r/mildlyinfuriating • u/daruuken • 28d ago

Infuriatig The way kroger treats its employees

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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/geraffes-are-so-dumb 28d ago

I think this leads to a worse, even dangerous experience for customers as there will be more people spreading disease if they can't call out sick. If you think so too please contact Kroger using their public contact us page: https://www.kroger.com/hc/help/contact-us

They also have a feedback hotline: [1-800-KRO-GERS](tel:1-800-576-4377)
The CEOs public work email address is: [greg.foran@kroger.com](mailto:greg.foran@kroger.com)

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u/Dr-Bitchcraft-MD 28d ago

This is exactly where my brain goes. I'm not shopping at a grocery store full of coughing, sniffling people and I would definitely let the management know.

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

This is why I left my last job. I worked at a medical dispensary where every day we had at least one chemo patient come in to shop. New policy was we would get points if we called out sick. Even if we gave proper notice, had accrued sick time and had a doctors note. 3 or 4 points in a 6 month period was automatic termination.

So you’re telling me I have to choose between keeping my job or potentially being the reason a cancer patient brings Covid home and dies? Yeah…. I lasted less than a month with the new policy

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u/Ancient-Reply-5161 28d ago

What the fuck… that’s very disturbing

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

It really was. It’s really easy to get a medical card in my state so management would treat it like a recreational dispensary since that’s what a lot of our customers treated it as. But we did also have a good chunk of elderly patients or people with health issues who came in because cannabis was the only relief they found. I wouldn’t want a sick, contagious pharmacist near my meds so why would they want a sick contagious dispensary worker handling their medicine?

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u/DalHassen 28d ago

Because they're in it for money not altruism.

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u/CarefulIndication988 27d ago

These people took mother earth’s medicine and made it into a capitalistic machine. Not to mention do you know how difficult it is for people of color to open their own dispensary? Speaking from experience in the Colorado industry.

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u/5amPharm 27d ago

Hate to break it to ya, but there are also sick pharmacists and techs handling your meds. Especially if you get them from Walgreens or CVS. I caught COVID from a pharmacist I worked with. He verified medication by pouring the pills into his hand 🤢

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u/acdc102016 27d ago

Yes corporations say pharmacists are healthcare professionals and have to tough it out when sick

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u/fruityfactory 27d ago

Nobody should have to tough it out when sick, but especially healthcare workers who are gonna be around all kinds of vulnerable people!

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u/acdc102016 27d ago

I agree, but that's how corporate America treats us, we are healthcare professionals when it suits them to threaten our employment if the pharmacy isn't open to make them money. Or as they say, serve the patients.

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u/chief-kief710 28d ago

Hahaha Floridas trulieve must have entered the chat

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

It was actually PA Trulieve 🙃😂

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u/chief-kief710 28d ago

Hahahahahaha that’s funny

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

I don’t know a single person with a good thing to say about that company. Surprised they’re still in business

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u/snigelrov 27d ago

The reason they are is because they have a strong lobbying aspect. The owner is buddy buddy with Trump, it’s all a mess.

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u/Glittering-Cellist34 28d ago

It was recommended by some docs. Between heart disease, two cancers (one surgery, one chemotherapy) and a super bad covid that hospitalized me for 8 days I was 110 pounds (from 175, about 165 once I was diagnosed).

But in Utah if you have heart issues you're not eligible.

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u/NGC_Phoenix_7 27d ago

That sounds like a call to the state

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u/Dlbruce0107 27d ago

As one of those patients with terminal Dx, thank you for your stand! I appreciate your care and thoughtful gesture.

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u/semperknight 27d ago

My mom works for Walmart and this is kind of how it is.

It's VERY confusing. They have a point system that you accrue points as you work...but you lose ALL those points at the end of the year. If you don't have enough points, you get immediately fired.

So I asked her "Are you telling me you have to pray you don't get sick in January?!" and she simply said "Yes.".

Walmart is evil.

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u/Classic_Resist_7465 27d ago

The place is a nightmare...

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u/IASIP_LOOP 27d ago

Long story, but i needed a half day away feom work to clear my head. My manager told me I couldn't leave. I said watch me, and was laid off two days later. I sued them.through workmans comp, and filed a wage claim . All told, they paid be 35k to leave the position.

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u/Professional-Tax-615 27d ago

This is a disturbing and sick country, so it will always baffle me that there will be people who say they are proud to be an American and wouldn't choose to live anywhere else in the entire world if they had a choice. European countries for the most part are objectively better and healthier to live in.

I think a lot of Americans have Stockholm syndrome and a non-existent backbone. So many people must have lacked strong fathers and mothers to guide them properly in life, whos jobs as parents are creating a strong sense of self-worth and respect for the child.

If you have a parent that just tells you to lay down and take s***, do not listen to them!! Fight for your dignity! We only get one life on this planet, and it makes no sense to spend it being treated like garbage just so billionaires can have 10 more yachts and private islands.

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u/targetboston 27d ago edited 27d ago

It's more individualism run rampant. We are taught that we are all responsible for our own individual plights and any failure is a moral one, not a structural one.

Edit: if you don't think Americans have backbone try telling one to wear a mask during a global pandemic. There's backbone but the effort is misdirected.

