[National chain department store] in Manassas Mall needs a lesson in how to treat employees (home, unemployed)

[Tish Thompson]

Unfortunately, my son works there. I would love for him to be able to leave, but jobs are hard to come by right now. Everyday he comes home with stories about the unfair treatment employees go through. Most of them are only paid $7 per hour. Instead of using these underpaid employees, [National chain department store] hire temps, then gives the $7 per hour employees 4 to 6 hours per week. Like my son, many of the $7 per hour employees are college students trying to make extra money while they go to school. Last week a student, who is a friend of my son's, asked to change his schedule around because he's back in school. The manager told the kid to quit school or show up because if he didn't show up, he was fired. The kid ended up quitting. Today a kid asked for time off tomorrow to attend a funeral out of state. The kid was told find someone to cover and if he didn't show up, he was fired. I told my son if they ever pull that crap with him, tell them what they can do with their job, then leave. It is amazing how the POS jobs that no one wants are the ones that treat their employees the worst.

[Nemesis16]

There's always two sides to a story.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by Tish Thompson

Unfortunately, my son works there. I would love for him to be able to leave, but jobs are hard to come by right now. Everyday he comes home with stories about the unfair treatment employees go through. Most of them are only paid $7 per hour. Instead of using these underpaid employees, [National chain department store] hire temps, then gives the $7 per hour employees 4 to 6 hours per week. Like my son, many of the $7 per hour employees are college students trying to make extra money while they go to school. Last week a student, who is a friend of my son's, asked to change his schedule around because he's back in school. The manager told the kid to quit school or show up because if he didn't show up, he was fired. The kid ended up quitting. Today a kid asked for time off tomorrow to attend a funeral out of state. The kid was told find someone to cover and if he didn't show up, he was fired. I told my son if they ever pull that crap with him, tell them what they can do with their job, then leave. It is amazing how the POS jobs that no one wants are the ones that treat their employees the worst.

I can't say I'm surprised. Big companies know about how jobs are hard to come by so I bet they figure they can treat their employees however they want and they really have those employees trapped.

I would also advise your son that the second he finds something better leave there and then, no two week notice. I made the mistake of giving a month notice to my last job in Northern VA when I was prepping to go to KY and trust me that was a very long month. A company has no problem shoveling on someone who they know is going out the door and that's if they let you stay after giving a notice.

As a college student who has been trapped in bad jobs, I'd advise your son to be flexible on any job that can get him out of that one. Next week, I'm supposed to start a temp warehouse job. My career track is banking but I'll gladly have this warehouse job over being unemployed.

[ChristineVA]

Many years ago, I knew a few adults who worked at [National chain department store] and it wasn't great then. Retail has always been pretty brutal with schedules and treatment. My daughter worked retail for a short time when she was in high school. She worked at a small privately owned store so she didn't have scheduling issues like your son has witnessed but it wasn't a great job (even they were paying more than $7 an our then).

With the economy the way it is and people standing in line for jobs, they can treat you anyway they want.

Honestly, your son needs to find another retail job. I know--easier said then done--but many of them pay about $8.00 an hour or more (at least at Potomac Mills Mall they do). My daughter is also in college and chose not to go the "retail" route this time for a part time job because she knew they would be horrible about scheduling issues and, right now, her classes come first.

Has he tried to look around outside of [National chain department store]?

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

Many years ago, I knew a few adults who worked at [National chain department store] and it wasn't great then. Retail has always been pretty brutal with schedules and treatment. My daughter worked retail for a short time when she was in high school. She worked at a small privately owned store so she didn't have scheduling issues like your son has witnessed but it wasn't a great job (even they were paying more than $7 an our then).

With the economy the way it is and people standing in line for jobs, they can treat you anyway they want.

Honestly, your son needs to find another retail job. I know--easier said then done--but many of them pay about $8.00 an hour or more (at least at Potomac Mills Mall they do). My daughter is also in college and chose not to go the "retail" route this time for a part time job because she knew they would be horrible about scheduling issues and, right now, her classes come first.

Has he tried to look around outside of COLOR="Red"][National chain department store][/color]?

