I know this isn’t hardly as bad as what some people post on here but but my dispensary treats us like garbage. I posted on r/budtenders and somebody told me it might be a good idea to post here too.
So I’ve worked for a local medical marijuana dispensary since early 2021. In Fall 2021, there was an acquisition and we became a new store.
I was pregnant and delivering a month after the acquisition took place. I already had everything in place with the former company but as most Americans who don’t get maternity leave know, I couldn’t file my disability claim until I actually delivered so my claim was on hold. I talked to the HR reps and at first she said “I just used PTO when I had my kids” and I said you guys literally just paid us out for all of our PTO so how do you suppose I do that? She told me if I signed up for the short term disability I would be covered. So I signed up and paid the premium for the STD Coverage.
Well, I’m laying in a hospital bed after being sliced open and I’m told that there’s a clause in the company contract that treats my pregnancy as a “pre-existing condition”. They told me if I wanted to get paid I would have to show proof that I wasn’t treated for my “condition” in the past 3 months. My manager did stick up for me and basically told HR that this was discouraging and messed up so HR replied for me to forward them all of my emails and paperwork from the disability company. And then they ghosted me!
Not only that but the new company also said they would be paying the taxes on our tips and all we had to do was report the number. Well, a few months ago our taxes just magically started showing up on our paychecks.
One of the only perks to working at a dispensary is the discount, like any retail. Our discount is 30% off/50% off house products that they mark up and then leave on sale for patients so it basically equals 30% off anyway.
Well they’ve given the patients 30% off storewide at least once a week and they give them 50% off house products on certain days too. We also have a points system with different tiers where you can get money off your purchase. They told employees that we were allowed to sign up but not allowed to use the points unless we quit. Well the other day they went in and wiped all employee points to 0. (Some people had what would amount to almost $500 off”. I personally had $320 off on my account) and we were told we’re not getting them back when we quit.
They also made us use a new system even though the state mandates we use a different system so this equals us double ringing everything but they also want us to double our sales too.
Oh and how could I forget the “culture committee” that they started. We’re not allowed to suggest better pay, benefits, or better discounts though. Just things like making a gratitude station in the break room where we can paint rocks or getting donuts on a Sunday.
But a safe place for me to pump with a lock? Nah. Even though that’s literally State mandated it’s not important enough for me to get a key.
At this point, why do I even work here? How is the dollar we’re spending any different than what the patient is spending?