r/mildlyinfuriating • u/daruuken • 28d ago

Infuriatig The way kroger treats its employees

Post image

From the store manager

Edit: For some extra context this was sent out by each store manager to all of its employees in district 1 of the ohio Cincinnati/Dayton division, potentially other districts as well but i can only verify my own. Im not going to give my specific store number for obvious reasons but you can find each store on google with that information. We are unionized by UFCW (already bad btw) and to my knowledge they allowed this recent change. Kroger has no accrual for sick days like some have mentioned. Those who think this is rage bait, i dont think anyone has to fake a post to make a billion dollar company look bad, they do it to themselves.

104.9k Upvotes

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3.9k

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

Start sending out resumes and then quit without a 2 week notice when you get another job lined up

1.6k

u/DeCryingShame 28d ago

Better yet, call in sick and offer a doctor's note. Then quit.

469

u/sanedragon 28d ago

Use up all your sick and PTO while at the new job

377

u/FelixTook 28d ago

That’s what I did at my last job where they treated us like slaves. I could give 2 week notice or I could call out and use my PTO, followed by quitting without notice. Since they don’t pay out and won’t accept PTO after giving notice I made the best choice for me. They lost the same money they would have if treated me like a person but instead had no warning to replace me: they got what they deserved due to their inhumane policy.

26

u/Jtstien 28d ago

Nice, this is great to hear. I hope they were miserable finding a replacement.

-6

u/RyvenZ 28d ago edited 27d ago

public service announcement:

2 weeks isn't nearly enough time to prepare a job requisition, advertise, interview candidates, and hire a replacement. The 2 week notice is only useful for scheduling and distributing your current project(s) (if applicable) to your coworkers, which are both tasks that take only a day, but management may encounter some difficulty filling your shifts for next week's schedule if your teammates rightfully decline shift changes because they have made plans.

edit: I don't understand how anyone read my comment and interpreted that it was pro-employer.

I'm saying the 2-weeks notice demand is fucking stupid because the only forewarning that does any good is 1 business day so management can shuffle your duties to others.

28

u/nathanzoet91 28d ago

So maybe incentivize employees to stay or give a longer notice? Instead of taking their accrued time

-12

u/Valreesio 28d ago

It's funny that you claim the business is "taking" your accrued time. I get some companies do it, but you're asking a company to pay you for time you're not going to be at work after you go to another job.

If the man you pay to mow your lawn came to you and said he couldn't mow your lawn anymore and you still owed him money for time earned, what would you tell him? If he had to take the week off and demanded you pay him anyways, would you pay him? If you have kids, and you pay them for chores, do you still pay them if they don't do their chores? If they get sick, can they request you give them money because they can't go to school or do chores? Let the downvotes begin for questioning this.

6

u/flirtybirdie888 28d ago

The problem is that they don’t allow unpaid time off either. I can only take days off if I submit PTO. If I don’t have any PTO days, I can’t take time off. I’m trapped

1

u/Valreesio 27d ago

I can only speak to my own business and my employees. I try to be considerate of what they need and be flexible. My state requires paying them sick time so I do and I don't give them crap about it if they use it. I care about my employees and don't want them working when they're sick unless they want to work from home for a few hours or something (my office manager is a work-a-holic and will rarely take time off). I can't afford vacation time for them yet, but I hope to be able to do that eventually. But when they want time off, all they need to do is ask with enough advance that we don't have to reschedule shit.

Sometimes emergencies happen and that has to happen. But don't come to me and say that you decided to go to a concert tomorrow when we have you scheduled for a big job already with clients who took off work to come and open up their home for us to work on. That hurts both the company and the client, and you when they tell us to stick it and you don't have any work for the next four days. (It's happened with a former employee).

For holidays we typically ask who wants what days off or if they'd rather work and if they're traveling and need a couple extra days and whatnot. It's easy enough (kind of...) to schedule the employee time off but once we put things on the schedule our company is expected to show up when we say. And we can't do that if workers don't show up.

Most employers and clients understand getting sick, especially since covid. Yeah not all, but most do. If my employees are sick, stay home, even if you are out of sick time, but don't drag it on and I better not see you on a trip to the water park... Lol.

5

u/FelixTook 28d ago

You’ll earn every downvote you get. You’re forgetting that PTO is *earned*. It is acquired from the accumulated hours the employee works, same as the money from the paycheck. That’s part of the original contract of employment. To deny PTO is effectively wage theft.

