Fucking idiot hiring evil ass corporation...
21 January, 2004 :: 1:36 p.m.
I got written up at work the other night and it was complete bullshit. So I was planning to talk to our store manager about it last night and so of course he didn't show...
I was written up for my attendance even though two of my absences should have counted as emergency situations and should not have been counted against me. I explained this to the super-bitch, Karen, who is the most sorry manager we've ever had...and the list of sorry managers is not exactly short. She is petty and vindictive and has this obsession with power trips so she is always looking for excuses to write people up...apparently it was my turn. I got a verbal a few months ago which is no biggie so I pretty much ignored it, but I remember her telling me that she hadn't counted the one absence and since the other one was the same reason, I figured she didn't count that one either...I probably should have looked at the dates and figured out what and why I had called off for the ones listed, but I actually took her at her word since another member of management was right there. I called off last week because I slipped and wrenched my knee in the snow and then slipped again and actually landed on the same knee...I've had knee problems for a couple of years now (my wonderful doctor told me it's the beginning stages of arthritis--YES!). All I know is that when I do something like this to either knee, it swells up with fluid and makes lovely popping and cracking noises when I bend it too much. So I took the night off figuring several months had gone by since my last missed day (walmart operates on a rolling six month period, so I figured a couple of the nights I called off would have dropped off...which they had)...I did this not realizing Karen would then go back and use the two excused days as unexcused days so that she could write me up...she flat out lied about the one because she told me they don't write down the reason you call off when they make note of it...I found the log book and she had highlighted the one night and it did indeed have the reason...so then she told me okay, the reason just doesn't count, which is bullshit...the reason both times was my grandmother...I confess that I didn't actually drive up to visit her in the hospital, but I did spend time tracking down my mom by phone several times for updates and I didn't sleep (that's what happens when you get a message from your mom saying, "Grandma's in the hospital and they don't think she's going to pull through. Call me when you get this")...it was a medical emergency and they are supposed to count for anyone in your immediate family, or basically anyone whom you would qualify for bereavement pay for...so if my grandmother had died, it would have been fine, but since both times the doctors only thought she was going to, Karen says it's not good enough.
The second thing that pisses me off about it is when you are written up, a second member of management is supposed to be there as a witness (to make sure it doesn't get out of hand, to make sure there's no, "this doesn't have to be a write up if you sleep with me," etc.). The guidelines say a salaried memeber of management or an hourly supervisor...who does Karen pull in as witness? Wayne. Wayne is no one in relation to me...he's supposed to be the head of maintenance, but that's not an hourly supervisor and even if it was, that's maintenance, he's nothing but another hourly employee in relation to me...one who has a big fucking mouth and has probably blabbed to many people by now about how I went off on Karen and told her it was bullshit and the whole policy in general is bullshit, yadda, yadda, yadda. So she lied twice, used days that should not have counted and had someone sit in who had no business sitting in...and when can I talk to Adam about it? Maybe next Monday since he's out of town for the rest of the week along with our co-manager...and what will happen when I do discuss it with him? Probably nothing anyway, but I still feel like going off to someone about it...
Since I'm ranting, I might as well point out that I think walmart's attendance policy is bullshit...if you miss more than three days (unexcused days)in a rolling six month period, if you miss another day before any of those drop off, it's a written, another is a decision day (day off with pay to decide if you are going to work toward improving), another after that is termination... Now three days in six months is reasonable (consecutive days off count as one absence)...it's what counts as excused that is bullshit. What is an excused absence? Switching a day off in advance with manager's approval, an emergency (medical-which according to Karen means for you and no one else in your family- or weather or, depending on the manager, your car breaking down) and bereavement...that's it! You have the flu so bad you can't move and you return with a doctor's excuse...no good. A medical emergency is something that you actually end up in the hospital for and can't make your shift...it can't be flu or hurting your knee or anything like that...even if you see a doctor and he writes an excuse... that is what I think is complet bullshit. I fucking hate this company... I need sleep.