If your son has cash-handling experience, he may want to give banking a try. Big national banks are moving towards more of a part-time staff for tellers and in the DC area you can guarantee $10 an hour to start as a teller. May not be easy if your son has mostly daytime classes but peak-time teller work may be possible.

[NYmama2dallas]

He should try to get into waiting tables--great hours for college students. If they won't hire him with no experience, he should start hosting (same money he makes at [National chain department store]) and then try to segue into waiting tables. He should target a busy but not cheap restaurant (any of the great american restaurants seem like they would be great for waiters), or somewhere like Red Lobster, where the food is a little more expensive than the average chain.

FWIW, I worked at that place when it was [Regional chain department store] when I was in high school and they were crappy to their employees then, so maybe the Manassas Mall building just has bad karma. It sure can't keep any stores.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by NYmama2dallas

He should try to get into waiting tables--great hours for college students. If they won't hire him with no experience, he should start hosting (same money he makes at [National chain department store]) and then try to segue into waiting tables. He should target a busy but not cheap restaurant (any of the great american restaurants seem like they would be great for waiters), or somewhere like Red Lobster, where the food is a little more expensive than the average chain.

FWIW, I worked at that place when it was [Regional chain department store] when I was in high school and they were crappy to their employees then, so maybe the Manassas Mall building just has bad karma. It sure can't keep any stores.

Back in May, I posted my 19 y/o daughter's experience trying to find part time work. She applied at approximately 50-70 places and got ONE callback. ONE. Of coure, it was right when all the college kids got out and everyone was scrambling.

She went to every restaurant she could think of. Great American Restaurants require several years of waitstaff experience plus that have an intensive training program no matter what. In order to get to a place like that, you almost have to work at a mom-and-pop place first, work you way over to TGI Friday's, Ruby Tuesdays, then Outback/Carrabas, and THEN maybe Great American.

One place that my daughter's friends had luck with as host/hostess positions was at Uncle Julio's Rio Grande. Their host jobs start at $9.00 an hour and with time there go up to $11.00 an hour. My daughter's friend was making that in high school. My daughter could have gotten a job there if she could have started in April but she wasn't home until May so they had filled all the positions by the time she could work.

But, yes, restaurants seem MUCH better at working with school schedules. They tend to overhire so they have plenty of people available to fill in gaps.

[LetsRock]

Originally Posted by Tish Thompson

Unfortunately, my son works there. I would love for him to be able to leave, but jobs are hard to come by right now. Everyday he comes home with stories about the unfair treatment employees go through. Most of them are only paid $7 per hour. Instead of using these underpaid employees, [National chain department store] hire temps, then gives the $7 per hour employees 4 to 6 hours per week. Like my son, many of the $7 per hour employees are college students trying to make extra money while they go to school. Last week a student, who is a friend of my son's, asked to change his schedule around because he's back in school. The manager told the kid to quit school or show up because if he didn't show up, he was fired. The kid ended up quitting. Today a kid asked for time off tomorrow to attend a funeral out of state. The kid was told find someone to cover and if he didn't show up, he was fired. I told my son if they ever pull that crap with him, tell them what they can do with their job, then leave. It is amazing how the POS jobs that no one wants are the ones that treat their employees the worst.

POS jobs??? I love how people feel that retail jobs are so low on the respect scale. America is turning into a service economy. These are the jobs that will survive. Customer service skills are a must if you want to sell a lot and make any form of commission.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

If your son has cash-handling experience, he may want to give banking a try. Big national banks are moving towards more of a part-time staff for tellers and in the DC area you can guarantee $10 an hour to start as a teller. May not be easy if your son has mostly daytime classes but peak-time teller work may be possible.

I was in a Wachovia on Route 1 yesterday that only had one teller on duty and a line almost out the door. The manager said they had four openings they were having trouble filling. There seem to be plenty of jobs available here in FFX County if one can afford to live here or commute in.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

She went to every restaurant she could think of.

There seems to be a popular myth out there that waiting tables is an entry level job. It's not. Tips are good (where else can you keep 15-20% of the money your employer makes?) and so they're sought after and filled by people with lots of experience, particularly in the nicer places where the average check is fairly sizable. A more realistic entry level position for her in food service would be a counter person at a sandwich or coffee place.