worth killing someone or yourself by going out in horrendous weather conditions for that milk and bread!? You seriously can't go a couple of days without grocery shopping!?) individuals is the reason working retail sucks a lot of the time.
I live in illinois.
When they predict an ice storm people go nuts.
They come in and buy enough food for two weeks.
Now if we do get a big ice storm one thing that invariably happens is we lose power.
So what happens to all the perishables that they bought?
Does Kroger ever close or give their employees a "half day" in the event of bad weather such as icy roads? Or do they cut employees slack if they call in due to these conditions?
Kroger would sooner write you up for not showing up than take into consideration anything like that. Heck, twice I have been courtesy clerk gathering carts in lightning.
The grocery backup manager has only missed 2 days in his 23 years with Kroger. Both of them because his entire road was iced up(he lives in the backwoods). Same thing with me, my only missed day in my 6 years has been because of ice. I called the store and they were like "yeah, nobody else called in, don't know why you even ask." I call one of my associates, literally everybody else called in too lol.
I remember that ice storm here in the DFW area last year. It started during my afternoon/evening shift. I was fortunate enough to get home. I called in the next morning since I couldn't get my car unstuck from the driveway.
Did we have a widespread power outage then? I can't remember.
We have a Walmart down the street that always closes with power outages and they all come to Kroger. It's insane. I can walk out my front door and into the front door at Kroger in 9 minutes. And they know it. I get to work all the bad weather days.
Our last FEM was made to stay overnight at the store because our manager said she had to be at work the next morning. She said she had to just sit in the breakroom all night long.
I remember the blizzard of January 1999......this was before i worked in retail.
It started snowing day of New Year's Eve---and continued, non stop, until the third of January! Worst snow storm we've ever had in my life. The Kroger store I shop at had basically ran out of food; the trucks couldn't get in. There was nothing left on the meat wall except head cheese (didn't even know any one carried that crap til then) and pigs feet.
And yes, the customers were 100 deep, all whining and crying.