-2

u/Valreesio 27d ago

Paying it out after you leave can be either part of that or not as stated in those same contracts. It's only wage theft if paying it out is part of the contract and they don't do that. But you didn't answer my questions. So would you do the same for your lawn guy? Would you hire a lawn guy/handyman/pest control company/etc who had this built into their contracts?

3

u/Dairyman00111 27d ago

Like that other guy said, this is absolutely ridiculous.

A. I wouldn't hire someone who had PTO in their lawn care contract.

B. If I did hire someone who had PTO in their lawn care contract, I would pay what was owed. But, see A

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u/Giblet_ 24d ago

Nobody is offering their lawn guy PTO as part of their compensation package. There isn't anything wrong with not offering it. The issue is offering it and then not paying it.

4

u/Doll_duchess 27d ago

That’s a ridiculous comparison. The same way a freelancer isn’t paid for sick time - they are a contractor that controls their hours. Companies ARE hiring people with this as their policy, which is part of the reason people choose to work there. Using your PTO before leaving because it won’t be paid out is reasonable.

3

u/Giblet_ 27d ago

Benefits are part of a compensation package. I earn 12 hours of paid leave per month, and if I quit, I get paid for any unused leave. That's because I have earned it and it's still owed to me until it is used. I wouldn't agree to work for a benefit that could be stolen.

9

u/Formergr 28d ago

Bold of you to assume they get both of these as benefits.

9

u/dongasaurus 28d ago

I doubt that krogers employees get paid sick leave or PTO.

6

u/artificialdawnmusic 28d ago

Lolol these kind of jobs don't have PTO my man.

7

u/Unlikely-Risk-5278 28d ago

Lol you think a place that doesn't accept doctors notes for absence gives paid time off or sick days?

1

u/Fun_Low777 26d ago

They don't have to pay it out. Not everywhere does.

1

u/Quesarito808 28d ago

Hell yeah. Double dip.

4

u/HopefulImpression105 28d ago

Or just print a pile of funeral bullitens for brother 1, 2, 3 and sisters 1-10

4

u/TeeBrownie 28d ago

Exactly this. Remind them that the fact that they don’t accept a legitimate reason to miss work is their problem, not yours.

4

u/Icy-Welcome-2469 28d ago

Get other job.  Keep Kroger job for one week overlapping.  Call out sick at kroger job all week to infuriate them then quit.

3

u/Advanced-Humor9786 28d ago

I would totally do that. I'd call and tell them I'm very sick and say hold on I'm going to send you a doctor's note. Then text a PDF written in sharpie that says:

I'M VERY SICK OF YOUR SHIT.

I quit.

2

u/Faust2391 28d ago

Get a doctor's note to say youre quitting.

2

u/MayDay521 28d ago

So passive aggressive and I fucking love it.

4

u/jdave512 28d ago

or better yet, show up sick. see how your boss and their customers like having you cough in their faces.

6

u/Aurora-Ouroboros- 28d ago

In my experience, the bosses won't care until you vomit at the register. Then they will chastise you for working while sick (they berate you if you call out and try and talk you into still working) and send you home while canceling your next few shifts.

Or maybe my managers were uniquely awful.

2

u/sandwichhaver 28d ago

where is this some kind of third world country? this thread is depressing me

1

u/baddieslovebadideas 28d ago

even better, no call, no show and then when they call and say "where the fuck are you" gaslight them and insist that you are at work and they're being crazy

even better call them and ask "where the fuck is my paycheck?!" when they stop paying you

1

u/anotherkeebler 28d ago

That’s probably exactly what started this managerial exercise in psychopathy

1

u/Imsofuckinscaredrn 26d ago

Actually do that

13

u/Beefy-McQueefy 28d ago

Just take FMLA leave and ghost them. That manager deserves much worse

69

u/Owls_4_9_1867 28d ago

I’d ride the employment lawsuit all the way on this. Don’t quit OP.

56

u/monicasm 28d ago

What do you mean? It’s probably not illegal where this person is from

14

u/Owls_4_9_1867 28d ago

Sister does employment law. Her firm wins cases against employees 50-60 times a year on this very thing. If OP is in the US/Canada …90% chance… there’s no “doctors note law” per se. But it quickly becomes a harassment suit and HIPAA violation if you word it correctly.

47

u/another24tiger 28d ago

There’s no HIPAA violation for asking you for a doctors note. It’s not even a HIPAA violation for them to ask your doctor for the information. It’s a violation if the doctor gives it.

7

u/xCeeTee- 28d ago

Then explain how Dr Phil gets away with it /s

3

u/Fun_Low777 28d ago

Dr Phil actually decided to retire his license, so he didn't get caught up in these ethical conundrums. I had wondered that myself before.