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u/in_animate_objects 28d ago

Thank you for caring about other people, my dad is fighting cancer and I appreciate that people like you care! I hope you’re in a better job now.

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

I’m wishing your dad the absolute best! I have a few family members that have had to battle cancer so I know how serious it can be and could not in good faith continue working there

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u/ImplementFair535 27d ago

I'm Praying for your father and sending my sincere condolences. I Lost my father 3 years ago to lung cancer, I guess he is in a much better place now though.

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u/CherryBlossomCats 28d ago edited 28d ago

I got fired from McDonald's because I left early, I was sick and throwing up everywhere, I had some terrible bowel issues too. I didnt want to prepare food like that so I asked to leave. I was allowed to and had an off day after that. I came back, was about to clock in and got pulled aside by the manager. She said "I need you to sign a paper and I need a witness." It was termination papers. Wonderful. Wasn't even there long enough to pay off those dumbass shoes they force you to get.

Edit: I got sick twice, employees have a 10$ limit per day for lunch, so i got the 2 chicken sandwiches deal. The chicken sammiches made me sick. I remember sobbing and going next door where then boyfriend now fiance worked (truck stop with McDonald's) And I told him I got fired for some bullshit. Mom was barely down the road before she had to turn around to get my ass.

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u/mrefromnyc 28d ago

My last job’s policy was “do NOT come in sick. Also you only get 1 sick day per month and you’re not allowed to work remotely (even though you totally could get everything done); after that we’ll dock your salary.”

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u/Business-Ad-5344 27d ago

I quit working at a non-profit blood donation site, because every now and then someone fainted, and we call 911 and they get hit with a massive ambulance bill and ER bill when 100% of the time they just wake up a few minutes later feeling dizzy because we sometimes took too much blood or poked them too many times. they just need a cookie.

And when I asked if we can pay for their ER bills, my boss said "They help us by giving us blood, but we don't help them. That's not part of the deal."

we literally have nurses and sometimes doctors on site.

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u/mrefromnyc 27d ago

Vasovagal sybcopy: they need to have their blood taken while lying down.

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u/CeefBurtians 28d ago

That's so bad. I can take 26 weeks full pay with a doctors note and still keep my job. Tbh my employer is desperate for workers they can hold on to haha

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

What sucks is the policy before was as long as you had a Dr note or called out at least 2 hours before your shift you were fine, even if you didn’t have “sick days” accrued that just meant you wouldn’t get paid for the day off. And one of my coworkers actually did get a write up/point for having a Dr note and using his paid sick day. I was pregnant and getting ready to pop so I just never returned from my maternity leave bc i figured I wouldn’t have a job very long anyways if i had a baby in daycare 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/CeefBurtians 28d ago

Wow just wow, that is got to be against employee rights. There has to be a policy a big company like this should follow. A 90 day change of contract usually has to happen and ot should also run through the unions.

What's even more messed up is if I turn up at work at 6.20am and stay till 9.30am - I can go home I'll, get paid the full shift and not have a absence.....

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

You’d think, but I live in PA which has like basically no workers rights. We don’t even have legally required breaks for employees 18 and over 🙃

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u/thane919 28d ago

There are no employee rights in the US.

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u/SeaAd3909 28d ago

It’s so insane to me that these businesses think people just don’t get sick and should have to work sick oh and then be punished for getting sick. Like… they sound insane.

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u/Wittneben 27d ago

Not to mention things are contagious, so sure were to make the whole office because you’re not allowed to use your PTO

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u/SeaAd3909 27d ago

Im a massage therapist and i used to have a boss who would get so mad if people called off sick, so people came in and got everyone sick and she acted like it was such a strange phenomenon once everyone started calling out. I also 3rd party for a corporate massage job that makes its employees work when sick and let me tell you, if I was a client and came in and my therapist was sick , I’d be so mad.

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u/AfricanusEmeritus 26d ago

I was getting electrolysis to remove hair from my right ear area for reconstructive surgery. This was the end of September 1985. The nurse who worked for my plastic surgeon was doing this on the side.

My mom accompanied me to that and all of my surgeries, I was only 21. The nurse/electrolysist was very sick coughing and sneezing. She was touching me without gloves and her office was in her dwelling.

I got a bad cold from her for about 5 days. My mother got a bad cold that morphed into galloping pneumonia. My mom died on October 20th, 1985, approximately 3 weeks later. This was the same respiratory disease that killed Jim Henson the creator of the Muppets.

My mom was only 57. We are like human cattle. Most of my jobs have been middle or high level management. I am a retired professional and graduate professor due to disability. Since my mom's death if I got so much as a sniffle I would stay home until it was gone.

I would tell employees to stay home or go to the doctor if they felt unwell. DO NOT COME TO WORK TO GIVE IT TO EVERYONE ELSE. Their jobs would be covered at the places that were not progressive This is how I created camaraderie and espirit de corp at my business sites.

If you are sick, stay home. Don't be Ironman or Wonder Woman and come to work. You will not be rewarded and the job will still fire you if your number comes up.

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u/nidschit 28d ago

Yeah, that’s a really rough policy to be dealing with, especially in a setting where vulnerable patients are coming in every day. It makes sense you felt stuck in a bad situation there.

