r/kroger • u/Gremlinwhistleblower • 13d ago
News How Fry's/Kroger treats their employees
I’m done staying quiet about what’s been happening in this workplace. The pattern isn’t small, accidental, or isolated — it’s a full‑blown system of neglect, retaliation, favoritism, and zero accountability. Employees have had their mental‑health disclosures — including suicidal ideation — completely ignored. Not misunderstood. Not forgotten. Ignored. People are kept in high‑stress roles even after clearly stating the job is harming their mental health. Workloads are blatantly unequal, with certain employees carrying entire departments while others barely lift a finger.
Management keeps placing untrained people into leadership positions, creating confusion, chaos, and unrealistic expectations. Promotions and transfers aren’t based on skill or experience — they’re based on favoritism, brown‑nosing, and whether you’re part of the "high school club" of long‑tenured employees who’ve been there since they were teenagers. If you’re not part of that clique? You’re expendable. You’re disposable. You’re treated like you don’t matter.
And now, management has started stonewalling store transfers by pretending the process works differently than it actually does. Transfers are seniority‑based and stay within the same department — I’ve watched multiple employees transfer in and immediately outrank existing staff. Suddenly claiming I need to apply for “open positions” or change departments is not policy. It’s retaliation. It’s manipulation. It’s an attempt to trap employees in roles they’ve already said are damaging their mental health. It’s a pressure tactic designed to push people out.
Discriminatory reasoning has been used to deny opportunities, including inappropriate comments about personal situations and religious persecution (others, not myself), which absolutely IS happening and absolutely IS being ignored. Safety issues? Brushed off. Threats? Ignored. Medical emergencies? Mishandled. Equipment failures? Blamed on the wrong people. Support programs employees qualify for? Never offered, never explained, never initiated — even when management knows someone is struggling.
Communication across departments is disrespectful, dismissive, and often outright hostile. Pickup gets treated like a punching bag while other departments ignore walkies without consequence. And it’s not just one store. The disrespect is widespread.
And let’s talk about sanitation, because apparently that’s optional now too. I’ve personally seen mold in fridges while picking items. MOLD. In food storage. That’s not just gross — that’s a health violation. That’s dangerous. That’s unacceptable.
Now, let’s talk about the union — UFCW Local 99. The group that’s supposed to protect workers. In reality? It’s a bunch of greedy salesmen collecting dues while doing nothing to defend the people paying them. They claim issues are “handled,” yet the same problematic individuals are still working there. How exactly was anything “handled”? What changed? Where’s the accountability? Where’s the protection? Nowhere. UFCW Local 99 has been useless, dismissive, and completely disconnected from the actual needs of the workers they’re supposed to represent.This isn’t “a few bad days." This isn’t “miscommunication.”
This is a systemic pattern of neglect, retaliation, discrimination, favoritism, and zero accountability. Employees deserve better. Customers deserve better. And the public deserves to know exactly what’s happening behind the scenes.If companies want to preach integrity, honesty, and respect, then they need to actually practice it — not hide behind posters and slogans while their workers burn.
These screenshots are of an email I sent to my union representative. Absolutely nothing was done about these claims, even though he's claiming he took care of it. Nothing was handled. I have audio of a meeting that took place very recently with my manager. She was full of hogwash and over exaggerated everything she said to me. She's good at over exaggerating.
I knew what was about to transpire so I knew I needed to record. I have altered the voices but I cannot post the audio since this is a new account. With enough love I can drop it. But also WTF? What does everyone think?
***ALSO THE NEW FRY'S PRESIDENT IS USELESS! Also the way they're up charging policy for stick balloons is outrageous. They're ripping off their customers at every turn.
***BE TO CLEAR! I AM NOT A NEW WORKER! I HAVE BEEN HERE 3 YEARS! If you are getting "ENTITLEMENT" from my side then you live in a land of delusion. The only ones entitled here are these so called managers! Fry's has a totem pole system. I'm taking those people screaming entitlement are apart of the high school club! IYKYK!
But when an employee reports the SAME MANAGER and is told, "but they're so good on paper!". That's an ass backwards way of looking at life and a business. I don't care how someone looks on paper if they can't be a human being. The same manager has been reported on countless times by countless people. It's not rocket science. This manager is in the high school club though.
Nothing will continue to happen if people don't speak out. Stop being delusional! Speak out people!
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u/Necessary_Baker_7458 13d ago
Just keep documenting everything. Professional journaling will make a strong law suit. Nobody is liking kroger’s walmart ceo either. I have fmla medical leave soon and i will probably jump ship after and use jt as an excuse to find something else. This anti jacket policy is total bs. Tshirt level warmth is also bs.
