I'm Lost! The Call In/Sick/Late/NCNS/Attendance Thread

[lovecats]

We work in retail!!!! If you don't like working holidays and weekends then get a boring office job.

Some of us don't have that option. When you get to a certain age (between Social Security and death) the only jobs out there are in retail. I personally have gotten to the point that I'm going to try to find something else after Christmas. And I'm one of the lucky ones whose store lets us sign up for when we wanted to work on bf (I'm working 3:30pm to midnight).

 

[commiecorvus]

I love the idea, but it won't accomplish anything. If only a few people do it, then they won't see the significance of it, and give you some kind of corrective action for calling out on the biggest day of the year. If a lot of people do it, then they will simply punish and replace the people involved.

You need to be more creative with your rebellion.

My suggestion is a slow down.
If everyone gives the best possible service, vibes with the guest exactly as we have been trained to do, the entire system on BF will bog down completely and the ETL's will go nuts.
But they won't be able to complain or do anything about it.
You will be doing exactly what they told you.

 

[ptl]

My suggestion is a slow down.
If everyone gives the best possible service, vibes with the guest exactly as we have been trained to do, the entire system on BF will bog down completely and the ETL's will go nuts.
But they won't be able to complain or do anything about it.
You will be doing exactly what they told you.

The problem is I don't think you'll actually be able to do that. The guests will make it an actual impossibility. They aren't going to tolerate you spending more than five seconds on someone else, because THEY NEED YOU TO CHECK THE BACK RIGHT NOW GOD DAMMIT, etc., etc. You can certainly try to "vibe" a guest, but be prepared for the other guests to "vibe" you in the face as a result. People take their BF shopping seriously.

 

[flygirl]

Is working thanksgiving considered holiday pay? If so... Then that's great. IF not... Meh, it'll be interesting to see what opportunities we can face.

 

[redeye58]

Been there & done that, including sleeping at the desk (woke up with part of my calendar printed on my cheek).
If you weren't working retail, you'd be part of the angry hoards fighting for the last Lalaloopsy whatever.

 

[Jettajunky]

I get that it's retail and its a business to make money but you guys are still humans. They don't give a sh1t about you or your family. That's horrible, if other industries care about their people, why can't retail? Instead of team members "striking" I hope it's the guests that do to show that we're all human and we all have morals no matter what industry you're in. I, as an ex-team member will not be there to get that great deal that will only be better the next weekend. It's rediculous, you guys are pretty much skipping Thanksgiving this year. I stick up for Target anytime anyone dogs them but will not when it comes to this. Morals over materials.... Or at least equal to, materials should never be more than morals.

 

[PricingMaster]

We had a sign up sheet for people to volunteer to work the opening shift, and there was more than enough people who were willing to do so. No one in my store was scheduled for the 9pm shift without their permission. I'm doing the opening and closing shift, not because I am forced to, but because I volunteered to do so.
For those just blaming Target and retailers, remember that they do this to make the Guests happy - there are plenty of shoppers who complain that we aren't open enough and how dare we be closed on Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving - if not for the customers greed, maybe retail stores wouldn't need to be open on Holidays or at least the latter part of them.

 

[greydot]

Just because you sign up to be there - doesn't mean you want to be there. Taking money being offered just says that as a life decision you may not be in the position to turn down extra pay.

 

[Retail Girl]

Nor were all of us asked to sign up. One woman at my store assumed we would open at midnight and had plans to host a late Thanksgiving for friends. I had wanted more time out of state with relatives. In fact, I went so far as to talk to my supervisor and tell her if they were thinking about shifts, I would be more than happy to close and clean up the mess. Of course, I am pulling a double (including opening).

So not all of us got to pick our poisons.

 

[ptl]

there are plenty of shoppers who complain that we aren't open enough and how dare we be closed on Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving - if not for the customers greed, maybe retail stores wouldn't need to be open on Holidays or at least the latter part of them.

Careful with those stones you're throwing--I'm not a religious person, and I've never understood why we have so many holidays (religious or non-religious). It's just people wanting to be lazy! I've always thought, "wow, we could get so much more done as a society if we just stopped basically shutting the whole country down on random days all year long." Working on holidays never bothered me, because I think everybody should. No greed involved.

 

[Rarejem]

Careful with those stones you're throwing--I'm not a religious person, and I've never understood why we have so many holidays (religious or non-religious). It's just people wanting to be lazy! I've always thought, "wow, we could get so much more done as a society if we just stopped basically shutting the whole country down on random days all year long." Working on holidays never bothered me, because I think everybody should. No greed involved.

