Shop working hours

claire16c

Ive worked in lots of stores but never had to phone anyone to be let in? I dont understand why the first person in doesnt just open the door or you each have some kind of key or code to get in?? Really weird. How far can the door be from the shop?

Reverbe

neither did I ceridwen.. thats based on my previous retail experience and was why I was wondering if this had become common practice or if this particualr employer was just being really grotty to staff - thats if you add up all that is not ideal with this employer.. some of which I have not mentioned.

Am still jobsearching so fingers crossed ppl for a better working environment. Am not afraid of hard work, love retail and always work hard but am nto wiling to be exploited or put up with the most appalling work conditions. When i feel faint while in perfect health on a once per shift basis, something isnt right here..

Reverbe

claire16c wrote: »

Ive worked in lots of stores but never had to phone anyone to be let in? I dont understand why the first person in doesnt just open the door or you each have some kind of key or code to get in?? Really weird. How far can the door be from the shop?

door leads right onto tiny shop floor. no staff entrance, . "office"/staff loo, backroom is up a large flight of stairs unviewable or contactable from only door entrance. other exit is a fire exit unreachable from street. shop has no doorbell or security system. just a bog standard alarm from what i see.

claire16c

Reverbe wrote: »

door leads right onto tiny shop floor. no staff entrance, . "office"/staff loo, backroom is up a large flight of stairs unviewable or contactable from only door entrance. other exit is a fire exit unreachable from street. shop has no doorbell or security system. just a bog standard alarm from what i see.

So why cant they just leave the door unlocked then and keep the closed sign up?

And if its a tiny shop floor couldnt someone see you through the window then? Or if you just banged on it someone would hear you?

It would really irritate me to have to phone someone just to get into my work!

Reverbe

no claire if the store is unlocked with nobody on shop floor that leaves it vulnerable to theft - if anyone would steal their products..

nobody can see you through window as they are not on shop floor but all in a room upstairs. even if they were on shop floor tiny store is so cluttered, crowded and bad designed there is a unit in front of door that means you cant see door from tills etc..

To me its very badly designed and unprofessional when they told me i would have to tell customers with wheelchairs and buggies that they cannot enter store when it gets nearer xmas and more crowded i was shocked. as it is NOW if someone has a buggy down one of the tiny aisles nobody else can browse, get past or sort out displays (if staff)

dark_lady

Reverbe wrote: »

no claire if the store is unlocked with nobody on shop floor that leaves it vulnerable to theft - if anyone would steal their products..

nobody can see you through window as they are not on shop floor but all in a room upstairs. even if they were on shop floor tiny store is so cluttered, crowded and bad designed there is a unit in front of door that means you cant see door from tills etc..

To me its very badly designed and unprofessional when they told me i would have to tell customers with wheelchairs and buggies that they cannot enter store when it gets nearer xmas and more crowded i was shocked. as it is NOW if someone has a buggy down one of the tiny aisles nobody else can browse, get past or sort out displays (if staff)

I am sure this is illegal and a breach of the Equality Act which updated the Disability Discrimination Act.

amy_lou_4

In my shop, we do tidying in the last 20 mins or so of opening time and the manager or assistant manager who opens up does the hoovering first thing in the morning if they have time. We get paid for our whole shift, so if we have to start early or finish late to re-stock (especially over Christmas) they pay us for these hours, and we always get to leave on time, which I am now thankful for.
However, I have just started training as a supervisor and have found out that managers do not get paid for the time they spend after closing time cashing up and sending the day's figures through to the area manager. I have been doing an extra half an hour training three times a week to learn this stuff, also unpaid, and I don't think it is fair when I am the one who has volunteered for the extra responsibility without being told of this aspect!

Our major gripe is that we have to stay behind after hours in order to move the shop around, which can take until 10pm during the run-up to Christmas. People are shocked that we still just get our NMW for this and for Sunday working but I am used to it by now...
We have also had to start "banking" hours- ie getting paid now for hours we will be doing over Christmas, to spread the cost for the company and so they can avoid spending on overtime this year. One of my colleagues (who only worked Sundays) has had to leave, and rather than accepting repayment for these banked hours or taking it off her final wage, the company made her work them all over two weekends to get their money's worth out of her. I don't know the legality of this but again, people seem shocked by it so maybe I should be too?

Reverbe

amy lou I'm no expert but that doesnt seem right to me.

claire16c

Reverbe wrote: »

no claire if the store is unlocked with nobody on shop floor that leaves it vulnerable to theft - if anyone would steal their products..

nobody can see you through window as they are not on shop floor but all in a room upstairs. even if they were on shop floor tiny store is so cluttered, crowded and bad designed there is a unit in front of door that means you cant see door from tills etc..

To me its very badly designed and unprofessional when they told me i would have to tell customers with wheelchairs and buggies that they cannot enter store when it gets nearer xmas and more crowded i was shocked. as it is NOW if someone has a buggy down one of the tiny aisles nobody else can browse, get past or sort out displays (if staff)

What are they doing in the room upstairs for so long before they start work?

Seems very odd whenever Ive worked in a shop the first thing you do is go onto the shop floor? Whether its for checking the state of the shop from the night before, doing last minute ticketing or cleaning, arranging displays etc.

Im pretty sure its illegal re the wheelchair thing. Im sure all stores have to be accessible now?? Is there an employee anonymous /helpline phone number you can call to report this?

Reverbe

Claire

1. no idea. I take it they are managers/acting managers so doing floats etc??

2. we have to count our float first

3. i think its illegal too , basically our store is too big for the tiny unit they have got hold of (i take it that was a Northern based head office decision)which they have made smaller by a wall and smaller still by their layout.. buggies have all kinds of issues and our store is kinda always full of ppl with them.