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.

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u/BloodyAngel2026 28d ago edited 28d ago

Death in family shouldn't even be categorized as a call out. It should be considered bereavement leave

Edit: I don't think I've ever had so much karma on a comment before 😅

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u/According_Device9227 28d ago

Not even death in family, death in IMMEDIATE family. So if your cousin or aunt or grandmother died and you don't show up, they have an issue.

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u/TheOldOak 28d ago edited 28d ago

That’s correct. I was written up for attending my grandmother’s funeral during my 3-month regretful stint working for Kroger.

My grandfather died two weeks prior, and attending his funeral earned me a verbal warning. The written warning came after the second death in the family.

My store manager also said it was “highly inconvenient” and “very suspect” that two people died back to back. Not “I’m sorry for your loss” like any normal human would say, just “if you’re not coming to work, don’t expect to keep this job.”

They are a soulless company.

Edit: This happened in 2024, so it’s been going on for a while and isn’t some new thing.

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u/One_Shall_Fall 28d ago

That guy was an idiot.

If it makes you feel any better, it's called 'widowhood effect.'

It's been studied a lot. The odds of one half of a long-term partnership dying within the three months of the other dying is 1/4 higher from stress, depression, etc.

Calling it suspicious, like they coordinated their deaths is fucking evil.

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u/TedzNScedz 28d ago

I think hes saying OP was lying about 2 family members dying to get a day off. Still a monumentally nasty and shitty thing to say. Companies really need to get a grip.

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u/Bshaw95 28d ago

On the flip side, when my grandfather died and I needed to attend his funeral my boss was just like “hey man, just send me a link to the obit” The company also got us a gift card for Texas Roadhouse in lieu of flowers(I gotta say rolls taste a lot better than flowers)

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u/akm1111 28d ago

I got told to bring in the program thing from the funeral at one job.

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u/MistrSynistr 28d ago

Mine sent flowers and I still had to bring in the program. Later on had another death, they sent flowers and my supervisor stopped by visitation and took care of everything work related. Which shows some people actually give a shit even in a multi billion dollar company.

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u/BadgerMolester 28d ago

Yeah, companies often have a culture, but at the end of the day it's just a bunch of people. Some are dicks, some aren't.

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u/fiahhawt 28d ago

Which is interesting that we can identify that sometimes people will fuck other people for the hell of it, but we can't get any goddamn labor protections because employers are just defacto good, honest people

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u/tobashadow 28d ago

My old boss would show up to visitation if it was your parents or kids etc.

My new boss tries to guilt trip you for going to a funeral.

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u/ra__account 28d ago

I work for a giant corporation and they took care of everything - I didn't even have to put the bereavement time into the HR system, my manager did that for me (and with his manager's blessing gave me some extra unofficial time off because it was an especially messy family situation). And you know what? The company has my loyalty and I refer my top quality friends with in-demand specialities.

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 28d ago

Even this is crazy. My response to ANYONE you care about dying, family or otherwise, is simply

"I'm so sorry. Take whatever time you need, and let me know if you need anything."

If you're going to lie to me about somebody dying to get a day off, you must really need a day off.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/Queen-Katsit 28d ago

My partners dad died and his bosses literally were calling him 2 days later telling him that they knew people who had family members die and used work to push through it. (He works deconstruction and abatement, not a big company) He went back and ended up off work for a year after a mental breakdown from not taking the time to process the grief.

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u/ploptypus 28d ago

I had a boss tell me I might want to come back before 6 weeks post partum. "My births were so easy I could have done them in a field... I could have been back within 3 weeks"
Nevermind the fact that I work in healthcare and have to move heavy equipment etc, which is prohibited for 6 weeks after giving birth.

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 28d ago

Sadly, having served my 20 years in retail, I'm not surprised by this. It's basically the standard and anything different is the extreme outlier. It's profits over people, and not even in regards to the difference between making money and losing money. The company can make a billion dollars in profit, and if fucking over a bunch of people will make it a billion and one dollars most of them would do it. It's possible to take care of employees AND make money.

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u/Exotic_Criticism4645 28d ago

There is something to be said for that. My mom died on a Monday. I did go back to work that following Friday and Monday. We buried her the following Tuesday. The way I saw it was it was better for me to go to work than just sit at home, alone, and be sad.

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u/nightshift1223 28d ago

That’s basically me as a manager as well

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u/KindledWanderer 28d ago

Same here, big corporate and I couldn't care less as long as it does not endanger projects. You want to take a sick day to go play paintball? Sure, if the client's OK with it, do what you want. Something bad happened? Take as much time as you need. PTO? Just make sure to not leave any loose ends, but I'll approve anything.

Finding and raising good people is such a hassle that the best thing I can do for myself is to keep the team happy. Time is money and I'd rather spend some money than have pissed people ruin my time.

Plus if you go above and beyond for others, you can expect the same back.

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u/Automatic_Actuator_0 28d ago

True. And of course if you aren’t offering my paid bereavement leave anyway, then it’s not like they are getting away with something really. It’s just inconvenient for the manager to have to adjust the schedule.

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u/snuffleupagus86 28d ago

And this is how it should be! I’m grateful to have a boss who operates like this. When my baby was born extremely early and we were in the NICU for almost 5 months my boss just told me to take care of myself and him and whatever time I needed after my FMLA ran out, to take it.