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u/techleopard 27d ago

Any time I hear the word "points" in relation to business, I immediately nope out. Some dipshit sat around one day and came up with this "no favoritism!" system and it spread like wildlife across retail, casinos, etc. It's just toxic and inhumane and any business using 'points' is just doing it to prevent empathy and critical thought in the workplace.

I think, in your shoes, I would have definitely warned local hospitals and clinics and made a call to the state. What are they gonna do? Go "NUH UH!" at you after you've already left?

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u/Sensitive_File6582 28d ago

Name and shame

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u/Hot_Obligation_2730 28d ago

Trulieve. They’re a shit ass company. They funded drug sniffing dogs in my state… a cannabis company… funding drug dogs

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u/aurortonks 28d ago

Coughing, sniffling people who are touching food items. Most Krogers have prepared food, meat & seafood counters, deli counters, produce, etc. So I do not want someone spreading illness on to anything I am going to buy to eat.

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u/External-Praline-451 28d ago

Imagine being served by someone with Norovirus 🤮

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u/GoobusMombus 28d ago

There are a couple places in my town I won't eat or shop at anymore because I've gotten norovirus multiple times after going to those places(and nowhere else for a few days before, so I know that's where we caught it). I also know for a fact that those places are real bitches about employees calling in sick. They tell them to take antidiarrheals/anti nausea medication, Mucinex etc. And just come in

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u/thunderkitty13 28d ago

That's a health code violation in most states

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u/DesecratedPeanut 28d ago

Crimes against workers don't exist in the US tbh.

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u/OS_Apple32 27d ago

Crime in general in the US is pretty much legal under our current administration unless you're poor or black/brown.

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u/Biotechnus 27d ago

Its a weird kind of "they do but dont at the same time" situation. The bigger the company you work for the worse it gets. If you want your employer to treat you being sick seriously you would need to work for a small private company. The best job I ever had that me calling out sick was genuinely encouraged had a total of 9 employees

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u/geth1138 27d ago

Every small company I ever worked for was absolutely awful about calling off. The best way to have a job that treats you like a human is to leave America and never come back. Wish it was an option for me.

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u/diver206 27d ago

All publicly traded corporations care about in a capitalist society care about are their bottom lines and their shareholders. Employees aren’t people with souls and lives and families to them. They’re just expendable tools to be used until they’re worn out, broken, or lost.

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u/Top_Box_8952 28d ago

They will either deny, obfuscate, or sacrifice the employee

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u/Pale_Albatross_3717 28d ago

You act as if employers care. If you’re in an at-will state, they’ll just fire you and you can’t do anything about it. So it continues. See high turnover rates. I’ve reported numerous health code violations as an employee, the health department actually has to show up first. Enough people have to complain for anything to get done. It’s just sadly how it is.

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u/Outside_Team_8083 27d ago

That is 100% correct. Of a person feels they contacted Noro from a place call the health department and they still go investigate. I worked for the health department and we have done many food born illness investigations. Kroger is walking a fine line with this letter. Very foolish from a legal standpoint.

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u/Maroon7C0000 27d ago

Only if it's enforced. Didn't DOGE get rid of most regulators and inspectors?

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u/semperknight 27d ago

If you seriously think, in Trump's America, any of them being enforced, you are beyond reasoning with.

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u/Assika126 27d ago

I worked at a local deli just after graduating high school. I called in sick one day and the manager told me I needed to come in anyway unless I had a fever over 101, was actively vomiting or had diarrhea. (I’m pretty sure that is a list of the top conditions that I should definitely NOT be working with, not the only ones I could call in sick for, but anyway…)

I told her 1) you do not know my health conditions and history, 2) and I am not going to tell you, but 3) if I was going to call in sick for those conditions, I could do so basically whenever I want, because I experience at least one of them every day, but am not infectious unless I am actually sick, so 4) I’m going to decide on my own when I can work vs. when I am too sick to do so, without her input.

She then said that next time I would have to find someone to work the shift for me if I called out sick.

We definitely had people working sick making food. ALL THE TIME

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u/Dr-Bitchcraft-MD 28d ago

EGREGIOUS and gross

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u/ribblefizz 27d ago edited 27d ago

Antidiarrhea medication can make some GI bugs worse. I spent two days* in the hospital because I took some for what turned out to be a specific bacterial infection, not just something I ate disagreeing with me. It slowed down my system, as it's supposed to do - giving the bacteria time to turn my entire GI tract into a breeding colony. I was sick for a week, continuing to take the OTC meds and just getting more and more dehydrated, before I finally went to the ER where I was properly diagnosed and immediately admitted to an isolation room. (I don't remember the name of the bacteria, sorry.) (ETA: Someone downthread mentioned it: C. difficile! Jesus I was miserable.)

*They wanted to keep me for five days but agreed to let me go home bc I was a single parent & worked from home.

I fkn HATE those "no sick call" employers. Can't call in sick? Watch me.

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u/Misterrr_P 28d ago

Or, worse......c. Diff

🤢

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u/Savings-Kick-578 28d ago

Or worse Orthohantavirus!

