WORST store I have ever seen. I am so angry at the Orleans, Ontario Real Canadian Super Store - aka Uber Loblaws . My son has worked for this store since before COVID as a PT employee - NEVER able to get the number of FT hours for the 13 consecutive weeks required to qualify for a FT position. Inconsistant hours, disrespecting the posted availability, scheduling him on days when he was not available and then claiming they offered him the work and he turned it down so clearly a FT position is not suitable due to his lack of professionalism and commitment.
Over the past year, one of the "newer" Assistant Managers, whose mom happens to also work there as a Manager, has been targeting my son to the point of having to involve the union rep and HR for harassment. He has come home telling us that the a/manager was yelling at him for leaving his post to go help a customer, following him around the store while my son was doing his job, disrespecting him in front of staff and customers because he did not try hard enough to find a product that was out of stock, and saying you'd be a pretty good employee if you were not so stupid out loud in the middle of the busy store.
Today was the last straw. My son has a health issue, ADD, that requires him to remain hydrated. The store is aware of this condition as he has supplied the medical documents to support it. He has brought in his own water bottle that clips to his belt but was told that it did not look professional and he could not have it on his person as it was a health and safety issue. He has tried to reason with management but they were adamant, no personal items on the floor.
He drinks at least one bottle of water from a store provided 24 pack a shift, a maximum of 4 shifts a week. Loblaws was charging their staff .25 cents per bottle until a few months ago when they raised the price to .50 EXCEPT for the PC Express staff, who are provided 24 bottles twice a week for their consumption. My son used to work in that department and he was one of the only one who drank the water. He said he would ask the guys in the PC Express area for a bottle every now and then and they were only too happy to oblige. To be totally transparent, there is also a water cooler in the staff room but whenever my son told me he went up to the room to get water or to use the restroom, he was yelled at for leaving his post. Additional issues over the past year have included my son clocking out at 10:59 pm instead of 11:00 pm, going to the washroom frequently, talking with his colleagues, spending too much time helping customers and not doing his job, and asking other departments if they needed help when he was done his tasks but in doing so, he was no longer where he was supposed to be and therefore, again, not doing his job. As a manager myself, the behaviour he would share with me made me want to escalate to Corporate HQ. He asked me not to make things worse.
Today he was called into a meeting with the GM, to discuss his behaviour. Apparently, on a recent weekend shift, he left early despite being told that leaving early was no longer permitted. I am not sure if that rule was just him or store wide. My son agreed that he had left before the end of his shift but told the GM that he had completed everything he needed to do, did extra for the evening shift and asked other areas if they had any work for him to do. When he was told there was nothing, he asked the MoD and she gave him permission to go. It was 3 hours earlier than his shift was to end and he was ok with the loss of the $$, and that the store is ALWAYS looking to cut staff hours. Win win right? Had he stayed, he would have been sitting around doing nothing, and with ADD, that is something he can't stand. he needs to stay busy. So he asked and was told, he could leave. No problem right? Nope. He apparently left his coworkers in a bind. He checked. Not true. Then he was told that his repeated lack of professionalism and thievery had run its course. Theft?? Example given - drinking "too much" store water every shift and not paying for it. GM claimed that by his calculations, the amount of $$ my son had "stolen in water" from the store was roughly $250. Even if my son had worked a maximum of 4 shifts a week for the time they were accusing him of "stealing" the water, it works out to approximately $60. He said he was paying for the water but had not been told it had gone up in price. He claimed he offered to pay the store for the water but the GM said no. His options were to quit or to have this matter escalated to the group that deals with lost or stolen mechandise and if they deemed it serious enough, they would involve the police. My son was shocked, and said that the water was often from PC Express where he had worked for almost 4 years before he transferred to another department, and asked why was it an issue since the water he consumed was water they provided staff at no charge? GM refused to answer. He asked why PC Express was provided water but not the rest of the departments? Crickets. He asked how they had arrived at the value of the water they claim he stole? Nothing. Oh the union was also in the meeting and they said NOTHING other than - take the offer to resign. It would be easier that way. WHAT?????
So after over 5 years of being yelled at, told he was stupid, belittled, ignored, and treated poorly, and accused of stealing, today he was "allowed" to post his resignation over water..
I will never ever shop Loblaws again. Ever.