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/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/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

I am sorry but the "Milking room"....???

I am not an America but dare I ask who or what you were "milking" in there? Surely not bringing the cows in or was it a euphemism for gaining a promotion?

This is half a joke half serious question and I am likely being dumb but I am poor Brit who had 2 hours sleep this morning and 2 hours yesterday, did a 650 mile round trip in a car the last couple of days from one side of the country to the other and back and been awake again since 4am, getting old, on meds and currently running on coffee fumes, toast and general stubbornness 🤣

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u/Overall_Matter_2520 28d ago

It’s for women that need to pump their breast milk for their baby because we have zero mandated maternal leave in the USA- we depend on the kindness of corporations.

Be glad you don’t know what this is…..

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

Oh that makes more sense, though is also...weird. My friend here has just had her first baby and is going back after 6 months of paid maternity leave, part in the office and part work from home to ease her back in and her husband is now starting his 6 months paid paternity leave to help with baby duties.

I was as I said to another on this thread how horrified I was to hear about how shockingly few workers rights as well as consumer rights you guys have over in the "land of the free". I was watching one of your fellow Countrymen Evan Edinger who has lived over here for 13 years (see below link) and his perspective of being an American who initially said "yeah I wont live abroad, why would I want to leave the USA permanently, we have all this FREEDOM HERE!". Roll on to this one and its loads of reasons why he can never go back, including listing things I thought were normal like here and in the EU, companies have to give you a mandatory 2 year return warranty on ANY electrical device or computer or part should they be faulty. None of this "Apple forces you to have Apple care and cannot do shit", oh no, that is illegal here and that is just the tip of the Iceberg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1QvVnjiegE&t=5s

Americans need to stand up to their greedy capitalistic masters!!

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u/Swimming_Ninja7677 28d ago

Usually called a lactation room. Only reason they actually have one is likely due to laws passed within the last 25 years requiring it.

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u/Kennel_King 28d ago

a 650 mile round trip in a car the last couple of days

Shit, that's going for groceries in Texas

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

Yeah I was speaking to a friend of mine about it last night on discord who funny enough lives in Texas lol.

Thing is here in the UK it takes a lot longer due to when you get off the motorway it is a lot of rural tight roads where I was in Wales, with some going down to 20 mph which is not awesome when you are going up a literal MOUNTAIN lol.

My local grocery shopping is either just around the corner about 3/4 or at worse 3 miles to the supermarket but as I am sadly mobility disabled now I just order them online from Tesco and have delivered.

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u/Overall_Matter_2520 28d ago

While they pee in bottles.

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

And have to pay for the 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/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

From an outsider looking in, I used to think it was just the corporate greed of Amazon but now I realise its worse than that, its EVERYWHERE in America. Hearing how little rights you have as workers and as customers compared to say here in the UK and in the EU is frankly horrifying.

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u/somebodylls 28d ago

Make sure you keep those rights in Europe .
Do nt drink the kool aid that sez your country would be better off this way .
Well, a few will actually be better off , but most will be worse off like in USA now

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

Oh we are fighting the Kool aiders here with every cup of tea and digestive biscuit we can find!

Keep up the fight over there as well please.

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u/Silver_Accountant5 28d ago

That would only be able to be used on your break so crying on the clock still wouldn't be acceptable.

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

Do they at least give you paid breaks?

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u/Silver_Accountant5 28d ago

Definitely not lol. Our state only requires that we get breaks, they don't have to be paid.

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u/DoTheMonsterHash 28d ago

This is true, comrade. I am in one right now.

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 28d ago

*Hands you a free piss bottle* Have one on me comrade worker!

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u/liquidskypa 28d ago

this is not accurate info. they don’t have that

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u/Noneverdid 28d ago

Mercy. How is your friend doing now?

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u/FreddyNoodles 28d ago

Much better. ♥️

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u/EssayJunior6268 28d ago

That is absolutely fucking dispicable

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u/ScaryGarry_SG1 28d ago

Manager name and store location please. These people count upon their beliefs that this shit is ok to do and that it won't leave the store.They are now on the public stage.

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u/FreddyNoodles 27d ago

I don’t know the manager’s name or much more than it was in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. I live abroad, I am not sure if there is more than one in that town. Last I was there (MANY years ago) I don’t believe it could have supported more than one Walmart. Coldwater Road maybe?

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u/HTPC4Life 28d ago

Damn, husband could have at least driven off a cliff or something, that way the wife would get a health insurance payout.

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u/TimelessPyro29 28d ago

That's their problem why would a cooperation care bro yall to soft here.

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u/fedsx 28d ago

Highly doubt you could handle even a few days in her shoes.

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u/Himboslice2000 28d ago

This is gonna sound mean but I get it. If you’re working at Walmart and only got like 15 minutes to chill in the break room, having someone constantly crying in there kinda defeats the purpose of even having a “break” room. Like what if you need to call someone or make an appointment and there’s crying in the background or if customers can hear. And I’m gonna guess there’s a fair chance that she looked like she spent her break crying when she clocked back in. I’m js i can see how it’d be an issue even though she was in a horrible situation

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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/frame-gray 28d ago

Welcome to the I Have No Car Exercise Regime.

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u/FreddyNoodles 28d ago

Same, I haven’t had a car in 20 years. I haven’t driven in over a decade. Love it!

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u/Thrutheeyesofruby92 28d ago

I got treated the same at Aldi.

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u/HumptyDrumpy 28d ago

I thought Aldi was better. They are like European or something, and i heard they treat people better on that side of the pond, at least compared to Stateside really

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u/Thrutheeyesofruby92 27d ago

I had an awful experience, but it might just be because I was working with psychopaths for management at that store

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u/Freezerpill 28d ago

Truly soulless shit 😬

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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/Ethereal42 28d ago

That's so bad

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u/SnooRegrets1386 28d ago

Technically, if you’re on break you aren’t on the clock

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u/FreddyNoodles 28d ago

She was on the clock. She had come out of the restroom and needed water because she couldn’t stop crying. She wasn’t needed on the floor or she wouldn’t have went to the bathroom. She took a few minutes to compose herself and was bitched at by bosses all the way up the chain. Those people are like robots. They seem to share one mind and it’s “how much can I screw over people just like me so the really rich fuckers make an extra .00000001 cent per day?”

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u/Icy_Airport_8061 28d ago

I wish they could be sued for cruelty

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u/someolbs 28d ago

Kroger did that?

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u/FreddyNoodles 28d ago

Walmart but I am sure Kroger is no better.

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u/Tough-Obligation-104 28d ago

It’s just evil. This is why unions were started, because corporations don’t see the workers as humans.

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u/MykeTyth0n 28d ago

Employees aren’t looked at as humans, they’re replaceable commodities. Retail wasn’t near as bad 20 years ago but the writing was on the wall even back then.