Archived Can one decline to work in a certain area of the store?

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brobley

rubberball busted
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Dec 29, 2013
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Specifically, the freezers. I'm okay with ducking in there when I'm backroom to do a CAF pull, but longer than a few minutes and I'm so uncomfortable I feel like quitting. Anything else in the store I've no problem doing, but meat freaks me out and I hate the cold.

I recently got assigned a whole shift of pushing and pulling frozen and dairy. Can I tell my TL or ETL that I don't want any shifts working in the freezers and get a positive response, or will they say "tough luck" and mock me behind my back?
 
They will most likely mock you.

Your store should have various supplies on hand to make working in the cold much more bearable. A good jacket, coveralls, and gloves and I'm set to be in there for a good hour. Any longer, and I'm adding my gator neck, beanie, and changing to the pair of thick wool boot socks I keep on hand.
 
Would forming a union help? I'll bet I can find others who hate freezing temperatures. :confused:
 
I don't understand why people hate the freezers. Yes it's cold. Suck it up, wear the proper clothing, and deal with it. If you are a backroom team member it is your job to get in there to pull and backstock however long it takes whether you like it or not. I'm sure there are a lot of people that would love to work in the backroom to avoid working with guests and who wouldn't complain about being in a freezer.
 
Doing whatever they tell you is part of your core roles. They have plently of gear you can put on that should be located somewhere near the freezers.

When I'm BR I usually don't think about it and it goes by faster, and I'm not as cold when my mind is on something else. Try listening and singing along to music like I do. I'd take BR as my primary over Flow any day.
 
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Would forming a union help? I'll bet I can find others who hate freezing temperatures. :confused:

That would probably get you fired.
They can't fire you for wanting to form a union. If they did, Target would be open to huge litigation.



Also having worked some Backroom shifts and having done CAF Pulls in the freezer... It sucks! Totally understand why you wouldn't want to. I'm in there for 5 minutes and can't wait to get out, and I live somewhere cold! :eek:
 
Would forming a union help? I'll bet I can find others who hate freezing temperatures. :confused:

Don't work in backroom if you don't want to be in the freezer. It's part of the job just as much as sales floor TMs have to help guests.

If your store isn't providing the required gear for it, that is an issue.
 
I hate the freezers, too. I am terrified of being locked in. I KNOW it's irrational, but there are no safety backups like a call button and I usually don't have a walkie. (We never have enough.) I don't have to be in them often, but it starts a mini-panic attack just thinking about it. That brief moment when the vacuum seal shuts you in and the door won't open terrifies me. We didn't have freezers when I was hired and the backroom was one of my main workcenters. Thank goodness it isn't anymore. I've always hated small enclosed spaces. (Don't get me started on elevators.) If you're claustrophobic, tell your tl and hr right away.
 
There's a standard question in the job interview asking whether you can handle all sorts of different types of things. If you work for Target, you must have answered yes to that question. You can let your leaders know that you prefer not to work in that area, but you get scheduled over there either swap shift with someone or suck it up.
 
I don't understand why people hate the freezers. Yes it's cold. Suck it up, wear the proper clothing, and deal with it. If you are a backroom team member it is your job to get in there to pull and backstock however long it takes whether you like it or not. I'm sure there are a lot of people that would love to work in the backroom to avoid working with guests and who wouldn't complain about being in a freezer.

I'm one of those people lol
 
I had to let a team member out of the freezer the other day. He had just started & I guess no one showed him how to open the door. Wasn't in there long because I was working close & heard him pounding on the door at once, but I'm sure it was scary.
 
Anything else in the store I've no problem doing, but meat freaks me out and I hate the cold.

I recently got assigned a whole shift of pushing and pulling frozen and dairy. Can I tell my TL or ETL that I don't want any shifts working in the freezers and get a positive response, or will they say "tough luck" and mock me behind my back?

Why does this remind me of a post we had a while back from that girl who was an animal lover, staunch vegetarian, and in market...she kept talking about meat...

