Archived Do you have a chair in your fitting room for the operator?

[Toshico]

Due to physical disabilities, I need a chair to work shifts in the fitting room. I was told that a new policy forbids a chair there, but I can't find that directive anywhere. Any clues on where I can find the 'official' policy?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

My fitting room has a chair.. Not to sure on that one. Ask your hr. Ada will back up on that too.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

The counter is built in such a way to accommodate a chair...

They also cannot deny you a chair, even without a note. Most states require employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" if you ask. A chair for the FR is reasonable, just use the words "reasonable accommodations" and your chair will appear, quickly.

If it doesnt, call the hr hotline.

 

[signingminion]

The counter is built in such a way to accommodate a chair...

They also cannot deny you a chair, even without a note. Most states require employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" if you ask. A chair for the FR is reasonable, just use the words "reasonable accommodations" and your chair will appear, quickly.

If it doesnt, call the hr hotline.

This.

Every time they take ours away I tell the girls to insist on a desk that's ergonomically adjusted for standing...cause back pain, joint pain, etc.

I've been told it's not best practice, but they only remove it on lazy people instead of just choosing them...

 

[Leonhart621]

Nope

It will make team members lazy and just sit around there staring at the phone.

 

[Signkitty]

Used to, but it disappeared one day.

The desk is not made/ at the right height for standing so it is rather uncomfortable to use with the chair gone.

 

[Blackbutler42]

Bring a chair with u and leave it there lol

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

No chair. When the fitting room has a chair they do nothing. Without the chair, they zone the back half of rtw and girls, and put all the reshop away.

 

[RTCry]

We have a chair. My TL about kissed me when I told her I stuck it in the FR closet because it was in my way. The only time I use it is for processing rewraps and to make the closing announcements.

 

[redeye58]

The counter is built in such a way to accommodate a chair...

They also cannot deny you a chair, even without a note. Most states require employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" if you ask. A chair for the FR is reasonable, just use the words "reasonable accommodations" and your chair will appear, quickly.

If it doesnt, call the hr hotline.

This.
@commiecorvus is the authority on this.

 

[commiecorvus]

If you have proven disabilities, it should be no problem to get them to put a chair back there for you.
If they want to take it out when you leave that's on them but you have the right to it.

 

[Kartman]

+10

 

[sher]

We don't have a chair, but when someone on the sl team is in a state where they're unable to stand, they bring a chair. We have a cashier who gets a stool, too. Based on the placement of the stuff in our fr, though, they will have to do some walking.

How are FR operators zoning and doing all of the reshop? Does the stuff get sorted by some sort of magic when they're not in the fr? Or is it a store with a slow fr?

 

[GlitterBerries]

There's a chair at ours too. We also had one at guest service because one tm had to sit most of her shift due to surgery

 

[thatguyattarget]

We do. The only one who sits at it consistently is a TM who has a med condition. But sitting down is never questioned, just as long as the SL go backs are properly organized.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

This is part of the new boutique type fitting room our new corporate leader wants. He wants a pristine fitting room with no limi t in the amount of items the guests can try on. We are still supposed to count the items and walk the guest to the fitting room. The desk and area around it is supposed to be clear of everything. We are supposed to hang, sort, fold and repackage out of the view if the guests. We are the Operator too and it's not fun bending over that desk to talk on the phone.
#Rant: the operator is expected to interact and educate the guests. We are to greet the guest in a positive, personal way and tell them our name as we walk them to the fitting room. We are supposed to count each of their items. We should sell them more by making suggestions, scarves or belts that might match whatever and offer to get them anything else they might need/want. We should be telling them about cartwheel and of course, RedCards. We must never have anything on the desk! We can't even have the list of all the extensions. All sorting must be done in the tiny little closet so the guests won't see us folding or hanging.
Oh, and by the way, we should be able to answer the phone, make all the announcements, call all the breaks and zone and do reshop in the back half of the store. #rant over
tldr: I'm over it!

