I Called Off

My neck and shoulder hurt so much I have little to no mobility, so I called off. That will give me 3 days off before I work again. They have me scheduled for 4 days in a row. Judging from the intense jabbing in my neck and shoulder, I'll probably use up some more of my sick time. They also have me scheduled for Sunday, December 13 and there is no way that is happening. I have 10 hours sick time, that means I can cover 20 hours of missed work, because Walmart only pays out 1/2 of the day you lost.

I feel sorry for my co-workers. Many of them have worked there for years, and will continue to do so, because there are not a lot of opportunities here. It's amazing how the Walton family, worth more than $148 Billion, has decided to cut hours, cut bonus amounts and cut discounts since giving employees a raise. California already had a $9 minimum wage law in effect when Walmart decided to raise everyone in all states to $9 per hour.

They have also cut bonus amounts. In the years 2013 and 2014, my daughter received $1455 and $1487 respectively. 2015 will end with only $725 in my daughter's pocket, even though she worked hard, even harder than most. Every year a discount card is given to employees who work on Thanksgiving. It can be combined with the 10% discount card every employee receives after working 3 months. In the past, the Thanksgiving discount was 20%. This year it's 15%.

Walmart "lost control" over employee attendance when California mandated sick leave, and let me tell you, people use it. With fewer and fewer associates on the floor at any given time, those of us who are there must cover 2 or 3 departments. Employees burn out when there are more managers in the store than associates, so they call off. Customers are constantly frustrated because they can't find someone to help them. 30% of our bonus is tied to customer satisfaction. Well, duh.

Furthermore, there seems to be a growing sentiment against shopping on Thanksgiving Day. It would be nice if Walmart dropped the "Black Friday event from 6 pm to 8 pm on Thanksgiving Day". I'm sure Walmart will be disappointed at how slow the event was. Event items are still available in the store today. I did not see any associates with happy faces that day. Mostly they were frustrated, tired and overworked. There were not many people following the "Ten foot rule" that evening. What is that, you ask? Any time an associate is within 10 feet of a customer they are supposed to cheerfully say hello and walk over to help them, asking, "Are you finding everything you need today?" I break that rule anytime someone is sick and coughing and sneezing. I also break it when I see old farts looking for a chance to talk to a blonde. There's a difference between looking like you need help and looking like you want to break the ice.

Well, I'm trying to loosen up my neck and shoulder. I'm going to call it "Walmart Whiplash" because other people get it too, maybe not as severe. It's a nice sunny day, cold, but sunny. I'm going to go bake some bread.