The Woolworths Thread (23 Viewers)

[adistar85us]

Townie, couple of questions:

when extra hours are available who's usually called up first the 18 year old casual or the over 21 permanent part time? On Sundays? I think the wages are equal for both or am I mistaken. (In terms of work ethic said 18 year old is a bludger)

When grocery managers put you down for more hours can they take it away without notice and give it to someone else in the same week?

 

[townie]

in NSW at least, the 18 year old casual is still cheaper 22.08 vs. 26.28, first call up depends on store really, but if they're focused on wages (which all stores are atm heading towards end of FY, we've been told that ALL departments must operate to 100% OR or over, and be under wage budget %) then it will go to the casual.


As for the second part of your Q, this is a contentious issue. Some say yes, some say no. I think technically it's not allowed, but in practice it happens without anybody stopping it really.

 

[adistar85us]

thanks. I think a $4 difference is sh*t when were talking about a bludging 18 year old.

 

[Harry778]

Grrrrrrr!!

All Tasmanian refurbs have been canned til 2011!! Ours was meant to start like next week. This is a regular occurence, at my old store we were "locked in" for a refurb every year but its still in that horrible old dark green, triangular type format. I was so looking forward to self serve.

The Qantas thing won't really take off here cos no-one uses Everyday Rewards or Everyday Money, but I saw on the positively pornographic Woolies TV that staff can just register their discount card and start earning the points. But I can't find where to do it anywhere.

WOW! That really sucks! Are you on registers? If so, being on registers in a refurbed store is sooo much easier, especially on smoke shop! I mainly do smoke shop and when we got ours done I've never like working more! All you do is serve, which isnt boring anyway on cigarettes and fill, and some other stuff. Cos the Service Desk and Smoke Shop are seperated from express lanes.

Also what do you mean by 'triangular type format'?

 

[shinji]

Huzzah for being a slave for woolies and working on my birthday ;o

 

[yoddle]

WOW! That really sucks! Are you on registers? If so, being on registers in a refurbed store is sooo much easier, especially on smoke shop! I mainly do smoke shop and when we got ours done I've never like working more! All you do is serve, which isnt boring anyway on cigarettes and fill, and some other stuff. Cos the Service Desk and Smoke Shop are seperated from express lanes.

Also what do you mean by 'triangular type format'?

Mmm, there is only one woman who ever does smokeshop EVER and she only does it on weekdays, so that's not a big thing. But supervising would have been so much easier cos you don't have to worry about serving on express while running the front like we have to. And i'm also imagining no kilometer long express queue (i spent most of my 15 min break in it today).

The 'triangular type format' is the store layout that they had before the one that they're replacing now. Like, everything's really dark green, there's no back-to-back registers (they're really poky), and all the register number signs are on triangle blocks. Ours isn't like that but there's still heaps around Launceston that are.

I'm just pooped cos i won't even be working at woolies anymore by the time they start refurbing them.

 

[Craven]

Our store is so old and dilapidated... we were supposed to get a completely new store as part of the shopping centre refurb and expansion (they're adding a Big W to compete with Target) but now it seems they're delaying that for a couple more years and in the mean time we're just getting a 'refresh' - new seafood case, new bakery, self serve. Oh well, better than nothing I guess, but they've been dragging their feet for years... the Woolworths way I guess.

Having been just trained to do cash office, lol, now I'm interested in what will happen with this Phoenix stuff... we were talking about it at work today thinking perhaps they will do away with a person in the office at nights and its up to service supervisors to spot tills and the duty manager to put in safe.. EH!

 

[yoddle]

How big's your store? At the smaller stores that's exactly what they do, they only have cash peeps in the morning. It worked really well for the 8-register store I used to work at but i can imagine it being a total pain in a big store. You'd need two supervisors til like, ten. (if ya close at m/night)

 

[Batman2009]

our store has 14 regs 5 s/serves then 2liquoir [no idea have to spell it] yeh all got done up like mid last yr-ish... its pretty swish.

another thing, the girls on front end, do you think that the whole supervisor thing is very you know family thing like my boss his neice is a supervisor & nshes sposed to be training w/ me srsly wtf

 

[Craven]

How big's your store? At the smaller stores that's exactly what they do, they only have cash peeps in the morning. It worked really well for the 8-register store I used to work at but i can imagine it being a total pain in a big store. You'd need two supervisors til like, ten. (if ya close at m/night)

16 large, 4 express, 2 smokeshop = 22 (but we never issue #1 (unless its Easter/Xmas) so 15 large). We're open 8-9 weekdays, 8-5.30 Sat, 11-6 Sun. It's not normally that busy in the last hour, but we don't roster staff (2 operators + s/visor) so if you're the night s/visor you're usually having to serve OR do all the jobs yourself ... Office cashiers at night work 3 hours shifts (4 on Thurs, late night) enough time do to a pickup and spot all the draws etc.