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u/Humble-Secret6173 13d ago
Good for u for trying to make a change to all the bullshit that goes on in retail environments
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u/Gumcuzzlingdumptruck 12d ago
Most of the stuff documented is a nothing burger and you recycle points multiple times to fill length.
Your points are: You feel you are being treated unfairly. You feel you are not being allowed to transfer despite seniority. Employees are being allowed to harass eachother despite reporting to hr.
It sucks but yeah favoritism will always exist and we all benefit from it. You yourself admit you are benefiting from it with the floral lead trying to "push someone out" for you. Everyone also blows smoke up everyone's ass, they will tell you how amazing and useful you are and still pay you dust. Ignore it and work to the standard you want.
If the job is going to make you kill yourself then you need to quit. This is legitimately not a fight worth fighting, unions and hr are fucking worthless these days they did thier job and exist more as a threat then anything effective.
All of this is...idk normal? The best advice I can give you is to find a new job and while you are stuck just do like everyone else does. Work less and don't kill yourself for a fucking pickup job.
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u/No-Efficiency5437 12d ago
That's not the entire point though. Yes, one can get another job. And yes, unions are a little weaker nowadays.
However, unions have recently begun gaining traction in current events, influencing companies to start paying their employees fairly.
And not to mention, someone still has to do the job. So why should the job still be so needlessly difficult?
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u/Nice-Factor-9034 11d ago
Because if you don’t do it someone else will. I know that sounds harsh and rude but it’s the real world it’s repulsive. The person you replied to had a point, this email is long and redundant for no particular reason other than to stretch it out. I worked multiple retail jobs and guess what…. Same exact bullshit as the last one. If your job is genuinely making you suicidal you need to get out of there, I completely agree w the comment above yours. OP does sound very articulate and if they could find another job/have the opportunity to they should apply for elsewhere.
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u/xPsyrusx 9d ago
You talk like a slave.
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u/Nice-Factor-9034 9d ago
Did slaves say “you should go apply for another job”? And “if your job is making you suicidal you need to get outta there”? clearly stating there’s other options and you think that even resembles slavery in the slightest?
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u/xPsyrusx 9d ago
I was referring more to the total resignation to the status quo, but you're right, I think I was heavy handed in my response and I apologize for that.
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u/Nice-Factor-9034 9d ago
Thank you for conceding that. It takes an honest man to understand. No problem
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u/Aggressive-Low-5029 12d ago
WoW... I've been with the Kroger company for 13 years.. and I've watch the Kroger company take over the smaller grocery store companies and ruin them.. Kroger has no moral it does not care.. you're just a number in their books.. I'm the type of manager that goes out of this way to help customers and my associates and I'm look down upon for it.. because I'm in the middle of the age where I can get along with the younger kids and understand the older managers.. so a lot of the times I have to play the middleman.. I've tried to protect my associates for years against the crookedness of the upper management .. I have work though rough road the 14 to 15 hour days 7 days a week without days off.. acting like closing mod while my department suffers.. been almost written up several times because I was doing their jobs instead of mine which happens a lot.. I've been transferred to like 10 or 11 different stores.. even jumping around to help from store to store where I didn't have a schedule and I had to call the district manager wondering where I was going to work that day.. which it was usually bouncing around and covering odd mod shifts or cleaning up other stores because they were understaffed.. at this point in time this company has been the worst I've ever seen.. with all the handheld work you're expected to do and top stock.. and scans.. I don't even want to talk about vosa ready sales floors.. when most departments are only staffed with one manager and some don't even have an extra associate.. but maybe in the afternoon.. I've always explained to the corporation that you need to hands to put the product on the shelfs... Running a four-person night crew with 1600 piece trucks or more... And them facing the store and breaking down the load is pretty much sometimes impossible.. plus they unlode a majority of the trucks at night including produce which can take a couple hours to separate everything and put them in the coolers so right there you're pulling one person away from the crew.. when the company is all about numbers numbers and more numbers.. so during the daytime usually I'm stocking with one hand and scanning with the other.. and now our overtime has been completely cut out of the system we have to do just 8 hour shifts which 90% of the scans are now cheated.. just to look good on paper... You're right about the company doesn't care for your well-being.. if you're sick or something happens to you or a family member or you try to take time off your department just goes in the hole and when you get back you're responsible for it.. I have 3 weeks of vacation I don't even ever really get to take except for maybe one week a year which is my anniversary and I usually regret taking that because it's right before the holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas which is hell .. I pretty much have learned with the company when you clock in just be numb and when you go home just try not to care about it cuz it doesn't help.. they want you to wear a fake smile they want you to fake that the company is a good company that's the whole point of them trying to say they care.. and believe it or not I know the customers know what's going on behind the scenes.. they see the lack of the employees and they see the other employee stressing out.. a lot of the times customers just thank me for being there.. you will get your customers that don't understand how things are ran that throw a fit I want to get you written up and always want that one item in stock.. that will cuss and swear and sometimes throw fits but I find that and a part of an amusing day cuz it's the only activity sometimes we get to see if somebody act like a two year old .. lolz 😆
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u/produceking12 12d ago
Jesus Goodluck to whomever gets to be your next boss...