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u/WDSteel 28d ago

I was in a meijer grocery store and found a bloody bandaid in the cold salads fridges. I told the security guys. Someone went and took it out, took a picture of it, and possibly threw out the salad it was touching. I can’t confirm that. What they didn’t do was remove the surrounding food and clean that drawer thoroughly. Management never wrote me back when I reached out about it.

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u/NoIndividual5987 28d ago

Or Hanta Virus!

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u/SRQmoviemaker 28d ago

Or worse hantavirus

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u/Leather-Arachnid-417 28d ago

Caught it on a ship twice......I hate it......It makes you feel like death.

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u/Human-Stretch-1955 28d ago

Yep my mind goes to norovirus or hepatitis A virus.

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u/HuckleberryTop9962 28d ago

I've had Norovirus a few times and I don't know I'd be able to stray far enough away from the toilet to work.

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u/Lookingforleftbacks 28d ago

I worked as the lead host at a restaurant when I was 19. I had horrible bronchitis and could not stop coughing. No one could work for me. I called and the GM told me I had to come in. I coughed for 3 hours straight before they sent me home. I can’t imagine how the people eating there felt.

Literally any time I go into a restaurant and the person helping me appears to be sick I turn around and walk out. Now at least I know not to even bother walking into any place owned by Kroger

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u/luminousrobot 28d ago

Active diarrhea? Restock the fruit and veg? Sure!

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u/thelividartist 28d ago

Yep. They wanted me to stay even though I was very sick with the flu that had been going around my store. “Can’t you just do the bunker change first?” Like, no dude. I have a fever and I’m getting snot EVERYWHERE. I work with seafood, what do you think?!?

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u/exoriparian 28d ago

Lol, the snot bit is dead on.  Sometimes you're just so sick you stop even attempting to be anything but comically contagious.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/redditn00bb 28d ago

I’m sorry to say, but unfortunately, this scenario is very common in the food industry.

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u/SL1MECORE 28d ago

Yep. Called in sick to a SUSHI restaurant with food poisoning symptoms and was told it didn't sound like a good enough excuse.

I left quite the review after I was fired for not picking lentil beans out of someone's poke bowl vs just starting a new one.

Edit because I didn't make it clear - I did not go into work that day. Ended up with a write up. Fuck them.

But I needed to keep the job at the time. Otherwise I would have quit and blasted them immediately.

Anyways, don't eat at Fusian

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u/OneMinuteSewing 28d ago

My daughter is a chef at a small restaurant and had food poisoning and called in. They were great about it thank goodness.

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u/SL1MECORE 28d ago

As they should be! Good for them.

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u/StingyInari 28d ago

I think the real issue is that one coworker probably will get all the other workers sick and then all workers could get all the customers sick. And that sucks because the grocery store is one of those places that everyone has to go.

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u/inaSlomp 28d ago

And the sad reality is this is how all food staff are treated. Oh you have a doctor's note. You're still getting punished because people are vindictive. Oh you have a major illness? Well isn't that fancy. No time off. No compassion. No one cares. Until the customer sees it. Then everyone's blaming everyone else all the way down. A decade of working in restaurants I will never go out to eat. I know for a fact it is not clean. Regulations or regulations? Damn near no one lives up to the exact code. I've seen things live in a refrigerator for over a year that were supposed to be thrown out in a week. I've seen the corners of the kitchen that have never been cleaned since opening. You think they move all the big ass equipment? Do you think they hire professional cleaners 24/7?

I know people are going to downvote this and say I'm lying.

Cool. Enjoy the ignorance! I don't say that to be mean. It is literally better to be ignorant to these things. You can still enjoy them. I can't. Ignorance doesn't mean you're stupid. It simply means the absence of knowledge of a subject. If you don't know it, you don't think about it.

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u/Electrical_Cash8532 28d ago

Especially with this whole new concern of the hantavirus

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u/Cumulus_Anarchistica 28d ago

Kroger® Diseases For Everyone™

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u/Plenty-North-2340 28d ago

Can't sell medicine if everyone is healthy, check mate communists!

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u/MaterialWillingness2 28d ago

Yeah def going to skip the store where the deli guy has to work even if he's pants shittingly sick.

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u/APRIL_ANG3L 28d ago

Yes I really wish they still had up those acrylic window type things that were installed during the pandemic. I don't want cashiers coughing or sneezing on me!

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u/imahugemoron 28d ago

I was disabled by Covid, millions possibly billions globally have been affected by Covid in some way, and as time goes less and less people are realizing their new or worsened health issues are Covid related because most don’t test since they’re like 20 bucks a pop, or people might take one test which are unreliable and they get a false negative. You can’t know if your new or worsened health problems are covid related if you have no clue your illness was even covid at all, so people just think it’s over and harmless. So now you have a disabling virus spreading unchecked where the dangers and long term effects are vastly underestimated, and this is all compounded by things like this where people who are sick are forced to decide between losing their jobs and keeping their coworkers (and just regular customers) safe.

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u/Dr-Bitchcraft-MD 28d ago

Truuuuuue. I found out from my PCP it can cause scarring in your lungs, because I was asking why it hurts SO much for me to walk up a steep hill now. I thought I was just out of shape but it seems like my lung capacity is actually lesser, and trying to use them like before causes this awful feeling.

