Over the last year I worked at Woolies, I have compiled a bunch of toxic things my higher ups do and say. During the time, my department manager and store managers abused their power so much that it made me feel less of a human. They constantly said things in the work group chat such as “just cone in, do your work and then go home without any complaints” or that we were incompetent for making them lose money for not scanning every bag etc (i have evidence).
We are also expected to meet the scan rate of 15 scans per minute and this was justified with a statement from the higherups claiming that “customers get angry at us and we don’t want that.” Instead of opening of more registers when it was busy. And you know what is more ridiculous… my department manager told me to tricks and how to pause the timer such as going to the pay now screen to pack the bags after scanning a bunch of stuff and pushing then aside or locking the screen when waiting around. So that literally means that those numbers are just for show if they are teaching us how to beat the system. It was never my problem because I always scanned fast but some coworkers who were older or who focused more on customer service struggled with this.
The next thing I am about to say could be something illegal they are doing but I am not too sure. So basically, i was never paid for my online training modules that I did at home. The screen on the website always said to do it during work hours otherwise i should tell my managers but I never bothered to read this pop up message until recent. For the past year I always did it at home because I was never told or allocated time to do them at work.
I recently told my department manager what the website said and she said she wasn’t sure but will speak to store manager… clearly was not taking me seriously but I’m pre sure its illegal to not pay employees for any work-related stuff that was not done during work hours.
About a week later I saw on my roster that I had a 3 hr shift so i assumed that was for my training because my shifts have always been 5 hours as a casual. I texted my department manager the night before to confirm if it was actually a shift because i saw that i was rostered 3 days the week after with 3-4 hour shifts to check if it was a mistake or it is some training. I should’ve asked earlier and not assumed so it was my bad there. She said it was the new roster system. But really gg though, not worth the time I take to travel to work 3 days of 3 hour shifts.
Anyway, back to that shift I had. I made plans with a friend assuming a while back when assuming it was for training that I talked about not getting paid for. That was until I saw that it was same next week but I didnt wanna leave a friend who needed me so i said i cant come to work after being told it was a new roster system.
I had reply for a while until she called me and then gave the phone to the store manager to talk to me. He asked if I was gonna show up and i said no because i thought it was for the training i told my department manager about so i made plans already. He said that thats not a good enough excuse and it was last minute (this be like around 11am btw when I said I couldn’t work my 3.30pm-6.30pm shift) and he will be having a conversation with me when I’m in next. I told him I am a casual with the rights accept, deny or change a shift according to personal reasons for as little as 1 hour notice…
About the online training I did in my own time, he said that it was my choice that I did it at home and he does it too. I said that I know that I need to get paid for it because it was compulsory since I was always told that “it needs to be done or else you can’t come to your next shift” (I have evidence). I was never told to do them at work as well but rather my department manager had always told us in a group chat that it needs to be done. If they weren’t I would get privately messaged. In the end, I did it at home unaware I could do it at work. I mean its illegal to not get paid for that right? But ye he kept saying that it is my problem and that if i wanna do it during work hours i need to organise a time when I come in to work to do training after speaking with my department manager…first time hearing about this.
Finally he asked me again if I was gonna come into work today and i kept saying no because my friend at my door waiting for me then. And he said “alright that will be another conversation I will have with you when you come into work next.”
Overall, I know I was being an unreasonable employee for calling off work on the same day but I know the rights of a casual allowed for it. They tried to tell me their made up rules about what type of reasons were acceptable and how much notice etc. I was mostly upset about how they handled it when I asked them whether I was meant to be paid for my online training. I told my department manager about the popup message only to be told idk ill ask. And then when asking for updates was left on read. Then left to assume my upcoming 3 hour shift is for the training.
No communication was there about the “new rostering system where casuals only get 3-4hrs.”There was no communication about the online training modules and how they could be done at work until the phone call I received after bringing it up. I wouldn’t say they have always been dishonest but more like a lack of clear communication which misled most people. Gonna be quitting soon but before that I will be calling fair work Australia about the pay for training because I don’t find it fair my store manager justified it by “I also do them at home.”