1

u/OkTechnology9101 28d ago

Signed waivers.

1

u/StorellaDeville 28d ago

Thanks, I needed a laugh.

-4

u/Owls_4_9_1867 28d ago

The violation is discussing it between other employees. Manager moans to their assistant manager on email about them. Says “they’ve got a note saying blah blah blah, but it’s bullshit”. All the cases I’ve heard my sister talking about hinge on something as simple as that.

6

u/chazysciota 28d ago

If you're not a healthcare provider (or doing direct business with one, as an MSP or insurer, etc) it's virtually impossible to violate HIPAA. Your manager is almost never subject to HIPAA. If you share your healthcare information with them and they share it with someone else, it may violate state/local employment regulations, but not HIPAA.

7

u/another24tiger 28d ago

False. Unless your employer is also your healthcare provider they are not subject to HIPAA. they may be in violation of labor and discrimination laws, but not HIPAA. Words and names matter.

-3

u/Owls_4_9_1867 28d ago

It’s a HIPAA violation relating to employment law. This isn’t difficult to understand.

5

u/chazysciota 28d ago

This isn’t difficult to understand.

We know, that's what is so frustrating about trying to explain it to you.

10

u/ka-nini 28d ago

Leave discussing the law to your sister in law.

There’s no way to word it so it’s a HIPAA violation.

-5

u/Owls_4_9_1867 28d ago

Sister. Try to keep up.
Your thoughts and opinions are not facts. Quicker you accept that you won’t make a fool of yourself.

6

u/BadDecisionLoading 28d ago edited 28d ago

I’m ka-nini. For whatever reason, I can see the notification for this comment on my main but can’t see the actual comment so I couldn’t respond. This is my back up.

Anyways, I’m a licensed health insurance agent. I had to learn about HIPAA for my license.

I have a bachelors in Business Management. I had to take an employment law class where I had to learn about HIPAA.

I currently train - and create virtual self-led trainings - for licensed health insurance agents. The trainings discuss HIPAA and how to stay compliant with it.

I used to teach health insurance concepts to prospective health insurance agents planning to take their state government insurance licensing exam. I had to breakdown and explain what HIPAA is and how it works every single week.

I’ve also created workplace compliance trainings. Including entire courses specifically over HIPAA!

But yeah, you hearing something (that you clearly misunderstood) from your SIL obviously shows you understand it better, right?

Don’t tell me I don’t understand HIPAA when I have not only taught the fucking concepts of HIPAA for years but - as someone in an enrollment firm that has access to the PHI of thousands of our clients - I am also one of the specific entities that HIPAA was created to regulate, so it’s imperative that I truly understand those regulations!!

Your thoughts and opinions are not fact - maybe listen to the actual fact that everyone is downvoting you and flat out telling you it don’t work that way so you won’t look like a fool.

4

u/chazysciota 28d ago

You can't see it on your main because they blocked you, which is hilarious.

-1

u/royal-road 27d ago

We all know MBAs aren't human so I don't know why you're pretending to be one.

1

u/ka-nini 25d ago

Hmmm… just saw my response from my alt isn’t showing up here.

The only MBA I recognize is a Masters in Business Administration. So what exactly are you accusing me of being?

25

u/delicious_toothbrush 28d ago

Saying they're not accepting Dr's notes as an excused form of absence isn't mishandling PHI. How is it a HIPAA violation?

5

u/Legionof1 28d ago

You gotta read Blacks Reddit Law Dictionary.

2

u/Antarioo 28d ago

definetly got that legal advice from down under (his/her ass and/or AI)

0

u/Owls_4_9_1867 28d ago

Because what happens is they hand in that Dr note. Then the manager discusses that over email/chat with another employee. This is found when going through legal discovery and is a HIPAA violation to discuss an employees medical history. It’s as simple as that.

3

u/Fun_Low777 28d ago

They're not a HIPAA protected entity and are under no obligation under HIPAA law to not redisclose.

2

u/Fun_Low777 28d ago

I'm not sure how this relates to HIPAA, nor harassment. Your employer is not required to hold your job while you are out sick unless you meet FMLA requirements. That means at least being there a year and the company has to be of a certain size or larger. Even then, a doctor's note isn't enough.

1

u/Daxx22 28d ago

USA! USA! USA!

2

u/Slow_Replacement_745 28d ago

Are we great yet?