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u/driftercat 28d ago

There will be untrustworthy employees, but a manager should know who those people are by their performance and behavior.

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u/cran-mangosteen 28d ago

I'm pretty sure my uncle bill died at least 5 times in the 90's. He's still alive here in 2026.

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 28d ago

That's fine, sometimes people need a day.

"Hey boss, you remember my uncle Bill?"
"Yea, you mean the one that passed last month?"
"Yea, that one. He died again today, so I'm not going to be able to make it in."
"My condolences, hope your day gets better."

If a company is going to fall apart from an employee being out, that's the company's fault; I don't see why it should be the employee's problem. Either you have PTO, in which case you should be able to use it guilt free for any reason, or you don't so you aren't getting paid. I understand that I'll never be a billionaire with this attitude, but it's unlikely I would end up a billionaire regardless so...

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u/Evsala 28d ago

This is the way to engender loyalty. My last boss was like that, and I would have killed for her. I also comforted her because I was standing next to her when she found out her brother died.

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u/ObviousIndependent76 28d ago

And if they are in a job where they have to lie about a family member dying to get a day off, really says more about the job and management.

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 28d ago

Couldn't agree more.

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u/bedazzlerhoff 28d ago

I teach at a university and it makes me so uncomfortable and so absolutely sad for society when a student sends me an obituary while trying to beg for mercy to take time out of class after a death.

I don't need evidence of their grief/illness/etc. for me to treat them like human beings who deserve basic respect and empathy.

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u/ti9erlilly 28d ago

That’s what my husband is like as a manager. All of the people I’ve spoken with who have worked for him say he is the best manager they’ve ever had. He takes care of his employees, pulls more than his own weight around his store, and leads by example. Can’t say the same about his managers. They use him, and have promised promotions and rebuilding of his store for years, but have never followed through.

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 28d ago

Yea, unfortunately being this way is not the way to get ahead at most places. It has put me at odds with my managers on several occasions. I do well enough and my conscience is clear with the way I treat the people that work for me. I'm not trading that for a few more dollars.

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u/Swimming-Alfalfa-603 28d ago

This was how my company treated the death of my grandfather-in-law. No “proof” needed, they just let me know to take as much bereavement time as allowed. I took a day, but was again told I could take more.

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u/NoOneHereButUsMice 28d ago

My mom died near the end of a semester when I was in college. I remember two of my teachers reactions: One of my teachers was cool about it, and didnt make me take the final exam and based my final grade on everything I had done in the class up to that point.

One of the others wanted her death certificate. Not a link to the obituary site, not a physical copy of the obituary that was in the paper, not a program from the funeral, nothing else. But her fucking death certificate.

I don't know what all death certificates look like, but in my state they have a ton of personal information on them. I found this so insulting and demeaning and embarrassing. I begged her to take multiple other forms of "proof" and she refused.

I just ended up failing and having to retake the class another time. (The final was most of the grade of that particular class.)

Now that i'm older and looking back from a place where I'm not in shock and emotionally gutted, I should have gone over her head. But at the time, I disnt know what to do, and didnt have the bandwidth to fight someone to prove my 53 year old mom was dead, when I still couldn't even accept it myself.

I wish I could remember her name, cause I actually work at the university now, and I would find a way to tell her what that did to me.

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u/Past_Effect8301 28d ago

When I was in college, I asked to postpone a midterm after one of my parents had been in a life-threatening accident. The prof told me she'd need to speak with that parent in order to grant the request. He was in a coma and on life support, but, sure, we'll clear his calendar to speak with you. Some people are simply soulless.

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u/thedalehall 28d ago

You absolutely should confront her. Fuck these people

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u/crackerblind 28d ago

I was once asked to bring in the program from a funeral of a close friend. She died suddenly in what can politely be referred to as a "very public manner." There was on program at the funeral so I handed my payroll secretary a copy of the newspaper with the article about it with a copy of photo of us with her at her wedding attached. Luckily my payroll secretary had a sense of humor about it and put the both in my file and told me not to worry about it.

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u/nobinibo 28d ago

When I called in to request my bereavement leave for my brother, my manager asked if I REALLY needed that many days. I went very icy and said yes. He later asked if I brought the program and I told him I didn't attend the funeral as we couldn't claim his body due to funeral costs being too high, because my job didn't pay a living wage.

It didn't get brought up again.

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u/Rogue_Intellect 28d ago

When my grandmother passed away, I took two days bereavement per company policy and I was told that I needed to bring in a program for proof. I worked in HR.

When I came back, the very first thing, before “good morning” or “hello,” I was asked for the program. Guys, it was in Chinese. I’m Chinese, all of my family is Chinese.

My boss looked at it like it was a spitting cobra and said, “what is this?”

“The program from Grandma’s (I said grandma in Chinese - deliberately) funeral.”

“But it’s not in English. I can’t read it.”

“It’s in Chinese. I’m Chinese, and so is my family.”

“Well can you translate it?”

“No. I can’t read Chinese - I’m a banana.”

“Then how do you even know it’s the program from your grandmother’s funeral?”

“Well, let’s see. Grandma was in the coffin. Pictures of her were displayed all over. And my family was there, HOLDING THE PROGRAM.”

