Wal Mart: Snow? Too bad.

[spinbaby]

I just ran into this little tidbit:

"BAD DAY FOR: Excuses, as Wal-Mart said snowy weather was no longer a valid reason for its employees to show up late for work. (Associated Press)"

http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/business/11668 --scroll down to the bottom of the page.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. That's right. The employees should stay home if it's that unsafe to travel.

FU, Wal-Mart.

[Captain Hilts]

2. The FOUR Walton family BILLIONAIRES might miss out on a buck. nt

[NewJeffCT]

34. multi-billionaires - and don't forget

The Walton Foundation funds various Right Wing causes and "think" tanks to the tune of around $100 million per year.

(and the Right gets all huffy over George Soros giving $35 million a few years back!)

[Captain Hilts]

35. I've actually never been in a Wal-Mart. nt

[nashville_brook]

3. on NPR it was reported as an anti-elder policy

a way to get rid of older employees.

[LeftyMom]

4. Well, high WalMart wages allow people to afford such safe, reliable cars

Maybe the income from dead janitor insurance was dropping off. Nothing like a policy that's going to kill a few workers in avoidable accidents to perk up that little source of side income.

PS Hey WalMart, if the weather is to bad your employees can't make it to someplace they're being paid to be, what makes you think the shoppers they serve will show/

[Virginia Dare]

5. Brilliant, they've found a way to recoup the losses...

incurred during a snowstorm, dock the pay of the workers who can't get there to service your non existent customers. What did this country ever do before the benevolence of Wal-Mart?

:eyes:

[SheilaT]

6. Is Wal-Mart the only company

out there with such a policy? Quite frankly, I doubt that. Many corporations will dock you if you're late or miss work because of bad weather.

As much as I despise Wal-Mart and have not shopped in one for years, they are not the only heartless corporation out there. This is only newsworthy because they're so huge and employee so many people.

[PistolSteve]

19. It's important because they are the largest company in the world

and set precedents... if Walmart were a country it would match the GDP of Saudi Arabia.

[sandnsea]

41. None that I ever worked for

They were thrilled we had gotten through the weather alive, first, and to be able to work.

Of course, that was 25 years ago before the corporate brainwashing had completely taken hold.

[hedgehog]

7. In April 2006, a Walmart in North Dakota lost its roof due to snow load.

I'd swear the same thing happened hear in Central New York, but I can't find the reference. I guess Walmart doesn't understand that the weather across the country varies from that in Arkansas!

[Vorta]

8. Call me an OF

I don't like the politics of Walmart but I can't find too much fault in such a policy. I worked many years in private industry in DC, where it does snow sometimes. Sure, there were plenty of people who thought snow was an excuse, and the rest of us had to carry the load for such people. If you are late due to snow, it's more than likley that it's for the same reason anyone is late any other time: you didn't give yourself enough time to get to work. It doesn't matter if it's a part time job, a good job, or a crappy job: it's the job you agreed to do. When you don't show up, it makes life harder on your coworkers.

[librechik]

10. you are without a doubt an OF

of course an agreement to work and obedience is far more important than safety

:sarcasm:

welcome to DU

[Vorta]

13. Thank you n/t

[Jed Dilligan]

17. Sounds like you own an auto body shop,

the only kind of business that wants people speeding on ice.

[Vorta]

26. I meant "thank you" for the welcome to DU n/t

[TheWatcher]

43. You're not Welcome

And you won't be very welcome here.

Now go and Obey your Masters like a Good Little Citizen.

[trotsky]

11. You're apparently in Florida now.

And you base your judgment on this policy from the time you lived in DC.

Let me just say that there's quite a few places in this country that have worse winters.

[PistolSteve]

12. Wait one minute?!?! You live in DC? TRY THE MIDWEST!

You lived in DC? Try living in WISCONSIN or MINNESOTA! I am as reliable as they get and sometimes you just can't make it to work in time. There are times where it takes days for roads to be plowed out in the country - there are accidents, road blocks, etc... that you can't predict. Also, it is often impossible to tell if it will storm overnight. You can wake up with 2' of snow covering your driveway.

It isn't uncommon for people (especially people with bad cars, ahem, Walmart employees) to get into 1-2 'accidents' a year (meaning a slide into a ditch).

Look, if a single person is abusing the system discipline them, but to make a sweeping rule like this that doesn't factor the situations of individual circumstances, then it is terrible.

[Vorta]

14. Well, I never!

All the things I have commented on, expecting to stir the sh*t a bit, these are the first responses I get.

You're right- I really don't have any experience in frequent ADTAE snowfall, a couple of feet at most. I would think that one would have a 4WD vehicle if one lived in such a place. Half the cars around here are 4WD, which is utterly wasteful.

[PistolSteve]

15. 4WD - Not likely unless you can afford it

In fact, many poor people around here are stuck with old cars that are RWD - almost impossible to drive in the winter.

Many of us don't have the luxury of purchasing 4WD cars/trucks

[Vorta]

24. Bali H'ai

<I>Many of us don't have the luxury of purchasing 4WD cars/trucks</I>

Unless you live in a red state I would encourage you to move to Gulfport Florida. If you are going to be broke (or poor) you might as well be warm. A lot of people here use bicycles or Vespas as primary transportation.

