People writing checks must show ID. Not sure what would happen if an employee failed to check for ID and fraud ensued, but at the very least, the employee would be “coached” (Wallyspeak for getting your ass chewed by your supervisor), possibly even get a “decision day” (Wallyspeak for suspended).
Firings are generally reserved for people who complain about unfair conditions. Policy violations are generally treated fairly leniently, at least at the Wal-Mart where I work.
Hey, anybody dare me to do the following?
I get “pinked”, write on the screaming neon sheet, “I don’t know why my till was short, but since cashiers are not allowed to count their money, I have no way of knowing if I was actually short, or if this is an error by cash office personnel”, then turn in the pink paper.
One thing that’s always confused me about these threads is that the countries in which this “slave labor” occurs mysteriously hold no culpability in the eyes of the anti-corporate types.
Obviously they have no ability to put in market controls or mandatory wage levels. And honestly? They could, but then that would get in the way of the giant profits they (the governments, and various officials, I’m sure) reap from the factories there. If they split off even half of what they get out of the deal those people would be much better off. Hell, even if they took some of that money and invested it into economic development like Costa Rica did. You want a microchasm of good economic policy and bad economic policy? Go look at Costa Rica versus the rest of Central America.
As astonishing as it seems, it’s not always the EEEEEVIL AMERICAN PIG CORPORATIONS who are entirely at fault.
Once again, I work in Wally*World, and I’m pretty happy with my job. I know it must be a suprise that there really are some folks who like working there. Right now, I’m a few weeks shy of having been there for seven years.
How can I say this… If you treat any entry-level job as just another McJob, of course you’re not going to be happy. Personally, I’ve had great success by making myself someone they need around, and by not being another drone.
A year or so ago, due to a non-work-related illness, I underwent some fairly major surgery. I took two months off from work. I kept on getting my paycheck every two weeks. That, to me, is a pretty good employer.
Of course I don’t agree with every silly corporate policy, that’s a no-brainer. But to get back to the OP-- At my store, folks are reminded to count down their own tills, and make a record of everything that goes to the cash office.
Thea Logica, if that’s really the situation at your store, I think you’re getting screwed over, and you NEED to go right past your store manager and complain to someone at a regional level. I’m not sure where you are, so please email me if you aren’t comforable doing that.
I have done that before. It was more along the lines of “This was two weeks ago, I have no clear memory of that night at this point. I won’t sign this pink slip, as I have no idea what happened.” Never heard another thing about it…
If you come out short, go for it, just don’t do it on purpose, okay?
Thea, go for it. I’ve gone Darth’s route also & while signed, gave about the same sort of explanation.
We haven’t had to get ID for checks for years as long as the check goes through the computer scan system OK. Occasionally, someone has a new checking account, or needs to update (a yearly things), or has written a large amount of checks recently. and then the system will ask for an ID check.
Btw, while I’ve had tons of petty annoyances in my FIFTEEN FREAKING YEARS at WM, I’ve never seen any abuses of power as Thea or some of the lawsuits have described. I’ve had days where I’ve muttered “if I get any more crap from management today, I’m out the door”- of course that crap never comes or waits till I’ve calmed down.
Thea, just keep looking for other work, then quit the damn place when ya can.
Much as I hate to sound like a tool or Winston Smith loving Big Brother, I gotta agree with Darth- it ain’t that bad a place to work. It’s not the greatest but as if I gotta work for corporate America, I could do a lot worse.
Of course, tonight something will happen that will for a while totally negate what I just said to me, but I’ll probably get over it.
I, and most leftists and liberals that i know, and most left and liberal magazines and journals that i read, are heavily critical of governments that allow such oppressive labor practices to continue. In case you hadn’t noticed, much of the anti-globalization movement of the past few years has been calling not only for responsibility on the part of corporate America, but for international pressure to be put on countries that allow these awful working conditions.
Of course, the amount of direct influence that Americans can have on the governments of countries like China is extremely limited. This is especially true when America’s own politicians seem willing to give such countries a pass on human rights issues as long as the trade keeps flowing. So, the only way for most Americans to exert direct influence on the situation is to lobby their elected representives in an attempt to put pressure on the countries concerned (as many people have done over the past years), and put moral and financial pressure on the companies that profit from oppressive working conditions overseas. The latter is accomplished by spreading the word about the conditions under which the goods we buy are produced, and by calling for boycotts of the companies concerned. The hope is that pressure here at home might end up having a knock-on effect, whereby politicians and corporations in America start to put pressure on politicians and corporations in other countries.
You are certainly correct that much of the blame for this must be placed on the shoulders of the countries concerned–or, more precisely, on certain elite groups within those couontries, because many, if not most of them are not exactly democracies. But, given the limited possibilities of directly influencing a non-democratic government on the other side of the world, it’s not unreasonable that Americans choose the most viable option open to them–putting pressure on companies at home.
And, in more specifically SDMB-related terms, this thread was started to bitch about Wal-Mart, so that’s who we’re concentrating on.
DarthNader (love your handle, btw) and FriarTed, believe me, I would love to look for another job but…
I basically took the job at Wal-Mart out of desparation, and desparation is what is keeping me there. After having been forced out of the casino industry (which is another long tale of woe), I found that my five years experience as a craps dealer amounted to less than squat in the job market. Wal-Mart was the only place that would hire me. Also, since I’m now attending school at a community college (massage therapy program, after having dropped out of an extremely bad vo-tech school) my employment options are even more limited because of my class schedule.
So, I guess I’ll just have to ride it out until I finish school and can seek employment in the massage field.
In the meantime, I’m picking up a few extra bucks here and there making rosaries and selling them. Word of mouth does seem to be getting around, and I hope that the extra money I make will cover the shortfall from having to cut back on my hours to accomodate school.
So, I’m basically keeping my fingernails in until I have something to land on when I’m ready to let go…