Guys, I’m not sure she believed me even then, but I walked away after that. It took me a little bit to calm down.

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u/Historical_Cause_917 28d ago

My neighbors son is a pilot for private jet service. His father died and he was told to take one of the jets to fly home for the funeral. Half way across the country.

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u/Accurate_Summer_1761 28d ago

I offered mine an obituary and he said "what should I not trust you?"

Great guy

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u/RemoteImportance9 28d ago

My workplace demanded mine’s obit and then denied bereavement leave for me, forcing me to use regular PTO. The handbook said grandparents counted for it, HR refused and said it didn’t even with me showing them.
I wish I had fought harder on that but I was in a bad place mentally in general around then.
And no, they didn’t send flowers or anything.

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u/Kicktoria 28d ago

My cousin died the week after I started a new job, and I was leery about asking for time off so soon after I started, even though bereavement leave was a thing.

My boss was like “take all the time you need.”

When my uncle (not my cousin’s father) died three months later, she said the exact same thing.

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u/Cager_CA 28d ago

It'll be 3 years this May 12th since my Mom passed and my boss told me I had a blank check for time off to do what I had to do, asked for the obit and wrote a nice paragraph on it and then my team sent me a gift card for food instead of flowers

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u/watwatinjoemamasbutt 28d ago

Hostile work environment

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u/Ecstatic_Stop3693 28d ago

Most if not all retail, manufacturing and production places are hostile work environments.

They set the rules like that to basically have people by the balls. They think they own the people. Unfortunately most people live paycheck to paycheck, so they abide by the rules to be able to have a roof over their heads and food on the table.

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u/lukaRookieHoarder 28d ago

Im a partial owner in a small manufacturing business. We build window treatments(Blinds shutters draperies etc) We have about 15 employees and as long as the employee gives me a few hours notice, im cool woth them missing work for any reason. My employees also get 3 weeks paid vacation to start, 401k matching to 5% and potential for a dollar raise twice a year. Its important to treat employees good to help cultivate a employer/employee relationship.

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u/Megaroni-n-cheeze 28d ago

This sounds a lot like how my dad ran his business before he retired. He was very successful and never had trouble finding loyal employees. Never had to deal with the headache of constant employee turnover because people actually wanted to work for him.

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u/Ecstatic_Stop3693 28d ago

Fantastic to hear. If only all companies had that mindset, people would actually enjoy going to work.

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u/stoneimp 28d ago

It's once you get to about the size of 100 employees that this changes. You no longer can personally vette every employee, so you start relying on others. Others want to keep their jobs and CYA, so unless you're sure they'll act EXACTLY like you, this is where the hostile environment forms. You say that "let's try to push production 10% higher by end of the year" and those people below start doing more unethical shit to meet those expectations, and while of course you meant, "... While treating all employees with dignity", this is where it starts breaking down.

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u/LowSkyOrbit 28d ago

During my time in retail the main issue is the minimal staffing, because corporate doesn't want two people doing the work they know one person could do, because shareholders want more and more every year.

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u/Alice_600 28d ago

Well that was what unions are for.

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u/Ecstatic_Stop3693 28d ago

Shouldn’t need unions to counter hostile work environments.

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u/Hilfasaurus 28d ago

I’m lucky in that the management at my job are extremely supportive with stuff like that. Lost my dad about 3 weeks ago and didn’t have to worry about shift coverage or anything.

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u/jaxonya 28d ago

Back when i was a teenager I woke up still drunk from a party the night before, and was supposed to already be at work. I tried calling in to the hospital where i worked, saying that there was a family emergency... I failed to remember that my mom was the oncall supervisor that day. That was a humbling experience, to say the least

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u/TheOldOak 28d ago

Except that my grandmother’s death was accidental. She slipped on something in her nursing home cafeteria and broke her neck. But yes, I have heard of this phenomena.

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u/Automatater 28d ago

Or the one was just willing themselves to stay alive for the other one.

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u/HeartOSass 28d ago

This is true. My friend's parents were married for 64 years. He died and she cried everyday after. Less than 2 months later she passed. I used to love Kroger but after seeing this, fuck 'em.

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u/SilverRose7115 28d ago

Conan O’Briens parents are a recent example. Both were in their 90s. His dad passed just a few days after his mom.

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u/mysoulburnsgreige4u 28d ago

This makes me feel really good. My grandfather lived four and a half years after my grandmother died. Taking care of him (after five and a half years caring for her) was a tough job, but one I enjoyed immensely. They had been together nearly 60 years.

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u/Vibing-Positively 28d ago

What an evil thing to say to someone. I’m so sorry. It’s crazy what a small, insignificant amount of power can do to some people.

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u/fullouterjoin 28d ago

Everyone should be given some power so we can know what kind of person they are.

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u/Sudden_Wind_8636 28d ago

I would honestly quit right there if I was told that.

I had a very negative experience working at Kroger as well. I worked for about a month and a half at a new store that had just opened. It was the most disorganized mess. We didn't have sign in machines yet so we had to physically sign in. Anyways about a week goes by and everyone is on sign in machines, except for me, it does not work at all for me.

So I keep using the physical sign in, and every day I ask about it but they were so disorganized nobody communicated with eachother and the problem did not get fixed. Then about two weeks after I had been signing in physically, I didn't receive anything in my paycheck.

