Aus's letter
Here's the letter wizardofaus wrote that he's turning in at work tomorrow...
I have worked for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. for approximately six years and three months, and I have done my best to meet the expectations of my employers in this time. Over the past five weeks, however, I have received a series of disciplinary actions in very close succession.
On January 11th, I was called into the office and informed that due to a policy change, the company was no longer required to provide an informal warning before giving a coaching in regards to attendance, and I was over the company-approved limit of three absences in a six-month period. I had been leaving early on various dates due to back pain or to cut down on or avoid overtime, and had been under the unfortunate misconception that someone would actually warn me should I reach the limit, before surpassing it. Apparently, when they 'changed the attendance policy', they did so by removing the informal notification and going straight to the coaching. The end result: a Verbal Coaching.
Then, on January 22nd, my wife got into a car accident. I went out on a personal leave of absence to take care of her, for two weeks (because that's all we could afford before our money ran out and it was either go back to work or starve and let her suffer without medications.)
The first day I got back, on February 8th, was a Thursday. It was a long, busy, exhausting Thursday, and to cap it off, a manager wanted me to 'take care of' a mess that his department had caused. I was already dimly aware of the problem, from having to clean up a 'flooded' grocery area that morning, but it was 4:30 - I had just gone on my lunch - and this manager wanted me to 'take care of it'. So, I cut my lunch to a half hour, and at 5:00 went to survey what he was talking about.
What he was talking about was, in effect, a 3' by 3' by 5' blue container filled two thirds of the way with smashed glass cases of dip. Now, there are three problems with this scenario - one, I can't lift more than 25 pounds at all, and can't lift large amounts of materials for long periods of time. Two, I can't bend over that much. Three, I have a doctor's note - on file, in fact - that clearly states both of these facts (as well as that I shouldn't really be working for sustained periods without a rest, come to think of it.) But that didn't matter, even though I attempted to explain that to him. All I got was 'take care of it' and 'it's maintenance's problem', and I happen to be the only maintenance person there between the hours of 5 and 9 PM on Thursdays.
I managed to get the container emptied, although the job took an hour and a half to complete (with no help), required the use of protective gear and a shovel, hurt my neck, back, and arms, and rendered me completely exhausted by the end of it. As I was just finishing, a call on the intercom beckoned me to clean up a spill on the salesfloor. I did so, went on my break, and was again accosted by the same manager, saying, 'You're going to clean that thing up, right?' At this point, I was very, very tired, but not wanting to be disrespectful to a manager (which is also a punishable offense), I replied politely as I could manage, "How would I do that?" and he informed me that I should take it down to the dairy warehouse area, where there was a hose attached to a faucet in the wall, and use the hose to spray down the blue thing, and let the water go down the drain in the floor.
After my break, I went over to retrieve the large object from where I'd put it, and was stopped by the same manager, who wanted me to clean off a barred cart used to carry merchandise (which had apparently also become gunked up) first. He suggested I spray it down, and use a brush on the little areas. I did what he said, and in between attempts, squeegeed water into the drain - which, incidentally, is slightly uphill. The warehouse isn't quite level. Eventually, I managed to clean it off, swept up the water, went to get the blue thing, and found that the blue thing had apparently already been cleaned. I did a quick last round of cleaning the restrooms and taking care of the lounge's trash, and other things I had been forced to neglect in order to handle this problem, then made my way to clock out. At one point during this, I ran into the manager again, who asked if I'd gotten them both cleaned up - I told him I'd cleaned the one thing, then went to get the other and found someone had already gotten it. I went home, exhausted, in a lot of pain, and very, very sore, a legacy that lasted for the rest of the week (and then some).
The next day, this same manager asked me to clean up an area at the front of the store for this other project of his - setting up an area in preparation for Valentine's Day gift-in-a-balloon. There was no mention of the previous day's activities, and I got the area cleaned up to the best of my abilities. Later that afternoon, I was called into the office, where my manager asks if I remember cleaning something up for this other manager earlier, and then proceeds to have an informal 'discussion' with me - because the other manager claims that I 'left the floor soaking wet' and my manager 'challenges me', to use her words, over my assertion that the floor was not wet when I left. The matter was left at that, as I did not feel the need to argue the point over an informal talk.
