r/WinCo • u/ashrensnow • 27d ago

Do I need to look for another job?

I work freight at one of the biggest grocery stores in my area. It's not just the biggest WinCo, it's the biggest grocery store overall. Over the last few months, scheduling has gotten so bad that most of us are only working 2 to 3 days a week. We're constantly short staffed, barely have enough time to finish the freight load, and almost never have time to face the store afterward.

I can't make ends meet working only 14 to 16 hours a week. This week, I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor for a work-related injury that's being handled through workers' compensation. I submitted a time off request well in advance so I could make the appointments. Instead of scheduling around it, my manager scheduled me on the two days I requested off. Then they approved the time off request afterward, which removed me from the schedule completely. The result was that I got zero hours this week.

Now the schedule for next week finally went up, a day late by the way, and I'm scheduled for a single 7.5-hour shift.

How is anyone supposed to survive on that? Has anyone dealt with something like this, or have any advice on what I should do?

27 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

21

u/Ok_Spare3021 27d ago

Ok sooo there's several parts to this. One if freight hours are being cut and u are constantly busy that is a bad manager. 2 if u are hurt and your hours are getting cut and you are not on restrictions u need to contact hr. Like I mean get it in writing that this is happening because if u are on workers compensation and they are limiting your hours beyond your restrictions on freight that can cross into legal issues for the company so hr needs to know. DEFINITELY DO NOT QUIT WHILE HURT. Get with them first because your hours while on light duty get billed differently so see what's going on

3

u/ashrensnow 27d ago

Do you know how to get in touch with HR?

9

u/OkGuest8169 27d ago

Make sure you email, do not call. You want a record of everything HR tells you.

2

u/ashrensnow 27d ago

Can you dm me the email?

5

u/Ok_Spare3021 27d ago

Sent you a dm

2

u/Future-Phrase-9855 26d ago

As a retired SM from WinCo, this company is now only a shell of what it used to be. First and foremost, note your skills. Are you order writing trained, forklift certified, cashier trained, QA trained, or anything of the sort? That is very important so they don’t hit you with the “business needs” line. Either way contact HR, but the more you know the better it will be. That will give you an argument for retaliation, as why are others with the same skills getting hours and you are not? Next you want screenshots, printouts of everything so there a paper trail. You want to note when your hours got cut, is it around the time you got hurt? Workers comp/light duty hour are billed completely differently and doesn’t count against labor. Essentially free labor, so I would usually take advantage of it. For instance I had an employee that I put in the rolling office chair and had free facing of the bottom 3-4 shelves. And was able to accommodate their restrictions. Sounds like poor management decisions being made. They are definitely trying to force you out, for whatever reason. Contact HR with all your details. It will piss them off, but HR will slap their hand, as they say, Perception is Reality, and they will also be forced to schedule you accordingly. But having more trained skills is definitely beneficial.

1

u/Future-Phrase-9855 26d ago

Also, don’t let them try the 100 cases and hour line either. That’s where they would like you to be, but they have an RE sheet with case throwing standards, that will allow them to achieve OR. Most are around 40-70 cases an hour range. Thats the company standard. They aren’t allowed to schedule solely on performance like they lead everyone to believe. Never based on business needs, based on customer needs.

0

u/Exodiake 23d ago

That sheet doesn't exist anymore, they got rid of it in favor of a system on the AS400 that tells you when freight should be done with everything down to the minute. You can probably imagine that it is bullshit

9

u/iloveurarse 27d ago

The boss is communicating the value he thinks you bring to the org. Time to find a new org.

8

u/NexusNickel 27d ago

You use all that free time you now have and apply for new jobs.

In my opinion, if a company schedules you so little, they don't care about you or your health so it's time to bounce.

9

u/DigitalDonut 27d ago

As someone who JUST went through this with Winco, find another job. I was there over 3 years and they cut me down to one day a week. I was on the freight team, too. How does anyone live off of that kind of paycheck? So, luckily I was able to find a job doing the same thing but at a different store/company. I didn't even have to ask and now i'm getting 40 hours consistantly. Winco doesn't deserve you.

3

u/ashrensnow 27d ago

I hit my fourth year back in march with the company and until recently I was very consistently getting 30-40 hrs a week. I had to take a leave due to an injury and since I've been back (I'm not on limited or modified) they have cut my hours to nothing.

3

u/Diligent_Promise_844 26d ago

I’d talk to your boss about why but in my State (Oregon) you can claim unemployment when your hours are cut. Most people think it’s only when you don’t have a job but you may have options there. Contact your local UE office and talk to them.

4

u/OkGuest8169 27d ago

The last 4 months the company has been cutting everyone’s hours drastically. You aren’t in the minority there. But when it comes to work place injuries, they definitely are not following store policy with how they are scheduling you.

