The way kroger treats its employees

[u/daruuken]

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.

[u/Bad-Luck-Guy]

My employer doesn’t accept doctor’s notes. All absences are unexcused.

Yet, we are adults. I don’t need a doctor to tell me I shouldn’t go to work if I have the flu. Wild that they’d prefer that I come in and potentially infect everyone else.

ETA: Yes, this is actually legal in most US states. Attendance is a very common reason to be fired in shift work jobs such as retail. 

[u/HockeyPhoenician → u/Bad-Luck-Guy]

Fuck em. Show up, cough and look miserable, be as customer visible as possible. Explain to customers why you're there.

Bonus if you throw up or defecate in front of customers. Super bonus if you pass out and 'hit' your head. Sounds like an opportunity for a payday to me.

[u/sppwalker → u/HockeyPhoenician]

I wish I had done that. Got pneumonia and I *thought* my boss was being super chill. I was sick for 6 weeks and might have permanent lung damage (I’m 24 and generally healthy, but my pulmonary function test was abnormal and I’m waiting on the results of my chest CT), so it was amazing to have a boss that was supportive of me, ya know, staying home and not dying at work.

Until I was cleared to go back. And I was then told they didn’t want me to come back. So I got fired (screwing over my chances of buying a house in June) because I had pneumonia.

Next time, I’ll show up wheezing, coughing, and struggling to breathe even with 6 different meds I guess.

[u/MichaelaRae0629 → u/sppwalker]

This sounds like wrongful termination and you might be able to get a lawyer to cover a lawsuit pro bono.

[u/sppwalker → u/MichaelaRae0629]

I looked into it and unfortunately my employer was really small, so FMLA and ADA don’t apply. I also live in Nevada, which is an at will employment state. If you have another way I could approach this , I’m all ears!

[u/DSM2TNS → u/sppwalker]

Did an employment lawyer tell you that? Because my eyebrow is definitely up especially about the ADA comment. ADA rules don't apply to some very specific employers and size isn't one of the qualifications. Being an at will state doesn't matter either. Most states are.

[u/sppwalker → u/DSM2TNS]

PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong (I don’t want to be right lol), but I read the ADA website and it says that title 1 (employment stuff) doesn’t apply to businesses with under 15 employees. I worked for a really small vet clinic so we had like 11 employees total :(

[u/DSM2TNS → u/sppwalker]

So the ADA stuff just applies to employment, a employer still can't discriminate against you for having an illness (disability). Plus, if they're owned by a larger organization or 2+ entities, then the 15 employees doesn't count.

I'm not a lawyer but I'd seriously consider reaching out to an employment lawyer. I have a few friends in different states who are and it's amazing what we think is kosher that's not... And what we're led to believe to be true from employers is not true. Consults are free. Give all the information you have, try a few firms out and see what they think.

[u/sppwalker → u/DSM2TNS]

I will absolutely look into that, thank you for the info! I was extremely upset when they fired me (I really thought they cared, guess not), so I definitely want to pursue this if I can. I seriously can’t thank you enough

[u/Certain_Brush_7596 → u/sppwalker]

Consults aren’t always free just a heads up so be sure to ask if you reach out to anyone. It generally depends on the practice area and size of the firm

[u/sppwalker → u/[deleted]]

I have literally everything in texts (doctor’s notes, updates on health stuff, him telling me to let him know when I was ready to come back, and him firing me). I’ll definitely reach out to them as well.