 

[recentlyretail]

This is part of the new boutique type fitting room our new corporate leader wants. He wants a pristine fitting room with no limi t in the amount of items the guests can try on. We are still supposed to count the items and walk the guest to the fitting room. The desk and area around it is supposed to be clear of everything. We are supposed to hang, sort, fold and repackage out of the view if the guests. We are the Operator too and it's not fun bending over that desk to talk on the phone.
#Rant: the operator is expected to interact and educate the guests. We are to greet the guest in a positive, personal way and tell them our name as we walk them to the fitting room. We are supposed to count each of their items. We should sell them more by making suggestions, scarves or belts that might match whatever and offer to get them anything else they might need/want. We should be telling them about cartwheel and of course, RedCards. We must never have anything on the desk! We can't even have the list of all the extensions. All sorting must be done in the tiny little closet so the guests won't see us folding or hanging.
Oh, and by the way, we should be able to answer the phone, make all the announcements, call all the breaks and zone and do reshop in the back half of the store. #rant over
tldr: I'm over it!

This! I swear, I enjoy being in the fitting room - but there is legitimately no way for me to do al of the things they want of the position. First - I can't even get all guests to allow me to count their items ... Some will literally just walk past me even when at the desk and speaking to them. And if one more guests thinks it cute to reply "oh I don't know a whole lot" when I say how many items / I need to count these - I may just punch a hole in the walls.

In my store most days we are supposed to come clean on reshop entirely (noting left on z. The FR cart, or the front end cart) - and that's nearly impossible, especially when I've got two zones to do(night) or three or more assigned special projects (dayside), the phone, somehow end up on backup cashier (with the phone still my responsibility most times while on register (talk about great service)), can't get all my calls answered across the store so I have to deal with things outside of sl as to stop a guest from getting any more upset, watch for theft / do continual checks in the FR, and actually sorting and pushing the z (which takes you out of the FR for extended periods anyways). Oh - and manage all the re wrap/repacks for sl - since all the other floor tms & front end just dump them in the reshop cart without warning (I.e. One day I came to get my cart from the front end to find whomever had zoned hosiery created a half a cart of repack for me & not mentioned it).

Thankfully my store has never mentioned we can't use the desk / sort & fold in the open ... Although until recently we could barely fit in the room with the z's in there - thanks to the fact it was a dumping ground for fixtures && outdated displays. Oh and a millions premade shoe boxes that we rarely even use. -- I enjoy being FR for the most part. But if I had time to pretend I was working at a boutique and upsell items to make outfits and run to get them these nEw sizes / pieces and give speels on redcards - idk that I'd be able to do any of the actual workload. For example- This weekend I came in on a morning shift to more leftover reshop than I have seen since Christmas - which was due to extenuating circumstances the day before in sl (so not even mad). But I was to push a flat of shoes / do pick ups, sort and push the z's, complete store rack alignment && zone three major areas in sl (on top of just keeping up with the daily grind / phones etc ) .... Oh and mind you there was me, an electronics tm, and one floor shift to open -- so cue answering call boxes, pushing a few cafs (whatever I could get as close to sl as possible), running to check things for guests and constantly being on backup or carry outs because there was literally no one else -- and please tell me when I have time to pitch a matching scarf & a red card ??? Even when I got help during the day we had almost no time for real FR coverage because of everything needed to happen on the floor. ....

Yeah. Sorry. I just let all the rage out. But dang.... It's insane.

 

[redeye58]

CALIFORNIA
Top court to workers: Have a seat
By Maura Dolan Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court made it more difficult Monday for companies to deny employees a seat while they work. In response to class-action lawsuits against retail stores and a bank, the state high court said employers should offer workers a chair when some of their duties can be performed sitting. “There is no principled reason for denying an employee a seat when he spends a substantial part of his workday at a single location performing tasks that could reasonably be done while seated, merely because his job duties include other tasks that must be done standing,” Justice Carol A. Corrigan wrote for a unanimous court. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals must decide three class-action cases on the issue and the federal court had asked the California justices to clarify state law. Michael Rubin, who represented workers before both the state high court and the 9th Circuit, said Monday’s decision would have a “huge impact” and affect “almost every industry” in the state, especially retail. “Employers can no longer force workers to stand at the job all day in a fixed location when the actual job tasks could be performed while seating,” Rubin said. Most large retailers require checkout cashiers to stand because of a perception that customers regard standing workers as more attentive and welcoming, Rubin said. He said the class action lawsuits involved tens of thousands of workers in California, but the ruling would affect millions. The suits were filed by workers against CVS Pharmacy Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

 

[sher]

I wonder how different all of our fitting rooms are.