Two days later, though, my manager calls me in and informs me that because I already have a Verbal Coaching, her previous discussion with me is going into the system as a Written Coaching. None of that informal stuff. While trying to figure this out, I noticed that what they were writing me up for was referring to the Dairy Warehouse area, not the area that she had been referring to two days prior. Apparently, according to a call made to the other manager when I disputed this, water had flowed out from under pallets, or under the bins, or at any rate, someone else had to squeegee things after I left. I told the manager that I'd hit my scheduled departure time and had to leave, and was informed that that didn't justify not getting it taken care of, regardless of the fact that the floor had been squeegeed to the best of my ability when I left. So I was cited with causing a 'safety hazard to customers and associates' and given a Written Coaching.
Which brings us to the incident that led to this Decision-Making Day, less than two weeks later. Apparently, during that same week, I also managed to accrue a couple of hours of overtime - from taking half hour lunches and arriving slightly early for work - and the company was apparently pressuring the store manager to bring in associates and discipline them for having overtime. Again, it would have been an informal discussion that didn't require a coaching, but for the fact that I had a Written Coaching on file. Interestingly, there is no category in the system for Overtime - I forget what category they decided to put it under, but they searched through the two categories (Performance and Misconduct) searching for the right offense, couldn't find it as an actual offense, and eventually had to choose something that really didn't have much to do with it at all. So now, here I am, with a Decision-Making Day.
I'm not good at talking to people, in general. I'm far better at writing than I am at discussing things, particularly my problems, face to face with people. So, it's very difficult to try to get managers to see my point of view to begin with. I have tried, on occasion, when a situation has truly driven my frustrations to the point where I mistakenly think the Open Door will give answers, but their attitude for the past year or so of 'we have no control over company policy and therefore can't really help you' has, for the most part, discouraged me from even trying to argue with them. I figured that trying too hard would only result in getting me fired, and I can't really afford to be unemployed, so... better to keep quiet, nod a lot, and hope things settle.
Unfortunately, I am no longer capable of doing so. Due to this Decision-Making Day, I am now required to explain why I want to work at Wal-Mart, and what action plan I intend to use to prevent getting terminated over the next year or so.
Why do I want to work at Wal-Mart? Because I need to work for a living in order to earn money to pay for my, my wife's, and my childrens' food, clothes, medicine, and other basic necessities. That is why, until now, I have been trying my best to stay out of trouble, work as hard as I can without seriously injuring myself, and keeping things neat and tidy. Supposedly, I'm a great worker. Yet in less than two months, I have managed to incur multiple stab wounds to my career at Wal-Mart's hands, over things that could have been settled with a simple talk.
What is my plan of action? I don't have one. I will attempt to keep as closely to the schedule as possible, but I am not good at explaining to management, amidst their brusque requests and demands, that I need to leave, or need to rest, or need special consideration. I am not good at reminding management that they shouldn't be attempting to get me to do things that involve lifting and bending, particularly when they are insisting that I am the only person available to handle it. I am not certain that I will not make a mistake in another area in the next twelve months, given that I have apparently managed to make three separate mistakes in only two months. Given that I was verbally coached for leaving early, written up for leaving on time, and got this D-Day for leaving late, I'm honestly no longer certain that showing up to work will not result in my termination. On occasion, my schedule has unexpectedly shifted regardless of my availability, or simply not been put into the computer system at all, leaving me to catch a member of management every morning and endure their interrogations just to work the schedule I'm supposed to have.
When I first applied to and was accepted to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., back in November of 2000, the atmosphere presented was one of family, where associates treated each other like 'internal customers', managers were 'servant leaders', and if people had problems, they could be worked out in a fair and reasonable manner. This was six years ago, before they started cutting benefits, revising policies, and making everything about this company more difficult to tolerate and interpret.
In the past year and a half, I have been in a car accident (that destroyed my ability to perform my previous job and forced me to take on a maintenance job with limitations that are on file with doctor's note). My wife has been in two car accidents. My finances have been unpleasant. I have gone without my regular visits to the chiropractor for the past two months because I simply can't afford it. My wife's medicine costs between $30 and $70 per prescription for the most part; including some medicines that have no generics or whose generics are not on Wal-Mart's vaunted $4 list. When the state of New Jersey increased its minimum wage to $7.15, and our store increased its starting pay rate by $1.25 in response, I was one of many associates who saw nothing from it except rising prices.