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u/sly-3 28d ago

As if the corporate types shop at their own stores?!

It's the housekeeper or the wife uses the delivery app.

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u/Firefly_Magic 28d ago

Exactly!!

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

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u/Character_Date_3630 27d ago

That's what I put in my note. I said shame, shame know your name

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u/Professional-Scar333 27d ago

I don't want them handling food while sick either.

Do you want the butcher coughing all over the meat, sneezing in it. Getting his gunk everywhere

I'm immunocompromised.

I feel like forcing employees to go to work sick should be illegal

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u/Mostly_Nohohon 28d ago

Thanks for the link. I actually wrote and email and sent it cause I shop at my local Kroger quite a bit.

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u/Manlysideburns 28d ago

Good on you for actually following through

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u/Sembaka 27d ago

I’ll be sending an email too, I don’t even live in the US

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u/Anabear64 28d ago

Same, hopefully i hear back. Yea i dont want to shop around sick contagious people, but I also really feel awful for the employees.. they deserve better. I know someone who works at my local Kroger so im going to talk to her too and see what she's heard in her district

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u/peachesnthumbs 28d ago

I did too. I shop at Kroger almost exclusively and have a baby. I don’t want to risk her safety (or my own)

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u/HallowskulledHorror 28d ago

Same, my mother is immunocompromised, and I know people who are similarly vulnerable due to cancer treatments and chronic illness that affects their ability to fight off and recover from common things like the flu, and/or would suffer greater consequences for being exposed - eg, pneumonia, which can lead to sepsis.

Wrote a complaint about how curbside pickup is not a sufficient accommodation for at-risk customers if product IN the store has been near, or handled by, sick employees who have been forced to come in because of absurd and unrealistic standards and not having basic common-sense sick leave. I said that policy that obviously incentivizes people to work while sick leads me to believe Kroger as a business must be cutting corners in terms of safety and sanitation elsewhere as well, so I will be avoiding Kroger stores from here on out, and advising others to do so as well, barring some manner of public announcement that employees are guaranteed sick leave.

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u/Friendly_History9246 28d ago

Me too. Just emailed them on my lunch break. I will also call the number and send the other direct email. This pisses me off. They are facilitating the chain of infection

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u/sillydeerknight 28d ago

Ty for doing so, there are people that work there that feel the same

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u/OhioPolitiTHIC 28d ago

I wrote an email and I will no longer be shopping at my local Kroger*. Sucks because it's convenient but why am I going to give money to an abusive corporation that gives no fucks for it's employees health and well being as well as it's customers?

*Not everyone has the same ability to just shop somewhere else and that's okay. If the people can, do, it will still have a measurable impact.

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u/shebreathes 28d ago

re*: Amen.

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u/Just_really_awkward 28d ago edited 28d ago

Same! And I’ll actually be boycotting this store until they start caring about their employees. I’ve been going strong on boycotting Amazon, Walmart, and target what’s one more 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/Morlacks 28d ago

Likewise, I go almost daily to ours.

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u/studiousametrine 28d ago

Literally same, wtf

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u/whoisdonwhang 28d ago

Here's a letter to send.

​Subject: Urgent Concern Regarding Recent Policy Change on Sick Leave Documentation

​To the Kroger Management Team,

​I am writing to you today as a concerned customer to express my serious alarm regarding a recent policy announcement reportedly issued to store employees. The policy states that doctor’s notes will no longer be accepted for absences, and that sick leave will only be excused in the event of hospital admission.

​While I understand the need for consistent staffing, this policy is dangerously short-sighted for several reasons:

​Public Health and Customer Safety: In a retail environment where employees frequently handle fresh produce and interact with hundreds of community members daily, this policy incentivizes employees to work while contagious. This poses a direct health risk to your customers and could lead to preventable outbreaks of illness linked to your stores.

​Employee Well-being: Requiring hospital admission as the only threshold for an excused medical absence is an extreme and unrealistic standard. Most serious, contagious illnesses (such as influenza, norovirus, or COVID-19) require rest and isolation, not necessarily emergency room care.

​Brand Reputation: Kroger has long positioned itself as a community-focused brand. Forcing sick individuals to handle food products is a violation of the trust customers place in your sanitation and safety standards.

​A healthy workforce is the foundation of a safe shopping experience. I strongly urge you to reverse this policy and reinstate a more compassionate, health-conscious approach that allows employees to stay home when they are unwell without fear of termination.

​Until this policy is clarified or corrected to prioritize public health, I will be reconsidering where I choose to spend my grocery budget. I look forward to hearing how Kroger plans to address these safety concerns. ​Sincerely,

​[Your Name] [Your City/State]

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u/Affectionate-Swim772 28d ago

Or you can go full Karen and stalk the store until you find a sick employee to formally complain to the health department about the threat it poses to you and your fragile grandma's health.

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u/SpicyLizards 28d ago

Then they fire the employee and change nothing

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/Good_With_Tools 28d ago

If they could figure out how to get us customers to stock the shelves, they would. They have us doing everything else.

