So, for the past 7 months or so my girlfriend has been working at [insert billion-dollar retail company] for slightly above minimum wage. The company just gave them a 5 cent raise (yay!) and then, 16 days ago, their father died.
My gf’s mom died almost six years ago (was murdered, actually), so that was her last remaining parent. She had to call the company while sobbing that she wouldn’t be in to work her next shift because she just found out that he died.
Co. offered them 2 days paid bereavement, that’s it. The billion-dollar company that schedules her for no more than 28 hours a week and often a lot less could give 2 days paid bereavement.
So on Saturday, four days after their father died, there they were, back at this retail job. She mentioned to her manager that she wasn’t feeling well (obviously) and was thinking about going home, and the manager was like, “Well, I’m not gonna tell you NOT to go home, but Saturday is our busiest day so we could really use you :/.”
So they stayed for the full shift. HR actually called her, confused because she said she felt like going home, and my girlfriend explained that her manager asked her to stay. Apparently HR was pretty pissed, and because that made the company look bad they gave her a whole THIRD paid day off. Wow! Such compassion for someone who lost both parents prior to age 25.
We had to start a GoFundMe just so they could take a proper two-week bereavement leave. Her boss called us the other day to ask about why they hadn’t been to work in a bit (gee, what a mystery). They put them on the schedule for 12 hours the week after that, I guess as a punishment for needing more time before jumping back into work. I was given more hours working part-time in high school. This system is so beyond fucked.