I am poor, I am tired, I am in pain, and I am weary, and the only concern the company has is over 'poor profitability', to quote the comment affixed to my D-Day file. When I have had to call out due to severe migraines, neck, and back pain, I have been treated disrespectfully and been told to 'take an aspirin and see if I feel better later' in disregard for my doctor's note and medical history. When I have called in more than one hour early to call out sick, I am informed that I need to call back at a later time - despite the fact that the Attendance/Punctuality Policy claims that one hour prior to your scheduled time is the minimum. When I have attempted to use my sick days due to my physical condition, I have either had to get a medical leave of absence - which requires going in to work to get the forms, bringing them to a doctor, getting them to fill it out, and bringing it back, and even then receiving a maximum of one less day than I was out for - or have it count as an unexcused absence, which is differentiated from a 'no call, no show' only in that I did indeed call, and someone accepted it, but apparently doesn't excuse it, regardless of what medical conditions may apply. When I inform people that I have a limitation against lifting and bending, I am stared at as if I had declared myself the King of Mars.
As I write this, I am somewhere between depressed, stressed, and angry. Depressed, in that I am unsure what I am going to do. Stressed, because I have to feed my family and I can't afford to let my job security come under fire. Angry, because the company that I have worked for for so long seems to be trying its hardest to shake me off. Further, the company essentially paid me for eight hours of work today - a sum of $80.08 - to basically bully me into writing a letter of apology over $40.81 in overtime accrued, which seems more of an example of 'poor profitability' to me than anything. Even the company policy, which does request that an associate complete and enter a detailed action plan (as does the Written Coaching), does not require that an associate, to quote, 'write a letter in which you say why you want to work at Wal-Mart and what your plan of action is to prevent this from happening again.' However, since my company demands a letter, a letter it has received.
I have provided this company with long and loyal service for over six years. I have befriended many of my store's associates, and I am reliable and dependable, and always do my best to help when asked. I find it patently ridiculous that, given that the company has a clearly posted sign proclaiming that associates must be paid for the time they have worked, I am receiving disciplinary action for being paid for this time. Given that this paycheck is from a week where my pay is less than average due to being on a leave of absence for three days of it, the shock factor is only intensified.
The company has the right to terminate an associate's employment for any time, for any reason. If Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. wants to terminate me, that is their decision. I intend to work for this company until that day comes to pass. You have read this letter, and now you are the one who must make the verdict. Today is your decision-making day, not mine.
I have worked for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. for approximately six years and three months, and I have done my best to meet the expectations of my employers in this time. Over the past five weeks, however, I have received a series of disciplinary actions in very close succession.
On January 11th, I was called into the office and informed that due to a policy change, the company was no longer required to provide an informal warning before giving a coaching in regards to attendance, and I was over the company-approved limit of three absences in a six-month period. I had been leaving early on various dates due to back pain or to cut down on or avoid overtime, and had been under the unfortunate misconception that someone would actually warn me should I reach the limit, before surpassing it. Apparently, when they 'changed the attendance policy', they did so by removing the informal notification and going straight to the coaching. The end result: a Verbal Coaching.
Then, on January 22nd, my wife got into a car accident. I went out on a personal leave of absence to take care of her, for two weeks (because that's all we could afford before our money ran out and it was either go back to work or starve and let her suffer without medications.)
The first day I got back, on February 8th, was a Thursday. It was a long, busy, exhausting Thursday, and to cap it off, a manager wanted me to 'take care of' a mess that his department had caused. I was already dimly aware of the problem, from having to clean up a 'flooded' grocery area that morning, but it was 4:30 - I had just gone on my lunch - and this manager wanted me to 'take care of it'. So, I cut my lunch to a half hour, and at 5:00 went to survey what he was talking about.
What he was talking about was, in effect, a 3' by 3' by 5' blue container filled two thirds of the way with smashed glass cases of dip. Now, there are three problems with this scenario - one, I can't lift more than 25 pounds at all, and can't lift large amounts of materials for long periods of time. Two, I can't bend over that much. Three, I have a doctor's note - on file, in fact - that clearly states both of these facts (as well as that I shouldn't really be working for sustained periods without a rest, come to think of it.) But that didn't matter, even though I attempted to explain that to him. All I got was 'take care of it' and 'it's maintenance's problem', and I happen to be the only maintenance person there between the hours of 5 and 9 PM on Thursdays.