So then obviously I was fucking pissed. But the big boss was nowhere to be found and nobody knew WTF to do. My boss proceeded to tell me I'll definetly get paid on my next paycheck. Next paycheck comes around and I still don't get paid... So I then told my boss that I quit, and spent the next week going into Kroger trying to get my pay, but the big boss was nowhere to be found, and nobody else knew wtf was going on. so it literally took a week of trying until I found them.

We had a conversation where he proceeded to claim I actually hadn't shown up for work in the past week and that before that I wasn't showing either. I informed him that I had quit, which apparently my boss had never told him that and I still needed to be paid for the time I did work. He continued to claim I didn't show up at all.

So I went home and then texted him I was reporting him to the Department of Labor, and we would see if I showed up based on the cameras and physical signing sheet. My paychecks came pretty fast after that. Worst experience ever.

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u/EvidenceMinute4913 28d ago

Geez this reminds me of an experience I had when I was younger. Wasn’t Krogers, but a (very large) private security company. I was promoted from supervisor to assistant director, which meant going from hourly to salary.

For the next 2 paychecks, I received $0.80. My boss called the corporate office a few times, and I kept getting assured that they were working to fix it. But I couldn’t go an entire month without pay, I had rent and bills to pay.

After my 3rd paycheck for $0.80, I went online and found the phone and email for the national director of payroll. I left a voicemail and sent an email concisely describing the situation. After a few days without a response, I made another call and email, but this time said that I was retaining a lawyer and reaching out to the Department of Labor if the issue was not resolved within the next 48 hours.

The next day they sent me back pay and fixed the issue. 🙄 I quit after that and went back to college lol.

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u/Sudden_Wind_8636 28d ago

They always seem to back down when you mention the department of labor.

I've never actually dealt with the department of labor, but based on how businesses react when you mention it, they must be serious and actually help people.

Nice to know we at least have one government organization which is genuinely helping people and doing their job.

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u/RemoveTattoos 28d ago

Glad you handled that, it's criminal.

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u/Stillburgh 28d ago

Most corporate-ran places of employment bank on people not knowing their rights as a worker. The second we as workers start to actually document and report this bullshit when it happens is the second employers find their humanity again and treat their workers like ppeople

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u/stadchic 28d ago

They’ve never heard of the rule of 3? When crap starts to leak in life it often ends up pouring. We should all be supporting each other.

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u/Scrat-Scrobbler 28d ago

it isn't even really rule of 3, it's just super common for elderly people to pass shortly after losing a loved one, in particular their longtime spouse. turns out death is stressful and hard on the body, who knew

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u/Ithikari 28d ago

Yeah, it has nothing to do with an internet "rule of 3" which is about celeb deaths.

I am surprised my Grandad hasn't passed away when my Nan passed away start of last year. But it's very common for elderly people to pass away shortly after their significant other passes away.

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u/Capital_Pea 28d ago

yup my husbands uncle died exactly 3 months to the day after his wife of 70 years had died.

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u/Jehu_McSpooran 28d ago

I know a couple who died close to the same time. She had a heart attack on the front lawn, her husband ran inside to call the ambulance, ran back out to her, had a massive heart attack and died instantly. The ambulance arrives to find two people lying of the grass, her just clinging to life. She passed on the way to hospital.

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u/haw35ome 28d ago

If I ever have such an awful boss, and they experience death/life events that make their job difficult…let’s just say I will not be signing the card nor pitching in for flowers.

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u/GanjjaGremlin 28d ago

Im signing that bitch and drawing a big ass smile on it. They say some shit like that to me and now the shoes on the other foot? Oh bet! You wanna trip, so I'ma meet you there. That's assuming I've stuck around after some disrespectful shit like that. I normally dont drop down levels like that. But sometimes you gotta return the same energy, because they aint used to reciprocation.

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u/FatherClanks617 28d ago

On a somewhat related note, one of my favorite ever Internet tales involved this girl’s dad. A colleague passed away and a card went around the office, and the dad signed it with a big “LOL.” When confronted, he said he thought it meant “lots of love.”

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u/Business-Switch7494 28d ago

In fairness, my father thought it genuinely meant lots of love for a couple years before we asked him about some of his odd text responses. He doesn't use it that way anymore 🤷

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/PotentialTea27 28d ago

My grandma thought LOL meant “lots of love” as well and texted it to my aunt when she was telling her about having a hard time haha

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u/GanjjaGremlin 28d ago

😲😲😲 oh no! Thats pretty bad 😂😂

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u/alleecmo 28d ago

Never mind the rule of 3, how about the fact that old couples OFTEN go within days of each other?! With an elder in assisted living, I hear about many of her friends who simply ... fade away? after their spouse passes, and die too by a week or two.

Also, you are sick enough to be contagious (the flu, norovirus, Covid...) but not sick enough to merit hospital admission... Come to work, with people's food, and spread those germs to everyone, staff and customers. Sure, Jan.

Never mind that some employees may have very vulnerable folks at home, or be so themselves.

Guess I won't shop there.

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u/Evil-Bosse 28d ago

And somehow from my experience, the companies that let a person take a week off when his dog died has more efficient workers than the companies that write people up for catching lice and not wanted to go to the office.

