Shop assistant who has to do cleaning!!

adouglasmhor

LandyAndy wrote: »

Buy her a boiler suit and some wellies.

Then she can just turn up, smile sweetly and say 'I assume I'm on !!!!!! shovelling again'.

good 'un :T

gadjah543

s far as the uniform goes,if she got it free she would be taxed on it so that is why she has to pay a percentage.

As a shop manager myself I would be very wary of promoting someone who suffers from nerves as they are often the ones left dealing with difficult customers or staff if the manager is absent.

The cleaning should definetly be fairly divide among the staff and that is a fair enough point for your daughter to raise but it should be her.At the end of the day if she is mature enough to take a job and ask for promotion then she needs to show she has the courage to fight her own battles.

Hope this doesn't sound too harsh but just wanted to put across the views that an employer might have.

hamstercheeks_2

LandyAndy wrote: »

boiler suit and some wellies.
quote]


talkingof boiler suits....

http://www.realradio-scotland.co.uk/presenters-shows/shows-xcyr/real-breakfast-show-xprn/robin-cats-photos-gnuz/mr-real-boiler-suit-2008/iaw23uup/thumbnails/

rose28454

gadjah543 wrote: »

s far as the uniform goes,if she got it free she would be taxed on it so that is why she has to pay a percentage.

As a shop manager myself I would be very wary of promoting someone who suffers from nerves as they are often the ones left dealing with difficult customers or staff if the manager is absent.

The cleaning should definetly be fairly divide among the staff and that is a fair enough point for your daughter to raise but it should be her.At the end of the day if she is mature enough to take a job and ask for promotion then she needs to show she has the courage to fight her own battles.

Hope this doesn't sound too harsh but just wanted to put across the views that an employer might have.

She does not discuss her nerves or her year long battle with anorexia with anyone and is well able to deal with customers. She applied for the job in May and was getting one really well until the male male manager left in November. She originally applied for the supervisors job in October and he never got round to dealing with the applications. So she wrote to the Area Manager in Early November before the new manager started re-applying for the job. After a busy Xmas period when she acted as supervisor many times the applications were decided in early January and one girl was told a few days before that she had got the job and my daughter and the other applicant only found out the other was not to be filled when they saw the succesfull girls name on the rota as supervisor. So you see she did try really hard to get the job. Unfortunatly it seems this new manager shows favouritism to some and not to others. For instance one of he girls who works there told a friend there were jobs going and so the friend went in to ask. She saw the manager and asked about the job and when she said she was friends with this other employee the manager said " Oh her she is rarely here she is always off sick!!
I keep telling her she needs to stand up to her and to refuse to do the cleaning. I think I will get her wellies and an apron to take with her next time so she is prepared. Also the cut on her hand seems to be infected and the dressing I out on it this morning was filthy when she got home.
She keeps as much of her life private as possible and so her health problems are not public. Her Dad as an alcoholic for 20 odd years and it is only now 1 year after he left that we are putting our lives back together. Thanks for your input.

CFC

With respect, Rose, your daughter's health problems may broadcast themselves without her saying a word.

As a shopworker, one can expect to do the cleaning, yes even the toilet. Very few shops actually employ dedicated cleaners. Sometimes it is particular times of the week when it is done, perhaps the quietest times. I note that your daughter only works a few hours a week.

In the spirit of fairness, even if your daughter works at the quietest times, others should have to take a turn at cleaning. However it sounds possibly as if your daughter is substantially better at it then the the others, and this may be another reason she ends up with it.

I suggest she speaks to the manager, or simply puts it in writing, that she feels that she undertakes an unfair amount of cleaning (and use the previous 4 weeks worth of work as an example) and formally asks that a cleaning rota is set up. Even better, she could write it herself to save the manager work

Did she enter the accident into the Accident Book?

ceridwen

It is just as well for her to keep those health problems as private as possible.

I would echo CFC's comment about maybe your daughter's health problems are broadcasting themselves without her saying a word though. Maybe she's showing signs of them physically or maybe a work colleague is particularly intuitive and can pick things up and isnt nice enough to keep them to themselves (I know from experience that 20 people can have one opinion between them about someone - but I've spotted what they are hiding from everyone - but I keep it to myself unless others need to be told for their own safety).

I'm now wondering whether she is the one being lumbered with these cleaning duties not because she is best at them - as some others have said - but precisely because her health problems are "leaking out" a bit. It could be that her manager has spotted that she's a bit "vulnerable" - and that is precisely why she has been chosen to do this - "the weakest link in the chain" and all that and the manager thinks "I'll choose her because she wont fight back - the others would".

At the very least - she should change into suitable clothing for any cleaning duties she gets lumbered with - overalls/rubber gloves and not get her own clothing damaged in the process of these duties. Obviously rubber gloves are a health and safety necessity too for this sort of duties (and therefore up to the employer to provide them).