I managed to get the container emptied, although the job took an hour and a half to complete (with no help), required the use of protective gear and a shovel, hurt my neck, back, and arms, and rendered me completely exhausted by the end of it. As I was just finishing, a call on the intercom beckoned me to clean up a spill on the salesfloor. I did so, went on my break, and was again accosted by the same manager, saying, 'You're going to clean that thing up, right?' At this point, I was very, very tired, but not wanting to be disrespectful to a manager (which is also a punishable offense), I replied politely as I could manage, "How would I do that?" and he informed me that I should take it down to the dairy warehouse area, where there was a hose attached to a faucet in the wall, and use the hose to spray down the blue thing, and let the water go down the drain in the floor.
After my break, I went over to retrieve the large object from where I'd put it, and was stopped by the same manager, who wanted me to clean off a barred cart used to carry merchandise (which had apparently also become gunked up) first. He suggested I spray it down, and use a brush on the little areas. I did what he said, and in between attempts, squeegeed water into the drain - which, incidentally, is slightly uphill. The warehouse isn't quite level. Eventually, I managed to clean it off, swept up the water, went to get the blue thing, and found that the blue thing had apparently already been cleaned. I did a quick last round of cleaning the restrooms and taking care of the lounge's trash, and other things I had been forced to neglect in order to handle this problem, then made my way to clock out. At one point during this, I ran into the manager again, who asked if I'd gotten them both cleaned up - I told him I'd cleaned the one thing, then went to get the other and found someone had already gotten it. I went home, exhausted, in a lot of pain, and very, very sore, a legacy that lasted for the rest of the week (and then some).
The next day, this same manager asked me to clean up an area at the front of the store for this other project of his - setting up an area in preparation for Valentine's Day gift-in-a-balloon. There was no mention of the previous day's activities, and I got the area cleaned up to the best of my abilities. Later that afternoon, I was called into the office, where my manager asks if I remember cleaning something up for this other manager earlier, and then proceeds to have an informal 'discussion' with me - because the other manager claims that I 'left the floor soaking wet' and my manager 'challenges me', to use her words, over my assertion that the floor was not wet when I left. The matter was left at that, as I did not feel the need to argue the point over an informal talk.
Two days later, though, my manager calls me in and informs me that because I already have a Verbal Coaching, her previous discussion with me is going into the system as a Written Coaching. None of that informal stuff. While trying to figure this out, I noticed that what they were writing me up for was referring to the Dairy Warehouse area, not the area that she had been referring to two days prior. Apparently, according to a call made to the other manager when I disputed this, water had flowed out from under pallets, or under the bins, or at any rate, someone else had to squeegee things after I left. I told the manager that I'd hit my scheduled departure time and had to leave, and was informed that that didn't justify not getting it taken care of, regardless of the fact that the floor had been squeegeed to the best of my ability when I left. So I was cited with causing a 'safety hazard to customers and associates' and given a Written Coaching.
Which brings us to the incident that led to this Decision-Making Day, less than two weeks later. Apparently, during that same week, I also managed to accrue a couple of hours of overtime - from taking half hour lunches and arriving slightly early for work - and the company was apparently pressuring the store manager to bring in associates and discipline them for having overtime. Again, it would have been an informal discussion that didn't require a coaching, but for the fact that I had a Written Coaching on file. Interestingly, there is no category in the system for Overtime - I forget what category they decided to put it under, but they searched through the two categories (Performance and Misconduct) searching for the right offense, couldn't find it as an actual offense, and eventually had to choose something that really didn't have much to do with it at all. So now, here I am, with a Decision-Making Day.
I'm not good at talking to people, in general. I'm far better at writing than I am at discussing things, particularly my problems, face to face with people. So, it's very difficult to try to get managers to see my point of view to begin with. I have tried, on occasion, when a situation has truly driven my frustrations to the point where I mistakenly think the Open Door will give answers, but their attitude for the past year or so of 'we have no control over company policy and therefore can't really help you' has, for the most part, discouraged me from even trying to argue with them. I figured that trying too hard would only result in getting me fired, and I can't really afford to be unemployed, so... better to keep quiet, nod a lot, and hope things settle.
Unfortunately, I am no longer capable of doing so. Due to this Decision-Making Day, I am now required to explain why I want to work at Wal-Mart, and what action plan I intend to use to prevent getting terminated over the next year or so.
Why do I want to work at Wal-Mart? Because I need to work for a living in order to earn money to pay for my, my wife's, and my childrens' food, clothes, medicine, and other basic necessities. That is why, until now, I have been trying my best to stay out of trouble, work as hard as I can without seriously injuring myself, and keeping things neat and tidy. Supposedly, I'm a great worker. Yet in less than two months, I have managed to incur multiple stab wounds to my career at Wal-Mart's hands, over things that could have been settled with a simple talk.