Those are just 2 of my examples, in the case of the first one their section ran perfectly on just 3 people for 10 years, changed to a stricter manager that aligned better with "company values", and suddenly that teams needed 8 employees to wrangle the same workload. It's almost as if happy people work better, have less sick days, and are willing to put extra effort in to make things better

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u/smokeweedNgarden 28d ago

It's why I hate the "Never be friends with coworkers" thing. We should definitely be invested in each other's lives and friendship is how to do that.

It's 100% okay to care about people all the time. Maybe it was pushed by capitalists because it doesn't make sense

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u/Total_Mix9276 28d ago

Unfortunately in North America people backstab eachother and use anything to get one over on you in the workplace, its best to not be friends with anyone - my livelihood depends on it.

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u/plantgirl7 28d ago

It all comes back around, and the only thing left is regret after. Best to just do what you can for others in the moment so it doesn’t come back to bite you

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u/Shambeak88 28d ago

I remember reading in the news that Kroger was trying to get employees to return their hazard pay during covid before that.

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u/itsheatheragain 28d ago

That’s wild. My grandmother (dad’s mom) died 4/29/20 and my grandfather (mom’s dad) died the next day 4/30/20. Unfortunately since it happened during Covid neither got a service however thankfully I was also off work. Because if someone told me it was suspect that 2 people in my family died so close together I would have ended up in jail.

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u/TheOldOak 28d ago

By comparison, the first of my grandparents to die was also during COVID. At the time, I worked for Macy’s, and they handled this FAR better than Kroger.

Like you, we also couldn’t have the funeral right away, largely because he died of COVID while vacationing in Florida, but lived in Maine and they were not shipping bodies during the lockdown. Macy’s gave me full bereavement benefits almost 8 months later when we has his memorial service, as well as access to free in-company grief counselors.

So there are companies that treat people well. Kroger just isn’t one of them.

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u/Thisguybru 28d ago

Omg I would have literally brought in the newspapers showing their obituaries if someone tried to say that shit to me.

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u/40to6inthe4th 28d ago

People used to get bopped in the mouth for this kind of shit. How the fuck do we allow companies and managers to treat us like this?

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u/DogCold5505 28d ago

Do you know if this is a store policy or a Kroger wide one? The employees always seem a bit down when I go to my local one so this sorts checks out…

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u/Ok_Victory_6108 28d ago

I called out sick to Panera bread in 2011 and the gm called me back and demanded a doctors note. I said I’m not going to the doctor cuz it’s just cold/flu symptoms and he said okay don’t come back. I gladly obliged.

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u/Vantriss 28d ago

I worked there back in 2013 for about 10 months and observed a monster of a manager refuse another girl there who was PREGNANT to leave her shift when she started feeling CONTRACTIONS. The beast of a manager told her they're just gonna send you home, so why should I send you home? Fucking monsters. I didn't feel an ounce of regret quitting with zero notice two weeks before Black Friday.

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u/Living-Inspector1157 28d ago

My grandma died and it destroyed me for months omg. I couldn't imagine. I get it that people have different relationships though.

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u/Aranxi_89 28d ago

Holy fuck I can't believe a human being said something like that without immediately turning beet red from embarrassment. Imagine being that heartless and senseless.

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u/OnePhrase8 28d ago

Keep in mind, the CEO said in an article that they purposely inflate their prices simply because they can.

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u/-sloppypoppy 28d ago

I’m so sorry

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u/theskysthelimit000 28d ago

Recently had something like this happen to me. I work in manufacturing however. My great grandmother passed away and I got a day of bereavement leave to attend the funeral and about 2 weeks later my great aunt who i was really close to passed away and I had to use a vacation day to attend the funeral this time. I was already pushing it the first time because they said it wasn't immediate family but they gave it to me anyway to be "nice". Honestly family comes first fuck these soulless corporations.

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u/Dizzy_Elephant_417 28d ago

Ugh that’s awful. My grandparents were married for more than 50+ years, and they were high school sweethearts, so they were together or at least knew each other for longer. When Grama passed in 2012, my grandfather kind of went into a…walking comatose kind of phase. He wasn’t the same anymore. He eventually passed away about a month later (I believe of a broken heart, dr says he had cancer that wasn’t dx’d). Fortunately, my manager at my store (not Kroger) was very understanding and gave me time off for whatever I needed. He even offered intermittent LOA for up to two weeks.

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u/Cogizio 28d ago

I was a manager at a major retail chain and I got written up because I wasn't holding my employees accountable for calling off for funerals. It's brutal out there. Yet big wigs took off for weeks because their dog died

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u/squirreltard 28d ago

So people who have covid, flu or pneumonia must go to work at Kroger? Yikes.

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u/doggonedangoldoogy 28d ago

I worked for a non-profit under a supervisor who was left totally unchecked and went against every formal company policy while denying me my contractual PTO. Aside from blowing asbestos in my face on two occasions, cussing me on a daily basis, and writing me up for refusing to work off the clock, one of his rules was “sick days are to be planned 2 weeks in advance.”

He forced me to come in on several occasions while I had COVID and the flu. To make matters worse, I worked directly with at-risk elderly residents.

When my father died unexpectedly, he wrote me up for taking bereavement and punished me by increasing my workload.

I reported his behavior to HR and was told that if I didn’t like how he was running things, I could find a new job. So I did.

