I worked for the Kroger store listed for 7 months. I started out as a courtesy clerk (bagger) and moved up to cashier after only 2 months. When I first started I told my manager that I had to focus on school before work, and he understood that and made sure I wasn't working more than I could handle.
Well this manager had to quit his job to get a better one that would enable to obtain custody of his young child, and they brought in someone new. When you start working for Kroger they ask you to fill out a form that says what days and hours you are available to work so they can schedule the staff correctly. The new manager, Lisa, apparently lost or threw out all the records on file though.
Lisa made every employee fill out these forms again, which I did not mind, but she kept "losing" the forms, and scheduling people when they could not work. I personally had to fill out this form four times. A friend of mine who was also a cashier had to fill hers out at least three times.
Lisa scheduled me and my friend to work times that were completely impossible for us. We were in high school, and could not work until around 3 in the afternoon, and our forms said this, yet Lisa continually scheduled us to start working at noon, one, or two. When I addressed her about this, she claimed that I had never turned in the form to her.
Knowing that I did in fact turn in the form, I went along with what she said and filled out another one, and handed it to her. The next week when my schedule came out, she still had me scheduled to work while I was going to be in class. I told her this again, but she refused to change my schedule.
I took this directly to the store manager (Hector Juarez), along with my friend, who also had the same problem. Mr. Juarez fixed both of our schedules and said that he would talk to Lisa for us about getting us scheduled for the correct hours.
Me and my friend both worked the schedules Mr. Juarez gave us instead of the schedules Lisa gave us. Lisa was angry with us for not talking to her about having our schedules changed (although we had previously) and told us to fill out our availability forms for the third time.
I filled out the form for the third time, and placed it on top of her pile of forms for the other employees. Lo and behold, the next week, I am still scheduled for the wrong hours! I take this to Mr. Juarez, again, who fixes my schedule for me.
Once again, Lisa gets angry with me for not working the (impossible) schedule she gave me. Lisa threatens that if I do not work my assigned schedule, than she will fire me. After telling her again that I wrote this on my availability sheet, Lisa still says I never gave her one.
I hit the button on the receipt printer that makes it spit out paper, and wrote out my fourth availability sheet on the receipt paper and gave it to her. This did not help at all though.
Once again, I was scheduled to work hours when I would be in class. After filling out four forms and talking with the store manager and Lisa multiple times, I finally had enough. My school work was suffering too much because of Lisa over scheduling me, and I just don't think $6/hour is worth getting held back from graduation.
I quit working at Kroger, and I let everyone know that it was specifically because of Lisa. Since then, many of the other employees have quit or transferred to other stores for the same reason, some of whom had been working for Kroger for 10 years.
The exodus of so many employees is a testament to how badly Lisa treats the workers, and how little Kroger does to stop this kind of employee abuse. Because of her abuse of power, that Kroger is now severely understaffed, and constantly has very long lines at the check outs.
So when you have to wait in line for a long time at this store, remember that it is Lisa's fault! Because of her many good cashiers left that store. And we were the cashiers that could get you through the line quickly, too!
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