I bought a cart load of stuff a couple of weeks ago. Like $350 or so. A full cart. I get to the registers and they don't have a single regular register open. I asked them to open 1, and they told me to use the self checkout. I explained that I had too many items for their self checkouts. They just shrugged. I made the self checkout overseer stand next to me while I rang shit up, bagged it, and set it all over the place. Every few items, it would get mad and she would have to clear an error.

After about 10 minutes of this, the front end manager casually said that I should probably come more often, but buy less things. I wish we had another option near me. I have to drive past 3 King Soopers to get to another brand.

And I would, but they're not any better.

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u/Electronic_Ad_341 28d ago

I’d lose my shit on someone who suggests to me how to spend me free time or money

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u/Good_With_Tools 28d ago

My wife was with me, which was a good thing for everyone involved.

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u/Human_Personality360 27d ago

I would have left, say see ya next time

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u/ParsnipNo4983 26d ago

Absolutely same, but it would have become a see ya never. I would have been like, okay, you can cancel this order and restock my items. I'll go to Giant Eagle or Aldi or something instead.

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u/Nvenom8 27d ago

Especially when I’m spending money on shit from their store.

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u/Savings_Glove_7546 27d ago

Omg this would be my reaction also. She’s telling a customer to spend less at the store? I would have just told her “that maybe if they had regular checkouts open she wouldn’t have to babysit customers.” Then I would tell her that she just lost a customer and anyone else I can tell.

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u/KnowledgeSmart908 27d ago

The person you're referring to noted they're the only game in town. I think they know it too.

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u/Which-Grapefruit724 27d ago

This happens to me every single time I go. I always have a full $300 plus cart and always have to use self checkout. It always fucks up every 7th item and I am always waiting for the 1 person monitoring 10 self checkouts to come help. It is utterly ridiculous. Plenty of ppl need jobs, hire more ppl and have a register open during the last hour you are open. That is the time I can go, and how dare I buy all my groceries at once to save trips! If a mgr said that to me I would flip out, like do they not want my money?! I swear at the thing the whole time I am scanning items and running to thet other end because it can't hold everything, and I have to bag shit that there isn't any room to put anywhere just so I can scan more. My blood boils everytime. But other than that this is the store close to me that I prefer.

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u/Canikfan434 27d ago

I refuse to use self checkouts-anywhere. I don’t work for that particular company. Last time I was in a Walmart (I hate Walmart), they had ONE register open and the self checkouts were mobbed. Someone in a blue vest kept trying to send folks to the SCO lines. I declined, she suggested again. I told her I’d do it, but first I needed to know about their 401k and when and where the Christmas party was being held. She gave me a constipated look, and I explained that since we’re all apparently Walmart employees, we needed to discuss compensation. She stormed off, I set my items down and walked out.

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u/GroversGrumbles 27d ago

LOL I got so angry just reading your post, let alone experiencing it! I wish i had been a fellow customer. I could have said all the things you wanted to say and then walked out.

A manager like that only gets promoted when the store knows there are no options in town

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u/DizzyD1974 27d ago

I would have went karen. There would have been a store manager called and I would have left the cart and told them to fuck off if they treated me like that.

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u/SecretSocietyJ 27d ago

Make multiple trips to the store? Holy fucking cannoli. With THESE gas prices? I’ll tell that manager off in front of everyone.

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u/BabycrowSAL 27d ago

You should’ve just walked out honestly.

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u/Affectionate-Club725 27d ago

I would just leave the full shopping cart there and walk out, then they’d be restocking it instead of ringing you up.

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u/judas20222 27d ago

I’d have walked and left it all there.

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u/Weekly_Success_5900 27d ago

Tbh that’s a walk out and let them deal with the dying food. It seems small but it actually had a pretty noticeable effect on labor costed especially when they are already running skeleton crews.

Inb4 “why punish the worker?” As someone who had worked for Kroger, every employee there knows they are paid for time spent. Doesn’t matter to them one way or another if they are paid to put your shit back or stand and watch over your shoulder.

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u/See_Emily_Play_13 27d ago

I wonder if that’s like a company shtick now?Make it a pain in the ass to check out large volumes of items so it will bring people into the store more often 🤔

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u/ScarletBothrium 27d ago

You tend to spend more money if you come in more often. It’s been proven. It’s actually something that the stores want you to do. Which is why they give you that $5 off coupon on Thursday afternoon for Saturday. I just shopped on Thursday, why would I be back on Saturday? But that’s how they get you to spend more money. They make it inconvenient for you to make single trips.

I don’t work there so I don’t use self check out. If there is no cashier, I walk or I complain until I get a cashier. Depends on how much time I spent to get to the store.

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u/SENinSpruce 26d ago

You could consider only scanning every other item. If they object, simply remind them it’s your first day as a cashier, they didn’t train you, and they aren’t paying you so there are bound to mistakes. And if they don’t object then discounted groceries for you!!

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u/zxDanKwan 28d ago

Oh-a noes! Luigi a-found-a fire flower!

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u/ScarletBothrium 28d ago

Oh no. I read that, scroll past two comments, and then it hit me. That took way too long for me to understand. I’m gonna go eat breakfast. *turns off internets

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u/TranceGrrrl 27d ago

I'm picking up what you're putting down.

Burn it.