I couldn't sit and get anything done. I couldn't reach the rack to grab hangers and I'd have to constantly get up to hang things on it. I'd be squashed up against the unsorted cart. It just seems like the worst option to me. When people who are hurt sit back there, we just accommodate them somehow and accept that they'll be slower (it's not a big deal, someone will catch up later/eventually). Not using the countertop desk deal to sort would be impossible.

 

[Blackbutler42]

This is part of the new boutique type fitting room our new corporate leader wants. He wants a pristine fitting room with no limi t in the amount of items the guests can try on. We are still supposed to count the items and walk the guest to the fitting room. The desk and area around it is supposed to be clear of everything. We are supposed to hang, sort, fold and repackage out of the view if the guests. We are the Operator too and it's not fun bending over that desk to talk on the phone.
#Rant: the operator is expected to interact and educate the guests. We are to greet the guest in a positive, personal way and tell them our name as we walk them to the fitting room. We are supposed to count each of their items. We should sell them more by making suggestions, scarves or belts that might match whatever and offer to get them anything else they might need/want. We should be telling them about cartwheel and of course, RedCards. We must never have anything on the desk! We can't even have the list of all the extensions. All sorting must be done in the tiny little closet so the guests won't see us folding or hanging.
Oh, and by the way, we should be able to answer the phone, make all the announcements, call all the breaks and zone and do reshop in the back half of the store. #rant over
tldr: I'm over it!

What?? At the target I worked at the fitting room attendants just counted how much you had then gave u a tag to go to a fitting room. They never did all that extra stuff

 

[BullseyeBabe]

They took away the numbers when they did away with the limit of items you can try on. All the changes came from the new head of the company and we've had visits focused on making sure the changes were implemented at our store. One more thing I forgot to rant about is how hard it is to get anyone to answer the phones at my store. Guests get so angry that I can't get anyone to take their calls. I wish after I ask for the 4th or 5th time I could just make the LOD talk to them!

 

[sher]

The number thing I heard stores with a lot of theft have a limit (though I'm not sure how my store got into the low theft category. Other stores must have heists going on) of ten. The walking people to the fitting room came before the new CEO, I think. I remember that happening about two years ago... Two etl hrs ago for me lol. We only did it for like one week at my store. Then when the thing about no longer having a limit or using numbers came, they reiterated the whole walking guests back and getting them different sizes etc junk. Again we did it for a week. We give a limit unless the etls are around. And if a guest is annoyed by the limit, we just let them go.

We haven't had any visits to check on whether or not we're doing all the extra stuff, though, so we don't actually do it at my store. The people who make these decisions don't know what's practical and what isn't. It's annoying.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

We don't have a chair, but when someone on the sl team is in a state where they're unable to stand, they bring a chair. We have a cashier who gets a stool, too. Based on the placement of the stuff in our fr, though, they will have to do some walking.

How are FR operators zoning and doing all of the reshop? Does the stuff get sorted by some sort of magic when they're not in the fr? Or is it a store with a slow fr?

I'm in a frikking low volume supert. They've got nothing to do so they zone, sort/hang/fold, and put reshop away. The phone rarely rings unless it's 4th quarter. The guests just help themselves to the rooms.

 

[sher]

Ohhhhhh... Makes sense. If we have nothing to do in the FR, we usually leave the fitting room too, because it's boring otherwise. It's not a daily occurrence for us, though.

 

[RTCry]

They took away the numbers when they did away with the limit of items you can try on. All the changes came from the new head of the company and we've had visits focused on making sure the changes were implemented at our store. One more thing I forgot to rant about is how hard it is to get anyone to answer the phones at my store. Guests get so angry that I can't get anyone to take their calls. I wish after I ask for the 4th or 5th time I could just make the LOD talk to them!

Amen. I have been known to just head across the store to where the item is myself after multiple calls into the abyss. I know TMs are busy, but dangit, I'm not asking for ME. I am trying to help a guest. We're a team. Help your teammate for 30 seconds. Two minutes, tops.