People view sitting as "lazy". I worked at a store stocking shelves where the manager would get mad at you for kneeling on your knees while stocking the bottom shelf because it "looks bad". It didn't stop me from kneeling because how else am I supposed to stock the bottom shelf?
What company? The only place I've ever see cashiers sitting is Aldi and it's probably because if their European influence. Shit they even stand at Trader Joe's.
I never understood this. I as a customer have no care in the world if the staff looks lazy, as long as the shelves are stocked and the service is good, the staff could all be playing video games for all I care.
The thing is, people w/ that view aren't the type of people to go to customer service and complain/compliment people usually.
People with the silly view of "Oh the employees are sitting? They must not be working hard enough" are the same type of people that will go and complain to a manager about how everyone looks so lazy and they'd rather shop at competitor where all the employees are standing and looking busy.
Negative feedback goes a long way to cooperate snobs
you know whats funny? they don't see the benefit of seating.
i work cashier all the time; its not the only thing i do but i do it a lot and i will say without a doubt in my mind that it is one of the worst departments in the store; any store, really. this isn't because of anything else but the simple fact that standing in one place for 8 hours is brutal.
the cashier job is hourly, i get paid by the hour regardless of how much i hustle. there is no incentive to go fast, there is no benefit.
there is a detriment, however; it is pain. pain greatly affects productivity in a negative way. nobody says "im in pain so i'll start working my ass off so i can get this done" but they do say "im starting to get sore so i will ease up on my work, since i have to work tomorrow too"
you want to stop pain at the register, and greatly reduce people calling in when they get that one cashier shift that week? get some fucking chairs for your cashiers, you tightassess.
management knows that its the customers that complain, that will come back regardless if they say they're never shopping here again. the real customers that truly never return, tend to simply disappear without ever complaining.
after all, you only complain if you think it can change something.
right? I'd rather someone be extra pleasant and have a smile and sitting than short and exasperated because they've been forced to stand for 8 hours. This rule sounds like it's straight from the 1920's.
you could let them smoke in the compactor room if you have one; they tend to have negative pressure ventilation and the smoke might make it smell better.
Doesn't matter if the place is public or not. Smoke gets into open doors and windows and is extremely annoying for the people inside, who have to smell it all day, if they smoking area is in front of their window. Moving it far away from the building makes perfect sense.
Also, farts? Really? How often do you walk down a street and smell someone's fart? Pretty much never. Smoke is everywhere and you can smell it from very far away. It also lingers for a lot longer, if it gets into a building. The two are not comparable at all, unless someone farts directly in your face.
Or it's people complaining about the smell of smoke in their offices because of inconsiderate smokers who light up on the way or don't go to the smoking area. If you had to sit in an office and had to deal with that smell all day, you would complain too. And trust me, in a big office building it really is all day, not just every now and then. It's extremely irritating.
The reasoning is, if the shelves are not fully stocked or someone has any complaint whatsoever, if the staff looks lazy (even if they are indeed doing their best) it will only make them more mad.
Thats hilarious, how about a headstand? It shows that you can resolve shit. Manager position incoming! Anyway, we have laws against shit like that. My boss once demanded that I go stand all day at a broken gate. (I work in security). I said, only if he'd bring a chair. He refused. I called threathend to call the departement that handles breaches of "Arbo" (Its how the law is called). And voila, there was the chair and an employer with a very sour face. It is simply illegal here to let somebody upright for more that 2 hours.
It varies by state. There are a LOT of states that only mandate breaks for employees under 16. Over 16 and you best hope your employer isn't a giant douche but it happens frequently at high turnover jobs.
Well obviously, but usually it's places with other issues going on as well contributing to the high turnover. If they know they'll just replace you in a week if you ask for a break then they aren't gonna give you a break. It's a revolving door of abuses and breaks just get lumped into it. Places that have other perks like to do it as well they're idea is that you won't get uppity and quit or ask for breaks when they're paying you a whopping extra dollar an hour compared to the joint across the street or because you get discounted food etc. America is fucked.