What are you working for? Fun? Recreation? A celebration of some sort? Do you stop working when you've reached the point that all of your bills are paid? You want to get "more done as a society" - hopefully you are spending time getting more done as an individual, too. I work to earn money. That is it. I try to work enough to pay my bills, have a little fun, etc. and to maintain my health insurance and save for retirement and then I spend time enjoying the people I love and doing things I like to do. I contribute with time to charitable causes. There is such a thing as a work/life balance. I don't see how you can say it's not greed when the point of working is to make money. Sounds to me like you need to work on the "life" part of the balance.

 

[redeye58]

I think it's more that some places (fed/state, banks, etc) close down at the drop of a hat where others (hospitals, police/fire, etc) NEVER close because they're so essential. Then there are those in between (like retail) that are the go-to places for those who get all the holidays off.
I think ptl is right in that the elimination of 'some' holidays could improve things a bit. Ex: going to a fed/state office for an important document only to find out they're closed for some holiday.
There's commemorate vs celebrate. Most people these days celebrate most holidays by drinking/partying/shopping instead of remembering what the 'holiday' is about. Thanksgiving 'used' to be about getting together with family to celebrate what you're thankful for & many folks still do that no matter how difficult. Not everybody fits the Norman Rockwell family photo, tho, & it can be a harsh time for the fractured/disfunctional. After my sister's kids were being particularly greedy one yr, their family spent the next Thanksgiving serving dinners at a shelter.
Commemorate vs celebrate.

 

[ptl]

What are you working for? Fun? Recreation? A celebration of some sort? Do you stop working when you've reached the point that all of your bills are paid? You want to get "more done as a society" - hopefully you are spending time getting more done as an individual, too. I work to earn money. That is it. I try to work enough to pay my bills, have a little fun, etc. and to maintain my health insurance and save for retirement and then I spend time enjoying the people I love and doing things I like to do. I contribute with time to charitable causes. There is such a thing as a work/life balance. I don't see how you can say it's not greed when the point of working is to make money. Sounds to me like you need to work on the "life" part of the balance.

I do just fine with the "life" part of the balance. (Well, now that I quit and am in law school, the "life" part of the balance is actually woefully limited. But when I was working, it wasn't.)

My point was just that _greed_ isn't the only reason people think stores should be open on holidays--some of us just don't think there's any reason they should NOT be open, and since open is the default condition, that's what they should be. For instance, I thought (as an employee) that they were a waste of a day I could have spent working and earning the money to pay my bills, fund my recreational activities, etc. I think (as a customer) that it's a pointless inconvenience that so many things are closed on days that hold no special significance to the VAST majority of the people "celebrating" them (as redeye pointed out).

There are plenty of people who would be willing to work on the holidays, so you could certainly always have at least a small staff working--and since there are lots of people who wouldn't shop on the holidays, a small staff should be sufficient. So, you just don't tie your ridiculous crazy sales events to the holidays, and you're golden. Such an easy solution.

I can get together with my family on a weekend to celebrate and share quality time, etc. I don't need to be given time off specifically for that--it's important enough to me that I'll use my weekends for it. My family is worth me sacrificing a weekend or two. I find the idea that we need to set aside a special day for that incredibly depressing.

 

[calimero]

But thanksgiving and Christmas are or were the only holidays left ! Stores are opened otherwise ! Why not let us have those 2 days !
There are 363 other days to shop and make money !

 

[Retail Girl]

Use your weekends? You have been out of retail for a while. Everyone below TL doesn't get every other weekend (or any without a fight).

And while there are plenty of people willing to work on holidays due to lack of families, need for money, etc, there those who, when the vast majority of family has the time off, and is willing to travel, would like to spend some time with them. And when a store runs out of volunteers, they turn to the voluntolds.

 

[ptl]

Use your weekends? You have been out of retail for a while. Everyone below TL doesn't get every other weekend (or any without a fight).

Three months And when I didn't have the weekend off, I had days off during the week. I'm just saying, it's possible to find time without making everyone else have to take the day off, too.

And while there are plenty of people willing to work on holidays due to lack of families, need for money, etc, there those who, when the vast majority of family has the time off, and is willing to travel, would like to spend some time with them. And when a store runs out of volunteers, they turn to the voluntolds.

My experience was that plenty of people volunteered whenever work was made available. And, as I said, this would only work if you didn't tie the big sales to the holidays, so that you wouldn't need a full staff. How many people would really need to work on Thanksgiving if the sale didn't start until Saturday, for instance? The store wouldn't be busy--but those who wanted the hours could get them, and those who wanted to be able to shop would be. Yes, there's a concern that the store might be TOO slow to justify opening, but that's easy to deal with (reduced hours, or don't open D/C volume stores, etc).