Whatever happened to that post anyway, it didn't show up in the search.
 
I also hate hate hate the freezer. Our store just doesn't provide adequate clothing for being in there. Half of the coats have no zippers, the coveralls are extremely ragged and probably have never been washed, and the only gloves we have are a joke. I personally spent $200 on a pair of insulated work boots, and even with wool socks, my feet are painfully numb after about 15 minutes. When it takes 2 people over 2 hours just to backstock our Saturday truck, it is almost unbearable. I have no problem with the dairy or meat coolers, but dread the freezer. And I have yet to find a pair of gloves that keep out the cold unless they are so bulky that I can not key in the PDA. But as long as I am a backroom TM I really don't have much choice. But wanted you to know that you are not alone.
 
We have a gal in SB who must be an ice maid. She pulls pastries, etc without a stitch of gear or so much of a shiver. If we're working together, she'll pull the whole batch of pastries in one trip.
Ice for blood, that one....
 
We have a gal in SB who must be an ice maid. She pulls pastries, etc without a stitch of gear or so much of a shiver. If we're working together, she'll pull the whole batch of pastries in one trip.
Ice for blood, that one....

I used to do stuff like that to help people out.
Helps when you grow up in AK.
 
I've helped pull frozen without any gear on out of spite when my coworkers complain about the temp.

"Oh, you were saying it's cold in here? Might I offer thee a straw?"
 
I hate the freezers, too. I am terrified of being locked in. I KNOW it's irrational, but there are no safety backups like a call button and I usually don't have a walkie. (We never have enough.) I don't have to be in them often, but it starts a mini-panic attack just thinking about it. That brief moment when the vacuum seal shuts you in and the door won't open terrifies me. We didn't have freezers when I was hired and the backroom was one of my main workcenters. Thank goodness it isn't anymore. I've always hated small enclosed spaces. (Don't get me started on elevators.) If you're claustrophobic, tell your tl and hr right away.

I almost got locked in the Food Ave freezer. The door wouldn't budge and I had to kick it f**king hard to get it open. Then I busted up all the ice near the seal, because screw getting locked in the freezer.
 
I don't work in shoes. Of course I have a sensitivity to latex and any time I spend more than a few minutes in that area I wind up taking a Benadryl nap when I get home.
 
I love my ETL. I know, strange words to read on this site, but he's been very cool to me.

Last shift, I went in a few minutes early to speak with him. Told him the freezer cold is too much for my age and weight (almost 50 and not much "natural insulation"), that I hate the small space & being closed in, and that I get creeped out handling meat (I'm a vegetarian). I said, respectfully, that I wouldn't work pfresh/freezer shifts, but I'm happy to do anything else in the store. As I've been doing for my entire 5 months. I said if it was a dealbreaker, and I had to suddenly have to start working in the freezer (after 5 months never having to do it) as a condition of my job, I would be happy to step aside for someone else, work out my last few shifts and go my own way. I was definitely prepared to leave over it.

I should clarify, these weren't backroom shifts where I had to pull a few things from each cooler for autofill or CAFs. I can duck into the freezer for five or ten minutes for a quick pull a couple times during a backroom shift. Don't like it, but I can, and will, and do. These were pfresh shifts, some special project?, and to my understanding, I would've been in the sub-zero for the better part of four hours. I told him I appreciate them trying to give me more hours, but I would rather have fewer hours and not work pfresh shifts.

ETL was not remotely preturbed. He chuckled a bit as if he expected it. Told me it was not a problem and he would keep me off such shifts in the future. I'm sure they will mock me a little, but I'm one of the hardest workers on the team, so I guess they don't want to lose me for good yet.

Meanwhile, he scheduled me for training in three new work areas I have been interested in, two weeks from now. No pfresh. And he upped my hours.

Made me feel a lot better about the job. I wish ETLs this classy and reasonable for all of you.
 
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