DD walked out of job

[MiansyMoo]

Will try and keep short. DD is 18, recently got first job at local supermarket. Had an induction where she was waiting around for hours, signed a ten hours minimum contract waiving her right to work less than 48 hours a week, even though the position was advertised as part time.

She signed it anyway. Like I said, first job.

At first shift, she was left alone for four hours before someone came and realised she was there at work. Apparently everyone ignored her request for help, was very unfriendly and rude. On top of this, she was also not given the door code to get in, not given any duty manager numbers, or any information about what duties she was supposed to carry out.

She had her second shift yesterday. Again, she said she was given no duties, no guidance, just left in the store despite her induction consisting of just signing a contract. No training was given at all, aside from a brief e-course.

She said she roamed around the store for six hours completely clueless, before eventually walking out during the shop hours.

DH thinks she has behaved appallingly and has no sympathy. However, although she is 18, it's her first job and she was up all of Friday night anxious and even crying as she had no idea what the hell she was supoosed to be doing. On top of that, she hasn't been put on the rate of pay advertised at the interview and they've given her 45 hours next week, not the 20 she agreed too.

AIBU to side with DD on this? Not saying walking out of a job is right, but it clearly was making her very unhappy

Were the two rates of pay separate because she's only 18? Because they probably pay a lower wage until she reaches 21 and is entitled to national minimum wage. That would explain the difference and is pretty standard.

Having worked in various supermarkets as a teen I'm on the fence with this one. They generally are large places with lots of staff working different shifts and in most stores I've worked, communication isn't great. I've done a few 'tidying' shifts and this is actually facing which does need to be done. I think it is possible that there was just no one around to train her on the checkout.

Maybe your DD is just better suited to a smaller environment until she builds her confidence.

Your DD sounds very judgemental. I agree that it matters not at all that the Duty Manager looked young. Hope her next job goes better.

Also most staff in a supermarket probably seem fed up... but that's life.

I too was a little when she said she had actually applied for sales assistant and not general duties in store, as I had assumed it was just general duties as there are never permanent till staff when I've been in there, as there are not always people waiting.

She should NOT feel ashamed or embarrassed for what she did.

At 16, I was hired in a pub that served food. I was there from November til beginning of January. No training. I was a waitress and I got sacked. What happened was this: The phone rang. I was not trained to take phone orders nor did I know that the pub had '2 sittings' - 12 midday and 1:30pm. The manager's husband told me to answer it. I said I hadn't answered the phone before but he shouted at me to 'answer the fucking phone, wench!' I did so and it was a family who wanted to book a table for Sunday lunch. I took the name and time and about half an hour later the manager shouted at me in the kitchen for 'answering the phone'. Told her what had happened (I was/am quite anxious and sensitive) and she said 'she didn't fucking care'. 10 minutes later, I was sacked. My friend who worked there told me the following day that she only wanted me there for the Christmas period. Stupidly, 3 months later I agreed to another job for her - babysitting a 13 year old and 9 year old. I accepted because it paid £20 for one night, got a taxi there and back and had pizzas delivered! In that 3 months she broke up with her husband who called me a wench and shacked up with a copper who liked his Saturday night drinks!

At 18, I did this at a seaside fish restaurant/pub. I started work at 11am on a Sunday and my finishing time was up to me (about 4pm when the restaurant/pub wasn't as busy. The chef did nothing but berate the waitresses (he WAS 'Gordon Ramsey') and finally I was phoned at midday asking where the hell I was. With my parent's support I told him to 'fuck his job and swivel!' I was so nervous doing that but my mum was so angry when I told her the stuff he was saying to us etc.

Then when I was 21 I worked for Clinton Cards in my last year of Uni. My shifts were Saturdays from 2pm til 6:30pm and Sundays all day. One Christmas I was going home (it was over a weekend) and I had got permission to take the Saturday (Christmas Eve) as holiday. I was then phoned on boxing day asking me where I was. I said that I don't work Mondays and was never asked. On my return, I was told to make up 80 boxes (some new but most ripped so needed a LOT of tape) and store Christmas stuff in them. I had 3 hours. It took me a good 10 minutes to do ONE BOX. Even some of the staff were a bit perplexed as to how I was going to get it done. So within 3 hours, not even HALF had been done. From then onwards, I was spoken to like trash, given tasks that were impossible to do etc. In the end I last four weekends like that and walked in one day and handed my uniform over and told them politely that I was 'better' than how they treated me and I was not going to put up with it any longer.
I used to shop in there on purpose when I qualified as a teacher and got a job. The manager and her deputy (who both bullied me) always left the shop floor when I waltzed in and spoke to one or two of the girls about my job and how I was loving it etc.

No matter how 'manual' or how 'low paid' the job is, everyone deserves respect, time and patience to learn the trade of the job and all employers and managers have a duty of care towards their staff.

Your DD IS BETTER than how she was treated. Good for her.

The age does matter IMO- in this store, they have a lot of young adult employees who come and then quit very quickly: they are often university students and not all students do this, but it's undeniable that some students see their summer jobs as just a temporary gig they can do half heartedly. (My DD may be one of them.) That's why the age is relevant here- or maybe not age; maybe the word student would be more appropriate. All I know is that a lot of the young adults working there are students just looking for a temporary, summer job and not young adults forging a career. And as is clear from my DD's case, sometimes teenagers don't take their temporary summer jobs seriously due to the "It doesn't matter" mindset which arises from the fact they're leaving soon anyway. Again, not all teenagers!

