Training legality

[James Freeman]

I am currently working for a company which I will not name, however they are a main stream supermarket company. I am currently at a situation where I am checkout trained, and I am known as a "checkout relief", basically they call whenever they get busy.

However, I am employed to work on another department which is currently short of around 50 hours per week. As you can imagine it gets rather annoying when your busy yourself and you get dragged away to be on a checkout.

Which leads me nicely to my next point, there is a new till system being introduced to all stores, which require new training to use, and I was wondering if they can force me to be checkout trained. I'm currently requesting a copy of my contract to see what's on there.

I came on here because it's possibly the most mature place I could go to without being trolled/flamed.

Regrads,
James.

 

[James]

Your best bet is what you've already done. Request a copy of your contract and check the agreement which you've signed. If it states that it requires you to be checkout trained, you'll have to undergo the training or you'll lose your job for refusing to comply with your contract. If it doesn't, chances are you can tell them to go and <insert profanity here> and still keep your job.

 

[James Freeman]

Your best bet is what you've already done. Request a copy of your contract and check the agreement which you've signed. If it states that it requires you to be checkout trained, you'll have to undergo the training or you'll lose your job for refusing to comply with your contract. If it doesn't, chances are you can tell them to go and <insert profanity here> and still keep your job.

If I remember rightly it's something along the lines of "you are required to follow the needs of the business"

 

[James]

Does it outline the needs of the business?

 

[James Freeman]

I can't remember, I'll have to have a look for a copy of my contract or get another one..

 

[x4rl]

I came on here because it's possibly the most mature place I could go to without being trolled/flamed.

I think you have missed alot of threads

 

[Danny.VBT]

You will probably have to be trained if you want to keep your job.

When I used to work at a large retail franchise, if there was a sudden influx of guests checking out, people from various departments would be called in to handle additional registers. I would have to juggle Customer Service and checking out throughout the day...it was annoying but why would the company hire more people if they can use their current resources?

 

[grant sarver]

Without knowing your state or country there is no pat answer. In most states they can fire you for any reason or no reason. And you have the same right to quit. But.........a contract trumps that. Legalities and contract aside, if you don't want to do what your employer asks in exchange for your paycheck, why are you working there?

 

[User]

Which leads me nicely to my next point, there is a new till system being introduced to all stores, which require new training to use, and I was wondering if they can force me to be checkout trained.

Sounds like a trick question to me.
I am with grant, if you don't want to do the work then why work there, one of the millions of unemployed will probably be happy to take the job if you don't want it.

 

[Dragapult]

Is there any reason why you wouldn't want to be trained, other than you want to focus more on the department you're actually employed in?

 

[jmurrayhead]

ugh...I don't have the answer for you, but I can empathize. Many years ago I was in the same position. My job was to maintain equipment, troubleshoot network and PC problems, maintain the product pricing database, etc. But I would often be called up to run a register or even bag purchases (back when baggers still existed). I was not trained on the register, I just had an idea how they worked because I had to fix them all the time. Anyway, I absolutely hated it. But, the fact of the matter is, in their eyes, you all are a team. And when they screw up by not scheduling enough people for that particular day or not having enough people on the staff, it's up to the team to help each other out. Such is the miserable world of retail.

 

[EQnoble]

Well from talking with someone about this very same thing about their job at a local supermarket....

The problem I would assume is this...it is not that he doesn't want to do his job...the register is a secondary duty. His main duties are in another department. My friend does stocking...they had the same issue with being called away because management comes down on them for their department being behind.

Most of these places will not pay full time employees and for the most part don't offer a lot of OT. Because of that, workers end up in a position where they have to be talked down to because of their responsibilities not being done even though management knows it's their fault.

Management people get bonuses for staying within the payroll budget and unfortunately as they get the bonus for putting out less hours...one group usually gets mistreated... because of this something has to give. In the end mgt takes the bonus money and blames the employees for the job not getting done. He also told me as proof that this is true...when corporate comes to inspect the store franchise , management will give everyone in those lagging departments stupid amounts of hours to catch up all at once. As soon as inspections are over...it's back to letting departments fall behind so the guy controlling payroll can get his bonus with the departments it effects being expected to do twice the work in half the time or with half of the man hours.

There is the normal qualms that come with working in retail, but somethings are beyond the scope of that.

 

[jmurrayhead]

I've experienced the same thing as EQnoble described above.

 

[James Freeman]

It looks as its not just my company that does this then, I would just like to say I am not being lazy or anything like that.. It's because I am committed to my department and I want it to look the best it can be, without me or other staff members being taken to a checkout. Let it be known that there is 5 other staff members on my department - 3 of which are checkout trained (including me).

I live in the UK, so I'm not sure if there is anyone that is familiar with English employment law.,

 

[Fred Sherman]

With the economy in the shape its in, I'd be thankful to have a job. At the end of the day, its not your department, its the company's. If they've made the decision that being on the register and making sure that paying customers don't have to stand in line is more important to them, you should respect that decision and support it. It doesn't matter how good your department looks if customers don't walk in the door because it takes too long to walk back out.

 

[TheLaw]

Without knowing your state or country there is no pat answer. In most states they can fire you for any reason or no reason. And you have the same right to quit. But.........a contract trumps that. Legalities and contract aside, if you don't want to do what your employer asks in exchange for your paycheck, why are you working there?

Unfortunately, this is probably the best answer. The issue isn't why it's happening (although interesting) but what to do about it if anything. For the most part, unless you have an employment contract you're "at will" as stated above. Unless it's an executive contract, chances are not great that you'll have the rights you seek - but it's still essential to check the agreement since it could provide a remedy for what is probably the typical state law.

 

[Reeve of Shinra]

Is this job your career or a stepping stone towards something else? I think that also needs to be considered.

In general though, I would suggest doing that which adds value however there are times when I turned down training simply because I didn't want to 'own' the process.