 

[townie]

i can see a cash office person for pickups and change at night, but honestly, it's part of the Service Supervisor's job to count the drawers if you ask me, not the office cashier. Spot-checks are supposed to be done at the register, with two people, not at the end of the night by 1 person in the office on the workstation (except for Sunday nights)

 

[Trentyboi]

I work at Coles, and it's a store in the middle of the CBD with no isles, but we serve something like 800 or 900 000 thousand customers a week (most are small transactions)

We are open 7-9 weekdays except Friday and that's until 10. And then 8-7 on Saturday and 9-7 on Sunday.

We do spot balances around 3pm each day, just before the 'peak' rush of workers finishing but after the lunch rush.

People who work until close are usually rostered from 4-9 or 4:30-9:30 with many people working 4-7 and other alternatives to cover the 'rush'.

We're going to be getting self-serve registers, apparently 8 or so. I hope I don't lose many shifts!

Just thought I'd post this as a comparison to Woolies

 

[ekul444]

hmm interesting.. i have nothing to do with cash office apart from the fact i help count drawers on saturdays after close. as i was saying goodbye to the office cashier and saying ill see her next week she said no i wont - this was the last night drawers are counted downstairs - its all being done upstairs from monday... is this to do with this project pheonix you are all talking about?

 

[Batman2009]

project pheonix?

 

[lordtopcat]

Townie posted this a few pages back:

Project Phoenix

-Roll out for region 8 starts monday, national roll-out due for completion on 8 November
-Roles of office cashier, systems operator, payroll clerk and invoice clerk will dissapear to be replaced by the Store Services Officer and Store Services Assistan
-There will be ONE SSO per store, @ either grade 3 or salaried (depending on whether the store is graded for a salaried staff member in office), SSA's will be grade 2, current rates for current employees will be saved, but will not get pay increases untill the pay-rates equal.
-SSO will count as managing a department for Store Management Training (so you only need to manage 1 other dept.).
-Only 1 member of staff to be there before start of trade (except for Monday), usually an SSA, then SSO to start at 8
-pre-launch, charge off's will be provided for stores to give training to their staff.
-after the training period, the HRS and SSS will decide who the SSO will be
-SMS hours for SSO/SSA are going to be seperated out from Non-Trade SMS hours
-The training will be basic (e.g. it doesnt cover Paymas/payroll)
-Rosters will be reviewed, and there should be a strong emphasis on rostering to task, ROSTERS WILL CHANGE and it was strongly implied that if your availibilities didnt match what was required, you will not loose any hours, but they will likely be put into another department
-Current systems operators will HAVE to do some cash office stuff, and cash office staff will HAVE to do some systems.
-Each staff member will get an individual training plan

 

[yoddle]

i can see a cash office person for pickups and change at night, but honestly, it's part of the Service Supervisor's job to count the drawers if you ask me, not the office cashier. Spot-checks are supposed to be done at the register, with two people, not at the end of the night by 1 person in the office on the workstation (except for Sunday nights)

And the supervisor doing spot checks works at a small store, but it doesn't a a big store when there's 18+ registers that have to be packed up, and when there's only a couple of operators on, and all the jobs and trolleys and whatnot have to be done, on top of breaks and everything. Does anyone actually follow the two-people spot check rule? That went out of the window with us after like two weeks of getting the new WowPos because it was so impractical.

 

[townie]

when i worked at Macquarie we spot checked each register with two people. Although admitedly they still got counted again by cashoffice. I dunno, it just seems like a really easy way for a dodgy O/C to skim a little off the top - and i like knowing the register results immediatley, because as the supervisor, i'm responsible for them.

 

[Charizard]

Half the time not even counted at my store, never in a whole year have they been double checked like you say.

Would be quite easy to steal really, mind you half the time the registers are out like 400 dollars because of problems with home delivery and that so there is usually no way of knowing.

 

[Trentyboi]

In regards to spot checks, why don't you just get one supervisor to count during a busyish time when all the registers are in use? That's what we do, and we have our 'two' people.

And as so counting cash at the end of the day and bagging up, you shouldn't do it all at the end of the night, but progressively as people start going home.

Edit: That's how it's done at Coles!

 

[Peartie]

when i worked at Macquarie we spot checked each register with two people.

thats because giri wouldnt be very happy had things not been done by the book...