TL:DR included
I used to love Hot Topic but they are such a shitty employer that I feel like people need to hear this.
So let me start at February 2020: I got hired at Hot Topic and made minimum wage. Whatever. It was a job. For the first few weeks, I worked. But as the weeks went on, I started getting fewer and fewer shifts. There was even a week where I wasn’t scheduled at all. The managers told me that hours depend on how much money the store is making. Then COVID happened and I got furloughed.
Cut to July 2020: Hot Topic opened back up. Scarce hours still but I eventually ended up getting to work one day, four hours a week. Still shitty, but whatever.
Then August 2020: My gf at the time’s birthday was the same day as a shift of mine. She was very controlling and demanded I get someone to cover my shift so I can spend the whole birthday with her despite it being a four-hour shift. I gave in and looked to see who wasn’t on the schedule that week. This one girl (we’ll call her Kat) wasn’t scheduled so I asked if she’d like to take my shift, and she agreed to.
So I message my managers to inform them of the switch and they told me that Kat is on medical leave and can’t work. Kat never told me this and before I went to find someone else to cover my shift, the managers just said ‘don’t worry about it’ and another one hit me with a lecture about scheduling time off in advanced. And they never put me on the schedule again. They essentially fired me without firing me. I don’t think I would’ve been able to get unemployment if I chose to file for it (not that I needed to file for unemployment).
I don’t know if things changed since I quit. And even though this was a couple years ago, I’m still bitter that I allowed this to happen and not stand up for myself. But for those who don’t know how Hot Topic treats their employees, now you know.
TL:DR, I made minimum wage, barely worked, and they stopped scheduling me because someone didn’t tell me they were on medical leave.