Walmart’s inflexible scheduling strikes again
I applied at Wal-Mart in early 2009. I got a call in April to start working, but due to a death in my family I couldn’t start until May. I started on the remodel crew as part of the chain-wide remodel project.I worked with the remodel crew until late June when the store was finished but Wal-Mart wanted to keep me around for the big inventory count which was coming soon. Throughout this time I never worked weekends. August 8th was my official hire date at which time I started working as a cashier. I worked approximately 30 hours per week as a cashier until January 2010. In January 2010 Wal-Mart reduced my scheduled hours to less than 20 per week. Because of this I was forced to find a second job. Also in January 2010, I filled out a Time Availability Sheet (TAS) (per Wal-Mart policy) to have my hours of availability changed so that my two work schedules would not interfere with each other. The first TAS I filled out was denied because I didn’t make myself available for the minimum number of hours required. I was told by one of the assistant managers that I needed to be available to work 16 hours per week. I only had 13.5 hrs. I understood that and filled out a second TAS indicating I had 17 hrs available to work. I was told my second TAS was denied because there aren’t any time slots for me to work at night with the hours I was available. I knew this was not true because I had worked the evening shift before during the hours I had made myself available for. In February 2010 I filled out a third TAS and made my availability 26 hours. That one was also denied. I was told by the “acting store manager,” (not the real store manager) that it was denied because I couldn’t work weekends. Never throughout my entire employment at Wal-Mart had I ever worked weekends or ever been available to work weekends. On the TAS in bold letters it states, “ALL FULL TIME CASHIERS NEED TO BE AVAILABLE TO WORK AT LEAST ONE WEEKEND DAY.” I was not a full time associate/cashier and never had been; therefore wasn’t required to work weekends.
Talking with the “acting store manager” via telephone on February 23rd, I told her that I wouldn’t be working coming in that week because I was not available as I had stated on my three Time Availability Sheets. The next Sunday, February 28th, I came in to do some shopping and tried to use my employee discount card and it was denied. The customer service manager who looked at my transaction did not tell me I had been fired and I was in fact scheduled to work the following day. On Monday, March 1st when I was due back to work, I tried to clock in and my badge didn’t work. So then I talked to the “acting store manager”, and the new store manager (maybe?) about my situation and they basically fired me the week before due to “no-call/no-show” for the 3 days that I had already told them I was not available to work. Wal-Mart is not employee/associate oriented and I will be taking them to court over violation of store policy and employee rights.
