From what information has been provided, the work+welfare program is offered to give folks the opportunity to get off welfare.* You’re making it sound like he’s got an Escalade in the driveway and a widescreen in the family room of his 2400 SF chalet. Not.
*Further input from a Canadian doper is most welcome.
Amen !
Before I proceed I need to address mhendo. I was certain I had read of the admission during the time that I searched the web for a different slant on the story, but I am unable to find it. Frankly I am questioning my own memory in that regard. Thankyou for prompting me to set us all straight .
But there is no question that the guy knew he was doing was wrong. Both my wife and I work and have worked for Zellers and we can attest to the fact that everyone who works there knows that you don’t take anything out of the store without permission. Except cardboard boxes.
Yes I have worked at Zellers as well, and most likely had the very same job as Guy Masse since he was hired at the same time of the year I was. I had just been laid off my job working in the hangar of a local floatplane airline due to the American government’s softwood lumber tarriffs so I joined a few others in acquiring a TEMPORARY job at Zellers assisting in the early morning transfer of goods from the semis to the stockroom and wheeling out dozens of pallets 6 or 7 feet high onto the floor so the mostly female minions could load up the shelves. There were at least half a dozen other guys doing the same thing, staying on top of the pre-Christmas frenzy. Those of us who were hired for the Christmas season knew that we would would be laid off at Christmas, and that some of us would be kept on for the January inventory for about another week. During that time, it was quite clear that at least one of us on the off hour shifts were stealing. Discarded packaging tucked away amid the boxes were discovered on more than one occassion. This I was told was not unusual. I was well aware that anyone could easily steal small items during my shift, because of the lack of security during that time as well as the frequent opportunity to be alone with the merchandise. The dumpster we had could only be accessed from within the store as it was adjacent and sunken to the building with a housing over head so that we could roll and dump the garbage carts from the store room floor directly into the bin. If I remember correctly there was some sort of compacting mechanism over the bin and and an electric controlled gate to allow access. I can’t say for sure, but I believe there is a safety issue here as well.
So presumably and most likely Guy Masse had the same job I did. He was going to get laid off shortly thereafter anyway, and took a calculated risk considering the minimal likelyhood of discovery and the minimal impact of the consequences. In short, the consequences of his action imposed by the Zellers management materially affected him to a very small degree.
Zellers is a very happy place to work for unlike Wal-Mart from what I hear. My daughter has worked there as well and both my wife and her have no complaints and enjoy working there (I just hated the work). They don’t pay any more than Wal-Mart does however.
But Zellers is very controlled by the head office several thousand miles away. Even the thermostats in the store are controlled by head office. The total number of hours for all the hourly employees in any given week is controlled by head office. Such control is absolutely neccessary when considering the low margins on mark ups and the vastness of the operations. Any deviatian from policy can only result in a loss of control and that could have far reaching impacts. I find it interesting that Masse was suspended prior to being fired. Most likely the local manager dutifully put in his report and got over-ruled by head office.
Just about a month ago, a very well liked by all single mother and long time employee was caught by security stealing from the cash register. Every one was just sick about it. Just before Christmas too. She will have a record and now will have great difficulty in getting another job in retail. Now that really hurts.
I see it exactly the opposite way - he risked his job (and there is no doubt in my mind that he was told that taking things from the garbage was a firing offense) for a couple of lousy chocolate bars. Way to go, dad.
Pretty much. That’s how it works, if you want to stay on welfare you have to prove that you can’t work or can’t find a job and need the money to support you or your family. They have programs to help you find work, get training, pump up your resume and you can still make money while on welfare (see my post above). Not to say it doesn’t get abused, but yes they intend it as an aid to move up not to sit on your ass all day. It varies from province to province though, so I can’t comment on Quebec’s just Alberta’s.
And for the lousy couple of chocolate bars, you can get a couple of bars for a dollar seven at most dollar stores. If he really wanted the chocolate from Zellers I’m sure they offer a discount to their employees. Plus if he was stealing them for his kids Christmas presents, why didn’t he wait for CTB* to come out? I don’t really have sympathy for him. Again, I haven’t worked for HBC or any of their stores, but I have worked for a major competitor of theirs. I doubt my employee handbook is much different and it was spelled out in there that you couldn’t take any company property out of store, even if it was trashed.
*Child tax benefit, if he is on welfare then he would be getting it for all his kids. That’s how Mom bought our presents when she was working to make ends meet.
One of my buddies is 2nd in command of a Target’s security, and he finds this kind of stuff all the time. I fully expect that this will be the store’s rationale for the policy.
It’s her own fault. She was stealing.