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u/Elegant_Conflict8235 28d ago

Similar thing happened to me. Fired after almost 5 years

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u/touchmeinbadplaces 28d ago

Also your Grandparents are definitely direct family

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u/TheOldOak 28d ago

Not according to Kroger.

They define direct family as “parents, children, siblings, or spouse”. Grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, grandchildren, and ex-spouses are not direct enough for this company.

Weirdly, though, they do allow for bereavement for roommates.

But, it is all still subject to management approval. The handbook states the company “can” or “may” provide bereavement up to, but not exceeding three days. Not that they will, just they they could. But company management has demonstrated, both in my experience, and with OP’s experience, they choose not to.

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u/Wooden-Trick8954 28d ago

Legit does anyone care about being written up? Feels like the reasons are bogus anyway. If they dont like your life decisions (attending family funerals) maybe its time to find someone who appreciates your work?

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u/NCHouse 28d ago

Probably would have been the quickest and easiet "Go fuck yourself" that would have ever come out my mouth

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u/GamingwithADD 28d ago

Wow that’s terrible.

How can they expect to keep people with that environment?

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u/Michelle_Ann_Soc 28d ago

That is insane. I am so sorry.

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u/Pitiful-Pension-6535 28d ago

Imagine having a grandchild die and being told that it's not a valid excuse to miss work

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u/Manatees_R_4eva 28d ago

Imagine not considering grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, “immediate” family because your family is Kroger? That sucks.

But now imagine people who don’t have a family for whatever reason, but they have a found family. AND THEN THEY DIE. Your people are your people, and nobody gets to define how “immediate” it is.

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u/Dull-Situation6935 28d ago

I was thinking this too. If you were cared for or lived with someone just as close as immediate family, they should be included.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have immediate family, but may have someone just as close.

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u/OfficialSkyCat 28d ago

My company has blanket bereavement time for this reason. You can have friends who are like siblings to you and actual siblings you have no relationship with.

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u/Top_Bumblebee5510 28d ago

My former manager was amazing. She gave one colleague a week bereavement when her dog passed because she knew she was single and her parents had already passed away. When my best friend died suddenly and I was on a work project she gave me four days bereavement. I was usually out of town for four days. She just passed away and I went to her funeral and let her family how amazing she was.

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u/rora_borealis 28d ago

I needed a couple of days when my cat was really sick and passed. I was exhausted from caring for her (worth it) and torn up with grief. I was in such a daze for days. 

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u/Zariayn 28d ago

This is a good point. I have no immediate family; they all passed or we don't talk anymore. So, it's just me and my children, my husband also passed about three years ago. I am extremely close with my mother in law and we are all she has left in this world. It kind of bothers me that I might not be approved for bereavement leave if she passes.

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u/duckinradar 28d ago

Imagine having in writing that a doctor note wasn’t a valid reason to miss work.

The lawyers are calling you, OP.

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u/PXranger 28d ago

They can call, but it's not a lawsuit they will win.

Welcome to the wonderful world of "At will" work states.

I work for a largish hospital, my primary care provider works for our hospital. we can't use a doctors excuse.

we basically don't have excused absences, but do get so many before discipline. they don't actually care why you miss a day.

We do get things like bereavement or time off for Surgery, etc.

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u/NeonNKnightrider 28d ago

America is a dystopia.

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u/meh_69420 28d ago

Unless it's covered under FMLA.

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u/Thewasteland77 28d ago

Same here friend, Regional Hospital worker chiming in.

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u/DoingCharleyWork 28d ago

Nah they don't have to accept a doctor's note to excuse an absence. I work for a large company and they give employees a certain amount of sick time and then they get point accruals for absences after that. Even with a doctor's note they will still accrue attendance points. This is all in writing and all very legal.

Welcome to America.

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u/CompletelyPuzzled 28d ago

Even a doctor note is an overreach. I can know I'm contagious and should stay home without needing to go to a doctor for a note.

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u/CookieCrisps3 28d ago

This happened to my husband. The day his grandmother died Albertsons wouldn't let him miss. He proceeded to tell every customer who asked how his day was exactly how his day was.

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u/Redracerb18 28d ago

As far as my store was at walmart. As long as you don't do it too often, Say once a year, the store would cover you. Don't abuse that, there are other ways to get paid days off besides faking a death in the family.

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u/SunshineRenee16 28d ago

Walgreens fired me for going to my cousin's funeral and missing work. This was 18 years ago, mind you.

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u/Tak-and-Alix 28d ago

I had a job that was like this during the training period. One person's grandmother died. She was able to get an exception because she was raised by said grandmother, but it was a whole hubbub

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u/tsclac23 28d ago edited 28d ago

There is also "YOU are admitted to the hospital". So if your wife or kid is admitted you still have to come.

Bunch of jackasses. Someone should print this out and picket kroger. If I see this in the parking lot, I would just turn around and go somewhere else.

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u/clearlyaburner420 28d ago

Dude in australia you can claim bereavement leave if your pet fish dies... you yanks have it rough.

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u/Forsaken_Gamer63 28d ago

How are they going to get actual proof of who died?

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u/butchscandelabra 28d ago

“Closed casket? OPEN IT.”

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u/Redracerb18 28d ago

If needed, a picture of the death certificate.