Regarding the workplace of today - it does seem to be necessary to "put up a front" and act more confident/etc than one actually is. I feel positively schizophrenic myself sometimes - that outside work I am me (and that means good manners/speaking properly and trying to remember to keep my voice down etc etc) and then have to put on the "toughie coat" mentally the second I walk in the door to work - where manners barely apply/voices are louder than I'm used to hearing and my own has to go up a couple of levels in volume so I dont look "soft target" and being less precise in the language I use.

I guess your daughter has to learn to be two people - herself and a special tougher "work persona" regrettably. The only consolation is its not that unusual these days for people to have to do that.

LittleCharlie

I just really can't see a problem here. I've done shop work, and we always had to do things like cleaning the toilets. I was the youngest there, so I always used to do it far more than anyone else, but that's just life! We all do things we don't want to do, and at the end of the day it's just a toilet - does she not do it at home or do you get a cleaner?

R.e. her illness', I agree with the poster above who suggested people might know that she is ill, even if she hasn't told anyone. Anorexia and nerves are obvious enough that people can pick up on them, even if they don't know 100% what they are picking up on. People will just know that something isn't right.

She got her hand cut? Sounds like work to me - I've cut myself even in an office! Did she not go to the first aid box, clean it up and get on with her day herself? Because that's what most adults would do. If it was so bad she couldn't deal with it herself, then she should have gone to the Dr's or to A&E. If you think it's infected she needs to go to A&E to get some antibiotics to ensure that it clears up quickly - but that's just common sense.

To be honest, this sort of shop work, even with the cleaning toilets, is not that difficult. She needs to be prepared to do a few grubby things every now and again. And if she has a problem with the management, or feels she's being bullied, she needs to talk to her managers boss, or her union if she is a member. It could just be a big misunderstanding.

I worked as a lifeguard for five years. I got paid minimum wage for picking hair out of drains, scrubbing body-fat off the shower walls, dosing chlorine tanks by hand and cleaning up kids sick and other bodily fluids. Really, sticking a bog brush down a toilet or cleaning out a basement is 100 times better than some of the other jobs she could get part time.

Regards to unpaid leave - your employer doesn't have to allow you to have it. It's up to them, at their discretion. I've worked jobs where they will let you, and others where they won't. Nothing personal.

dawnylou

I am so sorry for your daughter - but with regards to the cleaning I think that is normal. I have worked at 2 shops and both included the cleaning duties. It's not nice but I guess it has to be done.

Raquela

I agree, when I worked in shops, it was expected that we clean. However, we all worked full time and therefore all cleaning was rota'd.

It's hard to know whether your daughter is being picked on and doing her unfair share given that she only works a few hours. I feel it unlikely that a part-time worker would ever be made supervisor, but maybe this chain only has part-time supervisors. Either way, the biggest problem that I can see is that your daughter, with the greatest of respect, needs to learn to air her grievances to the person who can do something about it, her direct line manager. If she feels like the manager doesn't like her and is making her do the rubbish jobs, she needs to ask them outright, in an assertive way, whether there is a problem, or even reverse it and say to the manager that she has noticed she doesn't get much of a chance for customer interaction / shop floor - whatever it is that she doesn't get to do, and she would appreciate the opportunity to get more experience in this area. If she does it in the right way, then a manager should be impressed by such tenacity (I say 'should' because there is every chance that her manager is a cow). It is hard to stand up for yourself when you've had past issues, and perhaps your daughter could look into some assertiveness training, but it really does reap rewards. I used to be the kind of person who would never stand up for themselves, I learnt through experience that this was why I never got better jobs.

rose28454

Raquela wrote: »

I agree, when I worked in shops, it was expected that we clean. However, we all worked full time and therefore all cleaning was rota'd.

It's hard to know whether your daughter is being picked on and doing her unfair share given that she only works a few hours. I feel it unlikely that a part-time worker would ever be made supervisor, but maybe this chain only has part-time supervisors. Either way, the biggest problem that I can see is that your daughter, with the greatest of respect, needs to learn to air her grievances to the person who can do something about it, her direct line manager. If she feels like the manager doesn't like her and is making her do the rubbish jobs, she needs to ask them outright, in an assertive way, whether there is a problem, or even reverse it and say to the manager that she has noticed she doesn't get much of a chance for customer interaction / shop floor - whatever it is that she doesn't get to do, and she would appreciate the opportunity to get more experience in this area. If she does it in the right way, then a manager should be impressed by such tenacity (I say 'should' because there is every chance that her manager is a cow). It is hard to stand up for yourself when you've had past issues, and perhaps your daughter could look into some assertiveness training, but it really does reap rewards. I used to be the kind of person who would never stand up for themselves, I learnt through experience that this was why I never got better jobs.

Thanks. Yes her shop does have part time supervisors. The only full time staff are the manager and assistant manager. Most of the others are on this minimum 4 hours per week contract. I will encourage her to read these answers and formulate a plan of action. Still she is going to London for a months work experience and will only be working at weekends for her 4 hours during hat time. She already has been offered a years paid internship at the same company when sh finishes Uni. Also she is off to Switzerland to stay with my sister for a few day's skiing Friday ( my sister's treat) so she can get away from the problem.