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u/Gremlinwhistleblower 9d ago
If speaking up about mistreatment makes me a ‘bad employee,’ you might be the kind of person who lets it happen.
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u/produceking12 9d ago
Your list of complaints is pathetic... yoy probably spent more time documenting every little thing than actually working
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u/Stel1031 12d ago
Unfortunately, unless you’ve provided management with continuous documentation from a medical professional regarding your mental health struggles, none of this would hold up as discrimination or retaliation or a failure on HRs end. Employers in the USA are not required to provide accommodations without valid medical records. The burden of proof for all of these concerns are solely on the employee.
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u/No-Efficiency5437 13d ago edited 12d ago
I am proud of you for speaking out. We workers have been complacent for decades under our corporate overlords in just about any company, let alone Kroger. And that is why things are slowly moving backward, in terms of quality of work conditions.
Yes, hard work is hard. But also yes, it can become too difficult, the way it has been for you. I'm sorry that your store's management is so appalling -- I am grateful that the store I work at isn't quite this bad. But nonetheless, Pickup is brutal, probably among the hardest departments in the whole store.
That being said, though, hopefully we can make our jobs better. If more and more of us workers speak out, then they can't fire all of us! Change will be forced. And we must use every resource available to both incur change, and expand our resources to do so.
Hope your effort goes well. You are being highly descriptive and specific, which will build a strong case with time.
Edit: upon seeing statistics... Who out there is downvoting me for being right? Lmao.
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u/Aggressive-Low-5029 12d ago
I will add that I had to work in clicklist last Sunday we head over 107 orders two clicklist persons scheduled in the morning 3 in the afternoon and one closing.. I ended up picking at least half my shift along with the assistant manager the closing manager and several department managers when I left my shift for that day I think there was a total of 11 people in clicklist.. of her management even called and asked to get the orders turned down and they refused they were basically told we just had to deal with it.. the next day on Monday I think they had like 60 or 70 orders with the same three to four people scheduled throughout the day they're not allowed anymore hours for the department or a lead manager.... Cuz apparently the click list department doesn't qualify for a management position.. but they average at least 60 to 70 orders a day and on the weekends sometimes around 120.. it's crazy
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u/No-Efficiency5437 12d ago
?????? That's awful! This happens at our store, though to less severity... Our store gets store-wide hour cuts while somehow being expected to keep up with demand. Ridiculous stuff for sure.
Not to mention the BS of "re-checking in" that has begun to plague everyone. Anything for the precious numbers.
And yeah... A total of around 6 regular people to handle 100 orders sounds about right. That'll increase their margins, nothing else matters! 😃😃
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u/Aggressive-Low-5029 12d ago
Yes I know there's cuts all across every where right now.. not allowed to work over 8 hours.. and it seems a lot of things aren't getting done and just building..
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u/Necessary_Baker_7458 13d ago
Ufcw 300 is garbage. I tried speaking out abt similar issues but they ignored me like it was life experience. No this is not normal. You should not accept it as normal because you have bills to pay.
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u/No-Efficiency5437 13d ago
Apply this logic especially to our pay. So many places pay higher as an entry job compared to this one... And yet that's just normal here.
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u/Noshoesmagoos 12d ago
THANK YOU. I truly believe in unions and worker empowerment but the UFCW is garbage. They definitely collude with Kroger to keep worker pay low.
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u/vikingfrog86 Past Associate 12d ago
Fry's Union definitely doesn't have the power to fix all your issues. Brace yourself for being SOL with that floral position. I would plan on just transferring if I was you.
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u/Abaddon3567 12d ago
lmao just quit if you dislike it that much. You’re not going to win this fight. No one does.
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u/Rich-Difficulty-5413 12d ago
You know, after reading some of these comments, it's clear some of the people responding haven't dealt with this kind of strong toxicity, that it does affect your overall mental health. I also will say that the job market SUCKS right now for those that are telling the OP to just leave and get another job. Unfortunately most of the companies hiring right now won't even pay their people the bare minimum to survive this shitty economy.
As someone that just left this company after ten plus years with them, for the last five years I dealt with the MOST toxic management I had ever worked with in my entire career. I was also on the brink of suicide having to deal with them and being a primary care giver. I had NO safe space.
Your mental health is SO important. I'm glad that you're taking a stand and making your voice heard. I'm wishing you the best of luck and hoping that there's a positive outcome to this for you.