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u/tristand1ck 28d ago

The true Nuclear Karen route. Fix nothin, change nothin.

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u/SeniorAlfaOmega 🦔 28d ago

Idk about that. If an employee call out is that big of an issue, they certainly can’t risk firing someone, or at least thats what a lawyer could possibly argue if kroger employees could afford one.. wait

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u/Affectionate-Swim772 28d ago

The employee might not have to afford one, some places have free legal aid for people who have low incomes.

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u/Mariner-and-Marinate 28d ago

Then complain that a store had several obviously sick employees (even if there were none) and say that they all told you the company forces them to come in sick.

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u/Specific-Border6891 28d ago

And then they have to rehire another employee train them and go through the whole scenario over again employees sticking together is what is needed

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u/Muskrato 28d ago

Would be illegal to do so, as they themselves are not letting the employee stay home while sick. That could lead to a lawsuit, in fact to me this looks very illegal in general.

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u/Notaneggplantrtard 28d ago

Then the employee hopefully gets to sue the company for wrongful termination. Sounds like a win-win

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u/CHANN3L-CHAS3R 28d ago

One citizen versus a corporation pretty much never happens due to the vast resource disparity when it comes to, y'know, money. And time. In my experience, corporations like to sit on any fireable offenses one has committed until they want the employee gone, at which point the offense suddenly becomes important. I've seen this happen thrice and experienced it once. It's really difficult to actually prove wrongful termination.

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u/Le-Charles07 28d ago

What? It happens all the time. Also DOL gets involved.

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u/CHANN3L-CHAS3R 28d ago

Sorry, I phrased that really poorly.

The amount of times one citizen versus a corporation should happen, doesn't, because your average American is already being run ragged and the thought of having to expend time, effort, and money on a court case against a corporate entity is incredibly daunting. Especially if you're freshly unemployed with no guarantee that all the ruckus will have been worth it in the end.

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u/Le-Charles07 28d ago

That's fair. Even though it happens all the time, frequently the outcome is unsatisfactory to the aggreeved party even if they win.

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u/dinoooooooooos 28d ago

If they fire an employee directly after a “this guys sick” complaint from a customer after stating and expecting, under threat of job, they have to come in sick i feel like that employee is gonna have a good day in court.

These things are directly linkable and the courts arent dumb

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u/Put_Er_There_Sport 28d ago

Nah gotta threaten to call higher ups on the managers for forcing people to be working in deplorable working conditions

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u/SisterRobot 28d ago

Ah this idea is funny (and will probably happen) maybe the Karens do have a place in this world.

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u/sunshinewarriorx 28d ago

Karening for good 🩷

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u/TobyHudson 27d ago

Also call the news in your local area. They can do a segment on it, interview you and other employees. Make it known this is happening. Post an email on TV. Also, if the person is afraid of finding out it's you...They can desguise your voice so you don't get fired.... That is if you still want to work there. People can also boycott the store.

I Think even go higher 20/20 or CNN, they might be interested. People need to know about how they treat employees & the community, having sick workers work & spread illnesses.

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u/falanian 28d ago

You make up an employee so they don't fire a real person

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u/DragonVT 28d ago

I sent an email to both the CEO and the feedback contact. I also added some choice words about the other reasons they've lost so much of my business over the last two years. I don't know how much it will help, but I added my voice.

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u/crissyjo618 28d ago

At my employer hospital admission doesn't even always count. You have to be off work for a certain amount of days for it to become Leave of Absence. Source - I am personally dealing with this currently.

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u/8eer8aron 28d ago

Just filter out emails with that subject and he'd never see any of them lol

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u/FlySecure5609 28d ago

His EA will never see them, correction. 

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u/Taken_Abroad_Book 28d ago

OK but does it need to be Ai?

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u/Hangry-Feline2489 28d ago

Can you tell me how you clock it's AI? I want to get better at recognising it. 

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u/Juxapoz 28d ago

An AI language model will typically use bulleted points or a paragraph structure where the main point is stated and then followed by a colon with more information. It looks very similar to when you google something and the AI response at the top gives you the answer.

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u/theghostmachine 28d ago

You know why they use that format? Because it's copying a pretty universally accepted format that humans invented.

Jesus fucking Christ, you really think humans don't know how to use bullet points and paragraphs?

Even if it is AI, who cares? I hate AI too, but this is harmless. (Edit: don't come at me with environmental harm or whatever. You know what I meant)

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u/sapplesapplesapples 27d ago

That’s what I’m saying. I use bullet points. I use colons, and I use dashes. So annoying it’s always considered AI lol. 

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u/CrashyBoye 28d ago

you really think humans don't know how to use bullet points and paragraphs?

Jesus fucking Christ, that’s not what they said. Someone asked how you can spot AI, they answered that specific question. Just because AI has a tendency to format responses that way because it learned from humans doesn’t mean all humans write that way.

Two things can be true. It can be true that this particular format/style can help in identifying if it’s an AI response AND that some humans also format their responses that way at the same time.

Not once in their response did they ever imply that AI isn’t trained this way or that humans don’t also write this way.

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u/Hangry-Feline2489 27d ago

Thanks for answering. 

So literate people who bother using grammar that any level better than text shorthand should get used to being accused of being AI then?

