I work retail and part of my job is breaking down nightly loads of freight. This takes place in our employees only storage room where customers cannot even see us, so if we don't have our official work shirts on, it's not a problem. Many of us wait till the freight is broken down and it's time to head out to the sales floor to put on the shirt, often for comfort because it's a sweaty, strenuous job, easier to do with less layers, myself included.
I was approached and ordered to put the shirt on while processing the night's freight. I declined and asked why. They could not give me a straight answer or an explanation that made sense. Said we have a week to get the store “in order.” My best guess is it likely meant cleaning the departments that miserably failed their health inspections, but that has zero to do with my department and what we do, as everything we handle is in boxes or wrapped in plastic that get removed and discarded, so it can't be a sanitary issue, as much of a stretch as that would be. This has never been a problem before. And so, I was told to either comply or leave for the day. I left.
This is a big deal because I am full time a lot hinges on my being there. I genuinely don't like how conceited that sounds, but it is true that I work hard and put effort into what I do even though my pay will not budge in spite of it. I also need to be there so our supervisor is not alone. If I don't then someone not scheduled will have to cover it. On top of these things, they're chopping hours because sales are low, and they either can't or won't hire anyone older than 18. When we do get adults with experience, they don't last because the pay is shit, so everything always falls to the same handful of reliable people, of which I am one of. They know this. And yet, they were STILL willing to send me home. Over this. Part of me thinks they didn't expect me to actually do it.
I know, it's so small and stupid. Why not just wear the damn shirt, shut them up? Because I'm convinced this is about control and I'm also sure that more will follow. What's next? I'm pretty certain they'll come for our phones eventually, since the explanation for that actually would kind of make sense, frightenly enough. We have a lot of teens who get distracted by theirs and forget their tasks. This feels surreal and hopeless and I don't know what to do.