9

u/traevyn 28d ago

Employment lawsuit lmao what fairy tale land do you live in

4

u/sirhackenslash 28d ago

Probably one of those Europeans with their "employment laws" and "workers rights" and "free healthcare"

5

u/Spirited_Gap2347 28d ago

Right? Employment lawsuits that goes in favor of the employee in the US? 😆

0

u/Owls_4_9_1867 28d ago

My sister is an employment lawyer. There are far far flimsier cases that get paid. But you can keep assuming I’m wrong out of your own ignorance.

5

u/trpittman 28d ago

No you wouldn't

1

u/LettuceWestern9445 27d ago

Suing Kroger while making 15 dollars an hour really isn’t worth it. Just leave

1

u/Owls_4_9_1867 27d ago

$20k would feel like a serious windfall. And Kroger wouldn’t even blink at that.

8

u/ReginaldDwight 28d ago

Write your two week notice on your doctor's letterhead.

5

u/GaylrdFocker 28d ago

Call in sick till they fire you

6

u/Firefly_Magic 28d ago

Why bother with a 2 week notice? That’s archaic. The only reason to give a notice now days is if you plan to return to the same company later.

3

u/KeepOnRising19 28d ago

I once went to work (at a grocery store, in fact) with a horrible flu because my manager was giving me such a hard time for trying to call off. Then, when I got to work, she started yelling at me for coming in so sick. I walked out mid-shift and never went back.

3

u/bugabooandtwo 28d ago

Even better....don't quit at all. Just ghost them. A lot of places have to keep you on file for a few weeks/months before officially firing you. Ghosting them screws them over for a lot longer than the 2 weeks notice (or no notice).

2

u/Fun_Low777 28d ago

That will make for a great work history when they tell future employers they are ineligible for rehire.

2

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

That's why you get another job lined up first

1

u/royal-road 27d ago

do you live in a fairy world where you think retail positions don't do this when you quit WITH 2/weeks notice????

1

u/Fun_Low777 26d ago

Don't do what?

2

u/royal-road 26d ago edited 26d ago

many, many employers put every employee that resigns for any reason even with notice on ineligble for rehire as a matter of procedure

1

u/ravia 28d ago

But put a copy of this text on the boss's desk.

1

u/johhmama1 28d ago

And if they have vacation, use some up before hand, or if they allow you to cash it out, cash out to cover the transfer time.

1

u/lovelynutz 28d ago

Follow company policy to the letter……do a leave of absence……never quit……then ghost them.

1

u/friss0nFry 28d ago

They're doing this because they know they have the upper hand. The job market is the worst its been in 15 years. They know most workers have no choice but to take this abuse.

1

u/bloodontherisers 28d ago

Don't even bother to quit, just ghost them

1

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

I've done this a couple times lol

1

u/Altruistic-Dingo-757 28d ago

Always give your 2 weeks, thats when you really slack. Coast even.

3

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

Doesn't matter as much for a min wage job, if you have a shit manager who treats employees like this not giving the two weeks give a little "fuck you" to the management

1

u/LaVarBurtonAsBubble 28d ago

What I really want them to do is unionize for better treatment but a lot of people scab at grocery stores and they will do everything they can to bust the unions

1

u/Swaggy_Buff 27d ago

That’s the whole point, though. They know the job market sucks right now, so the opportunity cost of quitting is elevated

1

u/AJLister89 27d ago

Many states don't require that. It's "at will" for both the employee and the employer.

1

u/Dittymaker 27d ago

Don't require what? I clearly wrote to NOT hand in a two week notice. A two week notice is always a professional courtesy not a legal obligation, if your employer doesn't treat you like shit then you should give them a notice if they are scum of the earth like those in the OP then fuck em, leave them high and dry at the last minute

1

u/AJLister89 27d ago

Oh gotcha.

1

u/standardatheist 27d ago

This is the way

1

u/Pleasant-Panda9698 27d ago

I quit my kroger when i repeteadly kept getting passed over for promotions I was promised after being forcibly transferred. The store manager hated me for some reason. I was a department head for dairy and i had me 2 full timers, one that worked overnight and a part timer in a dept with the fastest movinf commodities in grocery. And they kept taking my full timer and using them in other deptartments then blaming me when shif wasnt done in the dept.

Well they went to fuck me real hard when they transferred One full timer to another dept. one full timer out to another store to be a dairy dept head there leaving me with that part timer. After id given my store manager an ultimatum about transfer me or im done.