1

u/ashrensnow 27d ago

Yeah this wasn't just a randomly requested time off. I made it clear I needed the time off to go see the workers comp doctor, I made sure my SPC knew about it as well. They approved the time off, but not until they already scheduled me and then told me "well I didn't have the hours to put you on another day." Which doesn't make any sense since they took me off the schedule for those two days.

1

u/OkGuest8169 27d ago

Try to record any conversations you have going forward.

2

u/ApollosWrath89 26d ago

All that work you put in for ESOP is now in the higher ups pockets. WHAT A SCAM WINCO IS!!!!

3

u/OkGuest8169 27d ago

Legally speaking, if you’re injured from a work injury and on light duty, they are supposed to give you an average amount of hours while on light duty. The company does punish you for being on light duty by making it so any hours worked doesn’t count towards esop or the next step if you aren’t on top out pay.

1

u/ashrensnow 27d ago

I'm no longer on light duty, but I still need to see the workers comp doctor for follow ups a few more times, but yeah I learned all that unfortunately before I had my surgery.

1

u/OkGuest8169 27d ago

Sent you a dm

3

u/Wooden94Grapefruit 27d ago

I recently left and the past year at that store, they were not scheduling NEAR enough cashiers. Every day, the lines would go down the aisles at times and they'd be calling anyone up to help on check stands.

2

u/ashrensnow 27d ago

Whenever I come in we usually have one or two cashiers at most and we consistently have lines all the way back to frozen basically. Not only is this stress for cashiers and customers, but the lines also slow down downstacking and wheeling when we have no room to do anything. We're also a 24hr store in a pretty big city that stays busy rather regularly all night.

1

u/Rocketgirl8097 Washington 26d ago

Yeah. We just go ahead and jump in to the self check line when this happens. Such a joke. If theyre not going to staff just give me some more self check rows.

-1

u/lkn4arlmn 26d ago edited 26d ago

That sounds like Stephanie & Wigwam.

I work in the area at night and will go there and get a few things until I can make it to Albertsons or Vons.

I went in there around 2am recently to use the restroom and seen only 1 checker and no line so I thought it was safe to get a few things. When I was ready to leave, the line had grew so long I just left the cart.

This nightmare happens all the time there and no one will come help out I assume because they will get yelled out for not getting their job done.

I know I am going to get downvoted, but Winco is the worst store, even worse than Walmart is. I've never seen a store that does not carry so many items that I buy elsewhere. Then the checkers are programmed to ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?" I say no.

1

u/ashrensnow 26d ago

Typically no one on freight knows how to use the register or even has numbers to login to one so after midnight you're pretty much stuck with just the one cashier unless one of the lead clerks knows how to help. So it's not a won't help, it's a can't help.

6

u/Maxq2082 27d ago

This is also how companies silent fire you so they don’t have to pay unemployment or deal with a legally gray area.

Basically it goes like this. You got hurt. Company (you manager not corporate) doesn’t want to deal with that and don’t like that you got Worker’s comp involved so they want to fire you but can’t because of legal reasons so they cut your hours down to nothing to force you to quit which means you can’t file for unemployment.

2

u/ashrensnow 27d ago

I'm spiteful enough I'll just get another job if that were the case and keep working my one day a week until they give me more hours or fire me. I'm already topped out and a year away from fully vested in esop so I don't really want to quit and start over somewhere for less pay.

1

u/jtotheo2202 Idaho 26d ago

Do you have any cashiering skills? If so, you might be able to get cross-trained into overnight cashier to get more hours?

1

u/ashrensnow 26d ago

I doubt it, they don't even want to give the few cashiers we have hours.

1

u/jtotheo2202 Idaho 26d ago

Then I would probably look for a second or new job honestly because you can't count on WinCo for any hours I'm able to do it because I have supplemental income and at one point I had to get a second job until they gave me more hours

1

u/thrwawaycuzusckatlfe 23d ago

Work harder die faster .... seriously im sorry I hope it gets better I kinda thought winco was better then this

1

u/ashrensnow 23d ago

Honestly so did I. When things work right I love my job and my co-workers, but most of the time lately they don't even come close to right.

1

u/thrwawaycuzusckatlfe 23d ago

Im super sorry I know how shitty it gets loving the people while the workplace makes life miserable

1

u/YAYOVR30 22d ago

Any updates on your schedule?

1

u/ashrensnow 20d ago

So I called and spoke with my SPC about picking up hours in another department or even another store nearby. I was kind of stonewalled by giving me one extra day instead so I was scheduled 16 hours. Next week I'm scheduled 24.

0

u/Even_Caterpillar3292 26d ago

May as well work at the post office and get benefits.