 

[invictustaylor]

black friday was pretty fun for me last year. I was scheduled backroom or salesfloor (can't remember lol) and me and a friend just sat down in the backroom and talked for the first two hours. The salesfloor was completely filled with guests so there wasn't really much to do anyways. Anyways, we got tired of joking around with each other right about the time the rush ended and the store became dead. I spend the rest of the shift walking aimlessly around picking up abandons, and taking long breaks every half an hour or so, trying to eat as much catered food as possible.

Hopefully I can do the same this year. Follow my advice, and your black friday work experience will be AMAZING!

 

[PullMeBackIn]

I think it's more that some places (fed/state, banks, etc) close down at the drop of a hat where others (hospitals, police/fire, etc) NEVER close because they're so essential. Then there are those in between (like retail) that are the go-to places for those who get all the holidays off.
I think ptl is right in that the elimination of 'some' holidays could improve things a bit. Ex: going to a fed/state office for an important document only to find out they're closed for some holiday.
There's commemorate vs celebrate. Most people these days celebrate most holidays by drinking/partying/shopping instead of remembering what the 'holiday' is about. Thanksgiving 'used' to be about getting together with family to celebrate what you're thankful for & many folks still do that no matter how difficult. Not everybody fits the Norman Rockwell family photo, tho, & it can be a harsh time for the fractured/disfunctional. After my sister's kids were being particularly greedy one yr, their family spent the next Thanksgiving serving dinners at a shelter.
Commemorate vs celebrate.

One other important consideration regarding essential/emergency services is that they pay higher base pay and also typically pay either double or triple time on holidays. Then again, most of those workers are also represented by unions so unlike what Target tries to indoctrinate into us, unions do benefit employees...


Personally, I've already made it clear in another thread that I will be calling in sick on Thanksgiving anyway based on not choosing this company over my family (and also the fact that I was wildly scheduled outside of my availability despite never even being asked or consulted before that was done). At any rate, I would love if others did the same to send a message but my expectations are low about a sufficient amount of other team members doing the same to send a message to the company. Steinhafel's leadership has been the worst thing to happen to this company. Their march to Walmart-ness continues...

 

[Electronica]

How about no.

Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy having money and a job.

 

[TargetTeam]

Sure it would be funny but at the end of the day it's only one day. Drink the Red Bulls, Get energized, It's only one day!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

One other important consideration regarding essential/emergency services is that they pay higher base pay and also typically pay either double or triple time on holidays. Then again, most of those workers are also represented by unions so unlike what Target tries to indoctrinate into us, unions do benefit employees...


Personally, I've already made it clear in another thread that I will be calling in sick on Thanksgiving anyway based on not choosing this company over my family (and also the fact that I was wildly scheduled outside of my availability despite never even being asked or consulted before that was done). At any rate, I would love if others did the same to send a message but my expectations are low about a sufficient amount of other team members doing the same to send a message to the company. Steinhafel's leadership has been the worst thing to happen to this company. Their march to Walmart-ness continues...

Calling out would be a bad thing for you.

 

[commiecorvus]

Couple o' thoughts on the subject (some you may have heard before).
I don't mind working BF.
The hustle and bustle, high energy, can be fun.
It goes fast and there is a kind of satisfaction in knowing you lived through it.
What galls me is Spots (and other retails) feeling that Thanksgiving isn't important.
The very name has resonance.
We are giving thanks for the blessings of the year, our friends, our family.
Sure, as redeye pointed out in many cases that family is pretty dysfunctional but than you get together with your friends, make your own family.
We need that bonding to survive in this high speed world.
And finally, I'd be happy to work Christmas.
It's not my holiday.
Let me work Christmas and give me Yom Kipper off without having to use a vacation day and I'd be happy.
We all have our own priorities and if Spot truly believed in diversity they would help us celebrate them rather then crush them in the name of mamon.

 

[PullMeBackIn]

Calling out would be a bad thing for you.

Why exactly would that be? I don't really need the money and I haven't had any attendance/coaching issues.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Why exactly would that be? I don't really need the money and I haven't had any attendance/coaching issues.

a comment you had made:

Originally Posted by PullMeBackIn
One other important consideration regarding essential/emergency services is that they pay higher base pay and also typically pay either double or triple time on holidays. Then again, most of those workers are also represented by unions so unlike what Target tries to indoctrinate into us, unions do benefit employees...
Personally, I've already made it clear in another thread that I will be calling in sick on Thanksgiving anyway based on not choosing this company over my family (and also the fact that I was wildly scheduled outside of my availability despite never even being asked or consulted before that was done). At any rate, I would love if others did the same to send a message but my expectations are low about a sufficient amount of other team members doing the same to send a message to the company. Steinhafel's leadership has been the worst thing to happen to this company. Their march to Walmart-ness continues...

 

[PullMeBackIn]

a comment you had made:

I guess I'm failing to see the point you're making?