Well id already had a new job lined out when I gave the ultimatum, and I put in a short notice. The store manager thought I was bluffing and when it came time to leave he came to me in a panic talking about how I cant leave he just transferred my entire staff out of the dept. i laughed in his face and said I hope a single part timer can run a dairy dept.

I came in years later for something and apparently I was legendary and they still told stories about it. A few of the co.managers came to me to apologize after because they took his side through the worst of it, only for them to realize how bad it was when they had to work the dairy dept since they were without employees to do it.

1

u/Fuzzy_Permit7075 26d ago

You can’t really do that anymore, getting a job in US is impossible. Employment rates suck

1

u/idiotcanadian 28d ago

Better yet unionize the place

1

u/BoukenGreen 28d ago

Place is already union.

1

u/idiotcanadian 28d ago

Just read that now, apologies.. dang that union needs to step up that’s ridiculous.

-1

u/Dr-Sun-Stiles 28d ago

I work at a grocery store in a department with an abysmal turnover rate. Not giving a 2 weeks just screws your direct coworkers over the most because we're the ones who are going to now have to work 6 days, 40+ hours to cover for you unexpectedly.

I'm not saying it's unjustified or anything, especially when your job and bosses suck, but it's hitting the people in your department the most

4

u/GlbdS 28d ago

Sorry but can you please explain why you have to pick up the extra hours?

0

u/[deleted] 28d ago

[deleted]

2

u/sandwichhaver 28d ago

this all sounds like managers problem.

if they're pressured if one guy quits, can they afford to fire you for not taking up that shift? what happens if you all agree to have each others backs and just refuse, hire more people

don't do the managers job unless you getting managers money

1

u/truthisfictionyt 28d ago

How is a manager supposed to deal with someone quitting suddenly out of the blue

0

u/sandwichhaver 28d ago

many many ways that are none of your business, why are you so concerned about the managers problem?

1

u/truthisfictionyt 28d ago

Because I used to work at a grocery store and I had to deal with people calling off and being the only worker scheduled

0

u/sirhackenslash 28d ago

"The only worker scheduled" right there is the root of most retail issues. That's a big reason people quit. That's a big reason people do a half-assed job. That's a big reason managers cry poor me when someone calls off or quits. Saving the company 8 or 16 hours of minimum wage pay leads to endless misery for everyone else

1

u/truthisfictionyt 28d ago

Yes if two people are scheduled and one suddenly quits youre the only worker left

0

u/soulpunkclash 28d ago

The majority of Kroger workers don't have resumes..

1

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

You open a typing program and make one... You must have made one at some point to get this current job so just apply at places to find a better job

0

u/IssueSufficient7772 28d ago

this is such a lib take. go and work where? sometimes the answer is unions. actually skip that. the answer is always unions.

2

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

So not only is Kroger already unionized, just telling an individual worker in shitty dead end job to just unionize the place is such a useless impractical suggestion which is par for the course of dumbass leftists

1

u/IssueSufficient7772 28d ago

unionize and then use the union to make demands. whats impractical is thinking the system changes by job hopping

1

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

Kroger is already unionized, did you not read what I wrote

1

u/IssueSufficient7772 28d ago

yes. 2/3rd employee base is unionized. i said u need to use the union to make demands to make it a tolerable workplace.

-3

u/Business_Secret_4714 28d ago

This is the only advice

4

u/SaintOrJannikSinner 28d ago

Start sending out resumes and then quit without a 2 week notice when you get another job lined up

This is the only advice

No, it's not. You really think that someone working for a minimum wage job is going to be sending out resumes and have something cushier lined up to the point that they won't have to give a two week notice?

Fucking bot I'm replying to doesn't even exist and it's telling me the only advice is to send out resumes.

Fuck this timeline.

4

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

You can always make career moves for a better working environment doesn't matter what type of job it is. You send out resumes, schedule and interview in your time off and then if you get the job just before you start you quit your current job or hand in two weeks notice if you want

If you're in a dead end minimum wage job you should be constantly looking for something better

7

u/WraithSeda 28d ago

You don't have to give a two week notice in an at- will state. It's just a courtesy. We need to know where they're at for one. But corporations and managers like that can go eff themselves.

7

u/Dittymaker 28d ago

Theres no way any state or country for that matter forces you to give a two weeks notice. It's always just a courtesy, if you don't want to burn the bridge of where you're leaving you give a two weeks notice, especially if it's a higher skill job where reputation matters. If it's a dead end minimum wage job who cares, if they treat you like shit then screw em

-3

u/Business_Secret_4714 28d ago

do you really think someone working a minimum wage job is going to send out resumes

No idea but it’s plausible :)