Sorry for the long post in advance but I just need to vent. So, I stoped working at Walmart almost 3 months ago now and they still haven't given me my final paycheck. I had direct deposit set up and after I left (well, to be fair I ghosted them because of what it was like, but we'll get into that later). They initially did deposit what would be my final paycheck and then later they reversed my final paycheck out of my account ($500!!). Which seems ridiculous because what if I had spent that money, I would've been charged overdraft fees… Apparently this is a thing, and for your final paycheck they give you a “Money Network Check” and it's always a paper check, I had no idea about this but okay, it's whatever. So, since mid-October I have been calling the store to see when I can come get the check, where I have to go, etc. and they have never once been able to put me on the phone with the girl who is actually supposed to give me the check. Keep in mind at this point I think I've called about 20 times now, they said they'd leave messages, but I've never received a call back. I've talked to HR/payroll agents and while they were nice, all they really did was refer me to basically another HR person. She told me the check is waiting for me and I have to go to the store to get it. I already knew this, but the issue is I needed to get a hold of someone because I never know when the managers will actually be in their offices, they were hard to find when I worked there! She told me to go to customer services so I guess that is my next course of action if I don't get a call back by tomorrow. I thought it was weird that after hearing this HR didn't offer to get in contact with the store for me…? It's all just really frustrating because it is money that I am owed that I worked for, PLUS they said the check will EXPIRE. So, on top of all that mess, here are some reasons why I stopped working there in the first place.
- They would schedule me for over the max amount of hours I put on my availability. I am a full time college student. Actually, at the time I was OVER what would be considered a full time college student. So I was taking SIX classes and was being scheduled for 30+ hours a week when the max I put was specifically 25 for a reason, and even then that was still a lot. Meanwhile, there are adults who need to feed their families begging for more hours?
- On top of this, they would deny (unpaid!) time off that I requested over a month in advance when I specifically listed the reason as SCHOOL! One time, I had to attend a charity event I was helping put on for a communications class. This was a HUGE project and they wouldn't give me time off unless I cornered them and physically stood there and watched them put it in the computer. Even then, they would scold me for it. Like, they were genuinely mad at me for GOING TO COLLEGE.
- They had me lie about my age so I was able to sell alcohol. In the state of California you have to be 18 to sell alcohol and the entire time I was working there I was 17, so, they would have me put the numbers of adult coworkers in the register so that I could sell alcohol. Super illegal. Lol.
- The racism. They seriously wanted me to racially profile people. I mostly worked at self checkout and the managers would come up way too close for comfort, and whisper in my ear to “keep an extra eye on these people” when they literally weren't doing ANYTHING wrong or suspicious. And they only did it with black people or Hispanic people. Super weird. They would also do it to people with tattoos, which is obviously less extreme but. Still weird? I was like, I'm not racially profiling people for this minimum wage job, so uncomfortable.
- They wanted me to confront people who were stealing. OBVIOUSLY this is a safety concern. You cannot force your workers to confront people who are shoplifting AND reprimand them for not doing so. I haven't researched it but, I'm pretty sure thats illegal in California as well. Also, I'm like, wtf am I gonna do. I'm a 5'1 17 year old girl. I am quite literally the least intimidating person to ever exist. You're a huge company, HIRE MORE SECURITY??
- Cut my breaks short or ask me to do shit while on break.
- The customers and just men saying odd shit to me. Winking at me, telling me to smile, and overall just saying weird things to me etc etc. This isn't really why I quit because people are weird everywhere and thats just a fact of customer service jobs, but the customers at Walmart…particularly strange.
- Overall all except one of the managers were just shitty and mean to me. So glad I stopped working there. But at what cost? Because i'm still having to deal w them MONTHS LATER because they won't pay me. Thank you Walmart
But, aside from solidarity I wanted some advice. I'm not really sure what to do about getting my check if I go there and they can't help me. I'm a broke college student and I need the money especially with Christmas coming up. Any thoughts?
TLDR; Walmart sucks don't work there.