What is my plan of action? I don't have one. I will attempt to keep as closely to the schedule as possible, but I am not good at explaining to management, amidst their brusque requests and demands, that I need to leave, or need to rest, or need special consideration. I am not good at reminding management that they shouldn't be attempting to get me to do things that involve lifting and bending, particularly when they are insisting that I am the only person available to handle it. I am not certain that I will not make a mistake in another area in the next twelve months, given that I have apparently managed to make three separate mistakes in only two months. Given that I was verbally coached for leaving early, written up for leaving on time, and got this D-Day for leaving late, I'm honestly no longer certain that showing up to work will not result in my termination. On occasion, my schedule has unexpectedly shifted regardless of my availability, or simply not been put into the computer system at all, leaving me to catch a member of management every morning and endure their interrogations just to work the schedule I'm supposed to have.
When I first applied to and was accepted to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., back in November of 2000, the atmosphere presented was one of family, where associates treated each other like 'internal customers', managers were 'servant leaders', and if people had problems, they could be worked out in a fair and reasonable manner. This was six years ago, before they started cutting benefits, revising policies, and making everything about this company more difficult to tolerate and interpret.
In the past year and a half, I have been in a car accident (that destroyed my ability to perform my previous job and forced me to take on a maintenance job with limitations that are on file with doctor's note). My wife has been in two car accidents. My finances have been unpleasant. I have gone without my regular visits to the chiropractor for the past two months because I simply can't afford it. My wife's medicine costs between $30 and $70 per prescription for the most part; including some medicines that have no generics or whose generics are not on Wal-Mart's vaunted $4 list. When the state of New Jersey increased its minimum wage to $7.15, and our store increased its starting pay rate by $1.25 in response, I was one of many associates who saw nothing from it except rising prices.
I am poor, I am tired, I am in pain, and I am weary, and the only concern the company has is over 'poor profitability', to quote the comment affixed to my D-Day file. When I have had to call out due to severe migraines, neck, and back pain, I have been treated disrespectfully and been told to 'take an aspirin and see if I feel better later' in disregard for my doctor's note and medical history. When I have called in more than one hour early to call out sick, I am informed that I need to call back at a later time - despite the fact that the Attendance/Punctuality Policy claims that one hour prior to your scheduled time is the minimum. When I have attempted to use my sick days due to my physical condition, I have either had to get a medical leave of absence - which requires going in to work to get the forms, bringing them to a doctor, getting them to fill it out, and bringing it back, and even then receiving a maximum of one less day than I was out for - or have it count as an unexcused absence, which is differentiated from a 'no call, no show' only in that I did indeed call, and someone accepted it, but apparently doesn't excuse it, regardless of what medical conditions may apply. When I inform people that I have a limitation against lifting and bending, I am stared at as if I had declared myself the King of Mars.
As I write this, I am somewhere between depressed, stressed, and angry. Depressed, in that I am unsure what I am going to do. Stressed, because I have to feed my family and I can't afford to let my job security come under fire. Angry, because the company that I have worked for for so long seems to be trying its hardest to shake me off. Further, the company essentially paid me for eight hours of work today - a sum of $80.08 - to basically bully me into writing a letter of apology over $40.81 in overtime accrued, which seems more of an example of 'poor profitability' to me than anything. Even the company policy, which does request that an associate complete and enter a detailed action plan (as does the Written Coaching), does not require that an associate, to quote, 'write a letter in which you say why you want to work at Wal-Mart and what your plan of action is to prevent this from happening again.' However, since my company demands a letter, a letter it has received.
I have provided this company with long and loyal service for over six years. I have befriended many of my store's associates, and I am reliable and dependable, and always do my best to help when asked. I find it patently ridiculous that, given that the company has a clearly posted sign proclaiming that associates must be paid for the time they have worked, I am receiving disciplinary action for being paid for this time. Given that this paycheck is from a week where my pay is less than average due to being on a leave of absence for three days of it, the shock factor is only intensified.
The company has the right to terminate an associate's employment for any time, for any reason. If Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. wants to terminate me, that is their decision. I intend to work for this company until that day comes to pass. You have read this letter, and now you are the one who must make the verdict. Today is your decision-making day, not mine.