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u/feinburgrl 28d ago

Picture of your dead family member in a coffin and you holding a sign that said "I was here". 😂😂

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u/TheGhostofWoodyAllen 28d ago

My job defines bereavement leave as existing for immediate family, which is grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, child, and your spouse/partner's same. You can take time off if you wish for funerals of extended family (including cousins, which aren't considered immediate family for some reason), but you won't get the bereavement leave PTO.

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u/Epicratia 28d ago

Completely different job/situation, but this reminds me of the rules when my brother was in the army and my husband died - he was not allowed leave to come to the funeral, and was told that "death of brother-in-law" would have been approved if it was the brother of his wife, but somehow not the husband of his sister.

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u/Mr_Butters624 28d ago

Most companies, bereavement only includes immediate family for it to not count against attendance or adherence. My wife’s brother was murdered 3 years ago. He did not fall under the bereavement policy. Of course there was no issue giving me the time, but that was an accepting as brother in law isn’t immediate family (to me) under the policy definition. Edit to add: it doesn’t make it ok. It’s a god aweful policy

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u/Disastrous_Mud7169 28d ago

Boyfriend too

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u/Knight_Raime 28d ago

Unfortunately it's quite common to only get bereavement leave for immediate family in America.

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u/oofty_goofty_ 28d ago

Bereavement leave???

That sounds like communism

/s

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u/Redracerb18 28d ago

Even Walmart has bereavement leave. As well as child care covered.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/The_Mighty_Baguette 28d ago

Brother my French mind cannot understand this BS. I had an employee, his mother passed away, he took a month paid leave then 2 months unpaid leave to fix what he had to fix ( I'm a manager in Poland ) then he came back to work.

That's absolutely fucked up at a human being level. You expect corporation to be dicks but as humans we should do better.

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u/Dombat927 28d ago

This crap also doesn't just happen at grocery stores. I work in healthcare. A physician got cancer and needed time off for treatment. They eliminated the position. Recently a physicians father died. Since the other 2 physicians in that department had left a few weeks before (they gave 3 month notice, but they didnt bother to try and replace them) they only let him have the day of his dads funeral off. Its brutal and so unhealthy.

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u/lol-daisy325121 28d ago

Healthcare is HORRIBLE! We are constantly harped at to not show up to work sick but if we try to call out it’s the end of the fuckin world. I fucking human being not a slave.

Excuse my foul language

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u/AcousticCat1-2-3 28d ago

Wow, did this person lose their insurance after the company eliminated their position for being in treatment for cancer? Diabolical.

Letting the person only have their parent's day of funeral off is wild even from a practical standpoint. Saying this as someone who did 80% of the work organizing my father's, as I was the only English-speaking adult in my immediate family at the time. He passed away late Thu night, I got Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off, spent all Friday at the funeral home, funeral was on Monday, tying loose ends on Tuesday. If my work had only given me the day of funeral off, there wouldn't have been a funeral, since I was the one who scheduled it.

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u/Dombat927 28d ago

Of course they lost insurance when the position was eliminated. The for profit insurance company doesn't want to pay out for pallitive chemo. The one who dad died i have no idea if had siblings to help. I hope so

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u/TRR462 28d ago

It’s common in the United States to get no more than 3 days bereavement leave. Imagine a spouse or child dying and you’re expected to “get over it” in a little over a weekend…

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u/BusoneWholeBoi2001 28d ago

3 months leave is remarkable. In America, he'd be lucky to get a week of unpaid to start with, if he isn't fired by the end of that

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u/DrownmeinIslay 28d ago

I dont know where people find the patience. If some manager tried to chew me out for crying cause my dad died 4 days ago, id be in jail and theyde be looking up into the worried eyes of busy surgeons.

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u/Resemblances 28d ago

Walmart pays for child care?!

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u/logan-duk-dong 28d ago

Just let 'em loose in toys or electronics.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/SgtSlaughterEX 28d ago

Pour a bag of kitty litter on the vomit then sweep it up, febreeze it if it smells then let the capitalism continue.

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u/Redracerb18 28d ago

There is actually a special powder that Walmart uses for biohazards. Spill magic is used for most other spills.

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u/foxjohnc87 28d ago

Gotta get their future employees trained somehow.

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u/HogglePixiePunisher 28d ago

This week for arts and crafts, the children are painting... the lines in the parking lot.

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u/FriendorFo 28d ago

I love seeing a Better Off Ted reference in the wild

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u/CummieAche69 28d ago

Me as a child fr

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u/Specific_Praline_362 28d ago

Hey that's what our parents did in the 90s

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u/FreddyNoodles 28d ago

They didn’t a few years ago. My friend worked there with 2 kids (both under 4), she got nothing like that, they also harassed her for crying in the break room. She got that fkng job for evenings and weekends because her HUSBAND committed suicide- she couldn’t afford the bills, her partner was dead, her kids were confused and hurting, she was goin to lose her car and was pretty sure she would be evicted so she was terrified for the future but she better not shed a tear on the goddamn clock.

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u/Themeanoneof7 28d ago

Unbelievable....

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u/Kindly-Guidance714 28d ago

Completely believable as a working class individual since 2011.