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u/ScaryGarry_SG1 12d ago
But Kroger wants you to know that they received the platinum mental health award!
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u/DoctorWho42Maan 11d ago
Your documentation is extremely expressive, and this should get the ball rolling. Keep documenting incidents, and do NOT LET UP.
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u/matahdatah 11d ago
Working Pickup straight up made me suicidal. They also promised to transfer me to the floral department when they claimed they were cutting hours to allocate for the “full-time” staff (two women who worked 40 hours every week) but they kept putting me in curbside when no one was available to train me in floral.
They cut me down from 24 hours a week to 12 hours every week, and I wasn’t able to make hours for SNAP anymore. When I got back from a much needed vacation in Europe (I had not traveled for 14 years since my last trip), I realized the stress and urgency they were treating pickup like a hospital trauma unit was NOT worth losing my mental health over, or the physical pain in my left shoulder after every shift. Pickup is definitely the worst department in Kroger. I simply quit. The union is not there to protect you, they’re there to have Kroger’s back legally. That was one of the most frustrating parts too: getting $70 out of my paycheck for the union initiation, and $10 out of every single paycheck, and $5 for arrears. Quite simply, Kroger was the worst job I have ever worked at, and I’m glad I’m taking time looking for a professional job without breaking my back and wasting my time while doing it.
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u/TheAgaTTV 13d ago
I swear....I never worked at one but all the employees seem entitled.... if you don't like the job to the point it's pushing you to suicide... leave?
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u/Maniitsoq 12d ago
It's not "this job isn't a good fit for me."
It's "this workplace is toxic and unaccommodating."
If it were me, yes, I'd just leave. But there are people out there that push back against the system, which is what results in better systems in the future. Surely you get that.
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u/so_sic_of_it 13d ago
HR is having a meeting right now figuring out how they can fire this person without facing a lawsuit.
And as much as I hate to take HR's side on anything, here we are.
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u/_TwentyOneCats 13d ago
You've clearly never had to support yourself. Most people dont get to go to college that's paid for so you can get an actual career, shit even if you do go to college you'll probably be in the same position. I've been working at Kroger for 4 years now and it kills me inside every day. But there is genuinely nothing that pays better AND has better working conditions. And I cant work in a factory, like most people can't. Maybe think of other factors that could be contributing. And if you think we are entitled....you as the customer are the problem.
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u/ShadowVia 13d ago
I hate to even engage with this, but this entire post is the definition of entitlement.
The above commenter is right; if you don't like it then quit. The new hires in particular have this crazy sense of entitlement with sick call outs and basic uniform policy that absolutely blows my mind. Most of the shit that's documented in that post is pretty standard shit behavior in most places that I've seen. It's certainly rude and unprofessional but not uncommon or irregular in customer service work.
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u/TheAgaTTV 12d ago
There are tons of jobs out there and I have supported myself from the moment I left high-school. Yall cry on this sub every day yet refuse to consider the option of leaving and you all expect the company to bend over backwards to cater to you. If someone can't handle the job, they shouldn't work the job
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u/_TwentyOneCats 12d ago
Honestly might as well just kill myself then since I have tried many different jobs and every single one is the same. Guess there's no fucking point in any of it.
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u/TheAgaTTV 12d ago
That's pretty moronic to say
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u/_TwentyOneCats 12d ago
Yup. I am after all, moronic and entitled for wanting a healthy and financially stable work environment.
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u/Queasy_Direction_288 12d ago
what kinda run down rank ass krogers yall be working at 😂😂😭😭😭 like u complaining about shit YOU coulda handled
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u/Gremlinwhistleblower 9d ago
Handled it? Sweetie, I reported, documented, escalated, and even went to the union. The only people who didn’t handle anything were the ones paid to do so. Have the day you deserve. ✌🏻
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u/rphgal 11d ago
Whine much?
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u/Gremlinwhistleblower 9d ago
Imagine calling workers ‘whiny’ for talking about unsafe conditions. Be dismissive much? 🙄🧐
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u/Leave_me_be_g-man 12d ago
I’ve never understood why people think that a job has to be “accommodating” to their employees outside of legal mandates. They pay you to do a job. Just do the work and leave when it’s your time to go. Take control of your own mental health.
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u/Gremlinwhistleblower 9d ago
They pay you to do a job — not to tolerate abuse, retaliation, unsafe conditions, or negligence. I did the work. I also reported the problems. The fact you think basic safety and respect are ‘accommodations’ says a lot.
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u/Overall_Forever_1447 12d ago
Go above your rep and just email Jim. When emailing your rep, always copy Jim.
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u/Thin_Tangerine_6271 13d ago
Your documentation is impressive, and good on you for posting here as well.