My step son has worked minimum wage for a year part time and he puts in so much effort. He's genuinely a hard, good
worker. Compare that to some of his friends who phone in fake sick to go out clubbing, also walk out, randomly miss shifts... I know quite a few teenage girls and boys who don't respect their jobs enough.

If my DD had left due to boredom I'd have been made. What made me wonder if I should sympathise with her was the fact she got so upset, crying before and after work, etc... It seems like more than just "I can't be bothered."

Good on her! I walked out of a waitressing job at that age because the chef threw a dish of mussel shells at a waiter. I never had any judgement from my parents and it was also my first day.

It sounds like it was just overwhelming and it is awkward when there's no clear structure or you're not sure what to do - I still get this feeling when I start new jobs now! - but if you're in your first job I can understand it feels much worse. Especially if no one seems friendly or helpful.

It's her first ever job. I would put it down to bad experience and encourage her to look for another. After a few days I'm sure she'll feel much better.

Good for her. She could so she did. Better than hanging on for no good reason.

I agree - good on her. She has the self esteem to see that she deserves better. Can she look for a position in a small independent shop where they'll train her properly? Sounds like a very badly run supermarket. Put it down to experience and move on.

sometimes young people are treated like shit in jobs, good for your dd she wont put up with this

your dh OTOH sounds like a complete dick

I think walking out was a bit poor. Not terrible, as she clearly wasn't critical to them and her leaving didn't cause the store any difficulties, but it's not the best way to behave as an employee.

I would be a bit worried that two days in a job could leave her in tears though. Are you sure nothing happened to her there? Because, even at 18, it seems fairly extreme to be unable to put two days of being bored and having people just basically ignoring you behind you.

With DH on this one.

Really,- just walked,out?

I wouldn't have sent the email. I would have waited until someone missed her. She could have remained "employed" for several days. It would have been interesting to find out how long it took for someone to wonder where she was

Sales assistants do usually do general tidying though. I think she needs to realized that, I had a Saturday job at unit in London in a high end store we were always expected to pop off the till and tidy if we had no customers to take money from. In fact my first week in the store was almost completely merchandising (tidying).

So it isn't as you I totally explained then. She did have a supervisor, and she was given a task. But she found it boring so she walked out. No big deal. Hopefully she'll find a job she finds more interesting!

Well it's not as if they were overworking her or not paying her is it? And it sounds as if they were offering her too many hours and not too few?

Walking out due to boredom is not something I'd condone. Perhaps a little more initiative wouldn't have gone amiss as I'm sceptical that there was absolutely nobody she could have asked.

Team DD here too and I employ 14 people. No way would I treat anyone, least of all a vulnerable young girl, in this manner.

Shower of shites 😞

At first I was really sceptical about this, OP, and thought your daughter was having you on, but the more I've read of your follow up posts the more I'm starting to think that maybe it is plausible and that your daughter was probably right to cut her losses. If she needed this job to support herself and pay rent, obviously it would be OK to do what she did, but she doesn't and the store was absolutely taking the piss.

Sounds like my first job, also in a supermarket. I had nothing to do for the first 4 or 5 shifts - no training, no manager, nowt. Told to "check the shelves". Eventually I got some training and was on the tills - one of the supervisors took against me for some reason and tended to give me the unpopular shifts and always sat me by the doors if it was cold. My favourite day was when the assistant manager actually told me I was being "deliberately tall" because the skirt provided to me was above my knees (not allowed) and they didn't do them in a longer length. I walked out after about 6 months when I had A Level exams and they kept giving me shifts on the days I actually had exams then refusing to change it and insisting I had to miss my exams to work.
I think your daughter has a lucky escape....

I used to work in retail.
We had one manager who would hide away in his office, not to be disturbed. Would have been fine if he'd bothered to tell anyone else what needed to be done but he didn't.
We were often left at a loose end during his time. Of course, if you took the initiative and did something that looked like it needed doing then you'd get in trouble.

Given that your DD was put on the shop floor to do a job that she couldn't complete due to lack of training, what was she supposed to do? Also given the total lack of training, how was she supposed to respond to any customer enquiries. Given how rude some people can be, perhaps that was the root of the anxiety?
I used to feel sick going into work if I'd had horrible customers on the previous shift.

Well you can certainly see her point, can't you

Not really. Didn't she go up to the manager and say "Look, I don't appear to have anything to do. Can you be more specific about exactly you want me to do, and tell me when I will be trained to do more?"

Fair play to your daughter. I got left on my own on tills at 11pm on saturday on my first shift, no manager (she'd gone home) and security weren't around. I was very close to doing the exact same as she has.

She's been lied to about the pay, lied to about the hours, and hasn't been supported. It was time to cut her losses and I'm glad she saw that.

Good for her!Did much the same myself.Just a number in some of these companies unfortunately.Where I worked,if you weren't in 'the clique'/head up a manager's arse you'd be lucky to get a hello.