[MorningGlow]

27. That's not a solution either

Speaking from a major snow belt here in western NY, I can say that four-wheel-drive vehicles might help you navigate a snowy road, but it's no guarantee that you're going to survive a trip in a blizzard. (I drive a Jeep Wrangler with studded snow tires, FWIW.)

When the major highways get shut down due to poor visibility, when tractor-trailers jacknife on the roads making travel a life-threatening situation, when the National Weather Service decrees "no unnecessary travel", when ice storms send power lines tumbling into the roads and you simply cannot even leave your residential street because driving over one would kill you, you stay the hell home.

And no business should think it has the right to tell their employees to risk their lives in those situations.

[MadHound]

28. You should also consider those folks who live in rural areas

In the Midwest, where snow removal is a dicey prospect at best. I live in rural Missouri, and we've recieved two feet of snow. The priorities for the county road crews is the major highways, then the major blacktops, minor blacktops, and then perhaps they'll get to the gravel roads, which is where most people live.

Then there is the matter of getting out of one's driveway. Most people have fifty to one hundred yard driveways, which they plow themselves. I plow mine, but frankly it takes awhile, forty five minutes to an hour. And yes, a lot of people have 4WD vehicles, but 4WD only helps you get moving, or going around curves, it does absolutely nothing for braking power. Frankly, rather risk life and limb trucking through unplowed snow, I'll stay home, most people do. Most companies will either count it as a vacation day, some won't count it as anything. And all companies that I've known, excluding WalMart, will not discipline an employee for valuing their life over work. Besides, given the fact that on such days business is going to be very slow, it really doens't matter that much anyway.

Sorry, but this is a rather harsh policy WalMart is enacting, and a potentially life threatening one as well.

[Vorta]

37. OK reply to EVERYONE ------- I was wrong and Walmart policy is wrong.

[Virginia Dare]

16. Hold up...

you lived in D.C. so no doubt you have experienced the MONUMENTAL traffic catastrophes that have ocurred here due to snow. Public transportation isn't even an option on those days. Are you telling me you were at your desk on time each and every one of those days? Where were you coming from, where were you going, and how did you do that, let me in on the secret.

I had days where I left home an hour early and still got to work an hour or more late. 3 to 4 hour commutes are not uncommon during a D.C. snowstorm.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. D.C. handles snowstorms as if they're a rare event

which of course, they're not.
I worked in Boston for a company with a large D.C. office. The rules were something like this: four inches of snow in D.C., the office was closed early or opened late. A foot of snow in Boston, you'd best have yourself to work on time, slacker.

Let me tell you, with Boston's narrow streets it was no picnic but people were expected to figure out how to get to work for a full day and most people did.

on edit: not a defense of Walmart's blanket policy. I suspect that the executives who made this decision have no idea what it's like to travel in serious snowstorms.

[Virginia Dare]

31. It's a funny thing...

Everybody who lives or has ever lived in D.C. knows that snowstorms are feared like the plague here.

I guess it's because we have so many people here from so many different places, some are used to snow and others aren't, so it all equals gridlock.

Snowstorms here aren't exactly rare, but they're not as common as they are in Boston or New York, and usually with the equipment available here, the best they can do is keep the main roads open, as long as it's not snowing too hard. It's usually a nightmare in the suburbs and side streets, and because the ground it usually a bit warmer when it snows here, black ice is a big problem.

[Vorta]

22. It happens

I lived on Kemp Mill Road a long time and off Old Keene Mill Road during my last confinement in DC. I commuted variously to K Street, Capitol Hill, and Dupont Circle over the years. Living in Maryland was easier of course, because there are always alternate routes whereas NOVA means getting locked into a bridge. Perhaps I was just lucky. I have left for work four hours early. I have gone downtown the night before as the snow began to fall. I have spent the night at work, or if I got lucky with someone else. I eventually got rid of the junker, then the sportscar, and ended up with a Suzuki that was the best car I have ever owned. My parents' old Caddy was remarkably good in the snow and formidable in accidents as well.

I now drive a bicycle most days, and am never late.

[Virginia Dare]

30. The Superbowl snowstorm....'86 maybe?

I was living in Adams Morgan, I walked home from K Street, and it took me two hours in a raging blizzard. Busses and cars were abandoned in the middle of the streets. It took about a week for the city to fully dig out as I recall.

I guess, you're more dedicated than me leaving 4 hours early or sleeping at your desk to get there on time. You have/had a lucky employer.

[Vorta]

36. I remember that one

I was living in Maryland at the time. Adams Morgan was a mess, trees down and all sorts of winter wonderland stuff. It was actually quite beautiful. I forget what we did that night. I had just returned from California and was working at Badlands while looking for a job.

[uppityperson]

21. what's an "OF"?

[Vorta]

23. Old F(passing gas)t

[SoCalDem]

40. Hey.. at DU it's ok to say FART

:hi:

Freeperville is where they use cutesy euphemisms..:evilgrin:

if you don't believe me just ask the "spocksman" of the place :)

[newportdadde]

9. Aren't all employers like this?

My office if you can't make it in your taking a vacation day.