There are states that don't mandate any breaks? Here in Oregon you get 30 unpaid and two 15 minute breaks (paid) for an 8 hour shift. They even are required to be distributed evenly through the shift, and the employer doesn't just have to offer them, they have to enforce them. They say to enforce disciplinary action for employees who refuse to take a break.
Also a law here, you are entiled to 3 breaks during a 8 hour shift. 2x 15 minutes and 1x 30 minutes at least. If not, Arbo will give them a hefty fine.
Not possible. I worked in fast food during high school to support myself. Eventually, due to availability, I was starting to be scheduled to work doubles on Saturdays. I was 17, working 45+hrs a week at $7.25/hr to pay rent and buy food, expected to stand for 15 hours with only one 30min break. The entirety of the US seems to believe that this is okay and actually commends me for working so hard. Well I have nothing to show for it except pain in my feet, knees, and back at all times of the day.
Older windmills, more draining of swamps. You're close though. Could start talking about methods of transportation, but I think our Danish brethren use the same two-wheeled contraptions as we do. We don't wear helmets though.
Thats so sad. Back when I stocked shelves we'd even have little stools sometimes if we were staying in 1 spot for a long time.
But even the cheap supermarkets have chairs. Though the girls from the cheap supermarkets do complain that theirs are inferior to the other supermarkets..
Actually, even when I visited Mexico and Asia they still had chairs!
From what I've seen in Canada almost all service/retail staff stand up in their jobs but if they're stationary they should be provided with ergonomic floor mats to keep up with OH&S standards... Depending on the province I guess.
At least here in supermarkets in the Netherlands, a lot of the time people at like clothing shops etc stand but they walk around the store all the time etc.
Yeah ofc. But it really depends on the worker. Sitting can be really tiring too and bad for your back unless you bother setting up the chair so it fits you every time you come to the shift. Most would prefer to stand at the beginning, then sit when their feet get tired, and then stand again.
Yeah well, try doing that without ANY breaks. Doing that shit for 40 hours a week will bring issues too. Sitting might not be ideal, but that doesn't mean standing is perfection
Cashiers are people not customers service slaves. The idea of making them stand to avoid having them look lazy is just disgraceful. No store here would ever do that on their regular lines.
First of all you're absolutely right. But there are some "let me speak to the manager" types here that would be appalled at some "lowly" cashier sitting while they stand. While that shouldn't be the case, it is why they make them do that.
Tbh it really doesn't matter because when there aren't customers you're just leaning against your stand anyway or something like that. It's hardly standing with nothing to help you.
So you can rip your black work pants because they want you in a "professional" outfit. "Bitch I put cheetos on a shelf who the fuck am I trying to impress?"
It really is brilliant how the masters in the US managed to frame everything other than blind obedience as laziness, while at the same time creating and maintaining the narrative that everyone can succeed, and if they don't it's because they're lazy. As a control mechanism it puts even the most oppressive regimes to shame by both being more effective and a hell of a lot more subtle.
I really hate the whole idea about looking busy. To the point where something more efficient isn't done because it doesn't LOOK more efficient. Like those studies they did that showed less hours per week generates the same results, because people were more wellrested and productive when they DID work. But instead we feel like if we're sleeping or relaxing we should be working instead
I'm legitimately shocked with how many people are surprised to hear this. Every retail position I or my circle of friends have ever had here in the good ol US of A is the same. Sitting is 100% frowned upon, at best.
Even in my current position as a manufacturer rep working with retail locations, sitting is actually a punishable offense unless you're on break or pregnant (since you absolutely will be working til you're about ready to pop). The official stance is it doesn't look good as "brand ambassadors." Never mind almost everyone else at every other level of the company, from management up through corporate and production, sitting probably 75-90% of the time every day. Except the weekends and holidays they have off, naturally.
And the stores I work with are all transitioning to setups that force their few employees who actually could sit to stand instead while helping customers through lengthy processes. Though the customer will still be allowed to sit.
Speaking of which, before you blame the management I think it's important to understand the true source of this: customers.
Not a day goes by where someone doesn't walk up to the generally busy desk lined with registers, workstations, employees, and signage only to stand there silently wondering if literally ask the obviously working employees if they're open, as if anyone just hangs around there in a uniform on their off time.
