Walmart ruining holidays for workers

vanity | November 13, 2011 | Linda Martine

[eccentric]

Around the country, night workers at Walmart stores are being told to come in five hours early ON Thanksgiving. After having work until 7am that morning, they must get whatever sleep they can and then reutrn to work at 5pm for a 12 hour shift. How much time does this leave for them to spend the holiday with their family?

Walmart wants to call their employees associates. No, they are just workers.

[mardi59]

Have a nice day!

[Jeff Chandler]

Quit.

[dfwgator]

Now that I’ve had several decades to reconsider. Maybe the blue laws forcing businesses to close on all Sundays and holidays weren’t so bad after all.

I agree, but that ship sailed a long time ago.

[eccentric]

me— be (ooops typo)

[Sea Parrot]

Right, in the oil patch there are no weekends or holidays, day and night are the same, 24/7.

[Lady Lucky]

Just wow.

[Timber Rattler]

There is no overtime at Walmart. They will be sent home four hours early from their next shift. There is only My Share every three months which every employee gets, but the company extracts price match loss from that pay.

Correct---overtime is a "coaching" offense at Walmart, with a second offense resulting in firing.

Any accidental overtime incurred over the Thanksgiving holiday because of "Black Friday or Thursday or whatever" will be deducted from your current pay period and added to your next to keep you under that threshold. And if you are not a full-time employee (i.e. a manager or regularly work 30-35 hours per week), then you are not eligible for time and a half.

Been there done that during my time as an unloader/stockman 10 years ago.

[eccentric]

It’s NOT Black Friday. It’s Thanksgiving

[nuconvert]

Personally, I don’t think anyone should have to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas or July 4th.
But that’s just me.

[Myrddin]

There is only My Share every three months which every employee gets, but the company extracts price match loss from that pay.

My company has no concept of 'My Share'. If I want that, I have to purchase stock like everyone else, then work my butt off to try to improve the company bottom line.

[narses]

No, they are just workers.

Well, more than that. Reasonably well paid workers, with good benefits. Retail is a tough place to work. Here are a few examples:

A store manager's salary ranges from $80-$110K/yr, depending on sales volume. A customer service manager could make maybe $10-$12/hr. Asst Mgrs start at $43K/yr and cap at $63K. CoMgrs base is $65K/yr. (Plus benefits!)

Perfect? Nope, but a living wage, yep.

[NautiNurse]

All the night shift nurses in the United States are playing "My heart bleeds for you" on our tiniest violins.

[momtothree]

You and I have learned to deal with life’s little inconveniences. We could whine about it and say it isn’t “fair” and all that or we can “make do” and make the holiday just as special. I think there was only one time in 21 years that I felt sort of bad about it and you know what I told myself? I simply “compared” myself to some other families. Okay, husband had to work but he wasn’t off fighting a war. We would have a great holiday unlike many other families waiting for a draped coffin at Dover. Once I put that image in my mind, I was ashamed for feeling bad. I don’t think I ever griped again!

[Godzilla]

get your self an education and get a better job.

[linn37]

Don’t work fast for me. I’ll just enjoy one of the many magazines on the rack while I wait. ;^)

[eccentric]

Being at freight loader at Walmart is hardly as important as being a nurse.

[VirginiaMom]

My husband is a LEO and I cannot tell you how many years he’s worked either Thanksgiving, Christmas or BOTH. We are grateful that he has a job and we are able to make adjustments so that he can enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with family.

Be happy you have a job.

[netmilsmom]

It’s retail.
Guess how many times I worked on Christmas or Thanksgiving?

Here’s a hint, I worked retail a lot.

[Stonewall Jackson]

When I worked at Rose’s (a smaller version of Walmart here in the South), we were open on Thanksgiving.

[rockabyebaby]

Anyone who works retail knows their hours increase when Christmas rolls around. Secondly, customers of Wal-Mart say they prefer to stay up late and shop Thanksgiving nite rather than get up at the crack of dawn on black Friday to shop. Smart decision on Wal-Marts part, listening and giving customers what they want. Anyone who doesn't like working those hours should quit and find a more suitable job.

I was on the purchasing end of the retail world at one time and you did what you had to do to get the store ready to accommodate customers. If it meant coming in hours earlier than usual to meet with vendors to put together products for Christmas then that's what we did. Everyone worked together to provide for the customer. The customers paid our salaries and we did what was necessary to get the stores stocked to please the customer. If they wanted the store to open earlier and/or stay open later we do so if the city/town allowed it - I didn't get overtime but I did get comp time. Every job has it's perks and it's downside, you take the good with the bad, it's part of life.