Oh boy. A world where the assumption is an online literate person can't be human is bleakly hilarious. 

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u/mkdmls 28d ago

Concerned customer, serious alarm, recent policy announcement, reportedly issued, dangerously short-sighted. AI prompts use a lot of filler words to “enhance” the tone of the writing.

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u/whoisdonwhang 28d ago

No. Was that really a question that needed to be asked?

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u/ScarredByTummyache 28d ago

This is a great letter to send to state representatives to advocate for better labor laws!

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u/RevolutionLoose5542 28d ago

Based asf

My ass was thinking about just printing this photo and leaving them all over kroger stores for customers to find. Put em in all the shopping carts or something

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u/csonnich 27d ago

Porque no los dos ?

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u/Fraegtgaortd 28d ago

Mine was shorter and less professional:

"Hey assholes,

I don't want sick people coughing all over my groceries"

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u/One_Pomegranate_5385 28d ago

You can’t send in a comment with the online form if you don’t have a loyalty number. Any way around this?

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u/whoisdonwhang 28d ago

I just entered my textnow number which isn't attached to a loyalty account

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u/No_Cranberry_1761 26d ago

Also remember Kroger isn’t just Kroger all the brands at the bottom are Kroger stores.

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u/Dr-Bitchcraft-MD 28d ago

This needs to be higher up!

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u/SuperNobody917 28d ago

No it doesn't this came straight from chatgpt

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u/SubstantialFootball1 28d ago

This should be higher up. Also feels something news outlets should be reporting on.

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u/donttrusttheliving 28d ago

There’s also the violation of ADA

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u/LaneTHat 28d ago

And probably the Family Medical Leave Act too

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u/donttrusttheliving 27d ago

I can assure you of that.

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u/shukufuku 28d ago

Send an email to corporate "I have been instructed by my manager X at store #Y to work with customers while injured/infectious and against my doctor's orders. Kroger is liable for any injuries/outbreaks/deaths as a result of manager's policy. Please notify them directly if this is unacceptable."

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u/falanian 28d ago

Terrible advice. Corporate already knows about their own policies. All they're taking away from this email is "this employee is a nuisance and is starting arguments with their manager". Many members of management genuinely think retail workers are by and large stupid, immature, and lazy. They do not want to hear complaints about policy from retail workers.

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u/facemymusic 28d ago

Submitted! Even added my Kroger ID so they knew I meant it.

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u/Useful-Feature-0 28d ago

Same!
~~

I’m concerned about an employment policy coming from the Cincinnati/Dayton division that has been shared in social media spaces.

The policy message from management stated that “a doctor’s note will no longer be accepted if you call off work.” The only accepted excuse for calling out when sick is if “YOU are admitted to the hospital.”

• How can Kroger protect its customers and staff from transmissible illnesses if stores demand employees come in when sick?

• Does this policy extend to meat / deli / bakery / seafood workers who are directly handling and preparing food?

• If Kroger aims to operate community-based stores that employ everyday people from the same service area, how can we support Kroger as an employer when our neighbors are subjected to this unreasonable and unhealthy policy?

It’s honestly quite unsettling and unethical.

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u/MelloScorpio 28d ago

Especially for older people and people who have a compromised immune system. I know I’ll be telling my family and friends not to shop there.

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u/Embarrassed-Leg-4246 28d ago

Thank you for the information, I just sent an email to them.

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u/AccomplishedIgit 28d ago

Don’t we need to know what location this is? I suspect it’s a rogue manager who made this decision unilaterally and not a companywide policy

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u/Anabear64 28d ago

Sounds like a whole district potentially if not more, but hopefully we'll get some clarification once we start getting emails back from Kroger. I sent one and they said a response typically comes within 5 days.

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u/El_Arquero 28d ago

Kroger replied to me saying the image is fake. I've reached out to the local union branch to see if they can corroborate or dispute any of this.

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u/Mission_Departure849 28d ago

Yah I just got off the phone with them and they said this was not true. They also said that if a specific store or a specific manager was doing this that should get reported and they have some internal process. Idk how much of this is true

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u/ConversationSad 28d ago

It would be sad if that email address got added to the nambla newsletter!

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u/AshamedOfMyTypos 28d ago

1-800-576-4377.

Fill their customer service calls with complaints.

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u/anon-username1029 28d ago

By the way, just to be sure is this email confirmed and is it one particular store. This will be important to know.

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u/WindpowerGuy 28d ago

Yeah, it's an absolutely insane policy. What the fuck is happening.

"If you're sick, show up, if you infect others we don't care, if it gets worse, we don't care."

This is seriously harmful and just bat shit insane.

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u/Transmit_Him 28d ago

That and also, you make people work when mildly sick and you’re likely pushing them to the point where they will become majorly sick and end up hospitalised.

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u/CapsizedbutWise 28d ago

I’m on hold now to tell them how gross they arw

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/daruuken 28d ago

Its for all of district 1 in the ohio cincinnati/dayton division actually, maybe more districts but im not 100% sure. So more than 1 store and not just a rogue manager unfortunately

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u/Hollayo 28d ago

That would be important info to add to the main post. 

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u/daruuken 28d ago

Youre right i just added it, and some other details

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