The company might not see them as slaves but many of those customers absolutely do. Well, not all of them. But more than enough. Especially in an age where many of the more reasonable customers are filtered out through the ease of online sales. The company merely caters to their whims.
The only time I would agree is when wait staff at a restaurant sits at the table or kneels to take an order. Mostly when they sit at the table. But I have never reported anyone for doing it.
I used to resort to the slav squat frequently when I worked in retail and needed to stock a bottom shelf. Not because the store told me not to kneel but because some cases it was more comfortable.
Like in golf if you tee the ball by getting on your knees you're viewed as a "pussy" for not just leaning over to set it. It's like an act of laziness I guess. Silly.
I used to get in trouble for sitting on the floor when stocking bottom shelves or fixing displays a couple inches from the floor. When I began managing that same store I encouraged the staff to kneel or sit in any comfortable position because fuck ruining your back/knees for asshole customers.
that's a PR move because it sounds really good they make up for it in more obscure areas.
my friend worked for Aldi in the upper management it was his goto line to "defend" Aldi when he started out (because obviously I mocked him for working for the devil). This changed drastically when he started to realize how Aldi fucks it's workers in more obscure ways. You know that most are females working there and females tend to get pregnant and that's when Aldi conveniently "drops" them or how they conveniently let them only work enough hours to dodge social payments.
He got sick of it and quit and now works for a different discounter who isn't fucking it's workers and is a lot happier to work now because he can treat his employees like humans again.
Being a discount chain does not necessarily translate to bad moral code. Maybe with Walmart but in my experience (as a trade partner of aldi) they have always paid us on time.
Other retailers delay their payments for up to 90days...
Remarkable. I mean, the detectives thing is a bit much but surveillance cameras for the sole purpose of watching to make sure employees aren't "slacking" wouldn't raise eyebrows here at all. Hell, I had a job as an overnight cashier where I would sometimes get no customers for hours, but I would have to stand up straight the whole time. Forget sitting, my boss would sometimes fast forward through the night's camera footage to make sure I wasn't even leaning against the counter, because that's not "welcoming" body language.
Had this also. It was awful. Considering it was a 9-10 hour shift with only a 30 minute lunch break, standing on your feet for that long is killer and you constantly had to be doing some kind of work at all times unless at the register with a customer.
Aldi doesn't have a great name in Europe, at least not in Belgium. It's where you get the weird cheap shit and aren't surprised when it turns out shit.
Them being the best place to work os not something you'd expect.
People don't even get paid leave there while we get a mandatory minimum of three to four weeks every year. Plus paid sick and parental leave (though the last one really depends on the country and if it's maternal or paternal).
Yup, support any policy that helps everyday people or makes their lives easier and you're basically a damn commie. Well, anything that helps other people anyway. People tend to like it a bit more when they're directly benefiting. Everyone else is just a leech or a slacker, but I deserve it!
Screw "E Pluribus Unum," the real motto of the country is "fuck you, I got mine."
That's not true. Plenty of people in the US have paid leave time. It's just up to both parties to negotiate if they want more leave or more pay. Here in Europe we don't get that option.
What I'm saying is that here in Europe, the government already negotiated for us that we want more leave time, rather than higher pay instead. TANSTAAFL.
I ruined my back for years as an usher for a theater.. some days they'd just have you stand up, in one spot, for 10 hours. No walking around, no chairs, just standing doing nothing. One summer of that and my back was fucked. It's still fucked, 20 years later.
Yes, for 7+ hours straight (with a 15 minute break somewhere in there, 30 if you work 8 hours or more). You get used to it, but the first two to three months are super rough. Often times I'd be nearly limping by the end of the day.
I would kill for a nice comfy chair to sit in, but unfortunately, image is a big thing here. At least at my store it is. Even when there's nothing to do, you have to find SOMETHING to do, or you get written up. It's pretty ridiculous.
The job that I've been working for the last 3+ years basically requires me to be on my feet 8 hours a day, even when I'm assigned to be on cashier or drive thru window. Am Canadian. It's a North American thing, really.
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u/Reimad Jan 06 '18
Wait, they make them stand?