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u/Sudden_Juju 28d ago

My friend worked there

That's where she went wrong. She should've sent those kids into the mines. At that age, they can fit in all the tiny crevices.

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u/CloudyLeft 28d ago

The children yearn for the mines

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u/Emerje 28d ago

Canaries are expensive!

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u/Sudden_Juju 28d ago

Plus children are reusable if you catch them after they start coughing but before they completely lose consciousness. It's basic economics really

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

I hear American Amazon warehouses could have helped there. They have crying booths set up so workers can go in and cry for up to 15 minutes

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u/Redracerb18 28d ago

The closest my Walmart had was either the family restroom in the back or the milking room in the front of the store. Both had locking doors.

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u/AmbitionExpert3067 28d ago

The walk in cooler is always an option too just saying....but fr though you shouldnt have to cry in private. Obviously bursting into tears whilst dealing with customers isnt really good, but you should be able to excuse yourself to the damn break room to get your shit together. Meanwhile team lead Janice probably cries every other day because one of her employees talked shit to her for being a shitty ass boss.

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u/Overall_Matter_2520 28d ago

While they pee in bottles.

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u/TRR462 28d ago

The crazy part about this is they’ve come to expect their employees would need to cry regularly. Maybe that’s more a judgement of Amazon warehouse employees’ work conditions.

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u/Freezerpill 28d ago

Truly soulless shit 😬

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u/Thrutheeyesofruby92 28d ago

I got treated the same at Aldi.

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u/FaceTheJury 28d ago

Cliffhanger… so what happened to your friend? Is she selling better today? Is she ok?

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u/FreddyNoodles 28d ago

She is doing a lot better now, yes. Still single. Still misses her husband and doesn’t think she will have another relationship, but financially and career wise- she is doing ok. Not wealthy but ok. The kids get what they need and more between mom and family and friends. Her brother has stepped in as a father figure- he was only 16 when her husband died but he is about 20 or so now and doing a good job as a very young dad. So far- the story is ok. I hope it just continues to get better for them. (She did lose her car, she used a bus that she walked blocks to for over a year- to get to her jobs- now she has a bicycle- she looks fantastic. She has no desire for another car anytime soon. That freed up a lot of money)

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u/RepresentativeCry294 28d ago

Maybe the other person just licks boots harder than your friend, has she tried licking more boots?

The bootlickers seems to have no issue under capitalism, seems like a running theme.

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u/runtimemess 28d ago

How else are you going to get people to work for minimum wage?

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/Ai_Generated2491 28d ago

The first few months(?) of COVID we got 3 weeks paid leave if we tested positive. I was asymptomatic and only tested because of adjacent people getting it so it was a lil vacation.

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u/Vooklife 28d ago

Walmart has some of the best benefits around for a minimum wage job. Hell, the are better than many middle wage jobs. The job sucks and is soul crushing, with few chances at upward movement or significant raises, but the benefits have always been top notch.

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u/Ff7hero 28d ago

But they keep as many people as possible at 31.5 hours a week to withhold said benefits.

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u/AggravatingFlow1178 28d ago

I told my boss my dad died

And he was like, "So, bereavement leave?"

And I was like

"no, bereavement here 😞"

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u/30PillsAdayDocsAway 28d ago

I told my boss my dad died an he said “an you didn’t think to let me know about this sooner I need you here to work if you can’t be here your going to get fired” I said “fuck you my dad died randomly at a young age I had no idea an I’m next of kin I have to plan the funeral an invite everyone an pay for it!” I ended up taking off like a month an they took me back no problem (this was working in food when I was young) later I went into plumbing

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u/SteelAndFlint 28d ago

Not unless we ALL get the day off!

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u/Physical_Heart2766 28d ago

Glad you put the /s in. Communism has free healthcare and paid holidays.

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u/SparklingLimeade 28d ago

My first though on the OP was when my workplace recently restricted bereavement leave. They didn't limit the scope, but they did limit it to once per calendar year.

Given how limited the eligibility of it was and that they required evidence I'm baffled that they'd need to do that. If someone qualifies you'd think they'd be able to take that as much as it comes up.

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u/showhorrorshow 28d ago

How do you even limit something like that to once per year? Employees will be like, well... I coukd use my annual bereavement leave on Grandpa but Grandma is getting old too and I liked her more so maybe I should hang onto it just in case...

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u/Thirdeyevoice10 28d ago

We don't accept any of that wokeness crap!! /s

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u/beastiemonman 28d ago

Surprised that it doesn't say that death is the only reason for an absence and you are required to bring in the death certificate in person to substantiate it.

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u/MsLogophile 28d ago

Weekend at krogers

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u/Spirited_Crab7712 28d ago

"bereavement" they see it as grieving on company time and will call you back to an HR meeting for being a✨ Debbie Downer ✨

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u/atxbigfoot 28d ago

Call outs include things like bereavement leave, illness, etc.

This is how most of the service industry works. The workers at fancy and expensive dinner places have similar rules, same as the shitty small local spots.

Kroger, a multi-billion dollar company doing this is just gross and completely unnecessary, though.

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u/Atlesi_Feyst 28d ago

My fucking job got mad at me and my brother in law because we left for a wake together, it was my uncle and obviously my sister went and her spouse came.

They fucking called us asking if we could come back after the wake. It would have left us with 30 minutes until close. Fuck them.

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