[PistolSteve]

18. Depends where you live...

If you live in Florida and there is a hurricane, do you have to use up vacation? In Wisconsin, some companies will just give you unpaid leave, most will require a vacation day.

I don't know of very many that will discipline you for being late after a big storm though. That's unheard of.

[spinbaby]

29. Do Wal-Mart workers get vacation days?

I suspect most don't.

[Maine-ah]

25. snowy weather is one thing, blizzards are another

especially when it's normal for the area you live in. If it's just snowing, usually the roads are not bad. Just like when it's raining. When you get a blizzard, that's when conditions are bad. I'm not sticking up for them, but even during blizzards, I get to work on time. Most people who live in areas that have snowy conditions (like Maine for example) know that during the winter you pay attention to the weather, and you adjust your schedule. If you are going to get a foot of snow over-night, you prepare for it. It's personal responsibility, common sense.

There are a lot more worse things in that policy other than what the op posted. Here's a link to the rest of the story:

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=165378

Documents furnished to The Associated Press by union-backed WakeUpWalmart.com show that employees must call an 800 number to report all absences and tardiness by an hour before the scheduled start time. They also have to call their manager with the confirmation code they received when calling the hot line number. In the past, employees got permission directly from their store managers.
(snip)

Now that's bullshit.

[hedgehog]

32. One problem we have around here in winter is that it can be blue skies

and clear roads at one end of town and literally impassible at the other end. No exaggeration. I have left my driveway and driven on bare pavement only to be caught in a whiteout three miles away. For those who have never experienced one, in a whiteout the snow is blowing around and falling so fast you literally can not see the end of the hood. In some cases, you can't see through the windshield! It's as if someone had white washed your windows! Once it took me half an hour to make it half a mile, then half an hour for the rest of the 30 mile commute.

[truebrit71]

33. FUCK WAL-MART!!!

I FUCKING HATE WAL-MART!!!!

FILTHY FUCKING THIEVING SLAVE-WAGE PAYING, NO BENEFITS GIVING, PREDATORY SALES-PRACTICING, RIGHT-WING RETHUGLICAN ENABLING BUNCH OF GODDAMNED SCUM-SUCKING PIG'S BLADDERS ARSEHOLE MOTHER-FUCKERS CAN KISS MY HAIRY ASS!!!

:grr:



*ahem*


That feels better!!!

:evilgrin:

As you were folks....

[SheilaT]

38. Wow, what an amazing bunch of responses.

If you live in an area where it snows a lot, and you can't afford a decent care, then maybe it's okay not to make it in to work because major corporations are heartless bastards.

Well, while I do understand the problems of not having a reliable car, you can't get paid if you don't come to work, regardless of the reason.

I also lived in DC, from 1969-79. I had grown up in northern New York State, and was quite astonished at how people got stranded in snow drifts six inches deep in DC. I also well remember the President's Day Blizzard in 1979, when the entire metro area shut down completely. National Airport (where I worked) was closed all day, until about 9pm when the runways were finally plowed, and Northwest Airlines (the bastards) decided to land a couple of flights, stranding all the connecting passengers because not a single other airline was operating.

As an airline employee, you were expected to make it to work no matter what the conditions, no exceptions. Going somewhere on vacation and the return flights being delayed or cancelled was no excuse. In my ten years at DCA I can think of maybe three times when an employee couldn't make it in.

The real issue here might be the lack of public transportation in many parts of this country, the fact that Wal-Marts are often located in places with no way to get to work besides your own car.

[REP]

39. Lived In The Midwest; Had a Job w/Same Policy; I Was Never Late

I take that back: the day my car was stolen, I didn't come in, and yes, it went on my record. Since it was my only unexcused absence and I had no other "occurrences," it wasn't a big deal. The policy allowed a certain number of unexcused absences and being late and only after a certain number in a certain time period was any action taken. There were many, many things I found unreasonable and inhumane about my employers, but the late/absent policy wasn't one of them. As much as I hate Walmart, their policy is not excessive.

[RoyGBiv]

42. While I don't like the policy ...

I'm afraid I must suggest that focusing on Wal-Mart specifically for this is not productive. Even if it were possible to change Wal-Mart policy, that change is not going to affect the rest of the working world.

The simple reason is that I have *never* had a job where snow (or ice, which is what we usually get around here) was considered a valid excuse for missing work. I once drove to work after 8 inches fell in an hour. I drove to work last year on a sheet of ice. The best case scenario I've ever faced was to be saddled with an "unexcused absence," which is used in evaluation. On other occasions I was directly threatened with termination if I didn't show up.

So, yeah, this is wrong, but it's not in any sense unusual. And I might note here that one of the real problems here is in fact the consumer. People often freak out when snow or ice is falling. They demand people be at work in retail locations to serve them. Think about how many times you've gone out just before or during a snow/ice storm to gas up, buy groceries, or whatever. Think about how pissed you'd be if you were unable to do those things. And be honest when you do that thinking.