The Woolworths Thread (24 Viewers)

[nicollette]

Just had my first in-store shift as service cashier yesterday. Was just reading the SDA union crap and it said if I'm casual and on probationary period I should get 9.85 an hour but I'm only getting 8.2 an hour which is what part-timers get paid..but I'm a casual :/ (I'm 16 btw) don't really know how to bring this up with staff, let alone who..

Anyway first shift was crazy BAHAH. Oh my, you can't imagine how much customers left there bags/cards and were walking off..and how much bags I dropped, and how much transactions I didn't really stuff up but just had no clue on cos I wasn't trained properly. Oh well, at least the customers understood this was my first shift and I was training and they were nice about it. I don't even have my finger scan number yet wtf :S And they gave me shifts for friday & saturday night..there goes my social life. Is it normal to dream about EFTPOS and registers by the way...LOL

 

[nicollette]

Thats a bit rude..I was pretty lousy when I had my first shift, but then the supervisor said I was really improving once I got the hand of doing transactions and stuff.. she may have had her reasons for it.

 

[shinji]

Bring up the matter of the incorrect pay with your manager. Although, it's probably better to go to the cash office and speak to the person there about the issue. They probably just listed you under the wrong category as a part time staff instead of a casual.

And well, hey; i work saturdays & sundays. So I have a less of a social life than u. lol..
On week - 10-7pm saturday, 10-8pm sunday
off week - 6-3pm saturday, 10-8pm sunday

and go to work during weekdays if they require my help.
And don't worry about being slow for the first few shifts or so. Do it right & proper before trying to do it fast.

They're not dumb... they're just not motivated to do anything...

If there are lots to do I tell them I need this done in X minutes, then you gotta do this, this, this then this.. fkn give them a bit of stress

If it's not good enough, tell them it's not good enough, then tell them what is good enough.

You might sound like a bitch but you're not getting paid extra to do their job as well.

i just don't really feel comfortable issuing orders around. I should be more assertive i know, but yeah... I knw what it feels like to be bossed around all the time and I didn't like it. lol, especially when I'm told to do one thing and then another thing. -_-

 

[townie]

i have less of a social life than BOTH of you

Friday nights, saturday day till night and sunday nights, every week, for the past 4 years

also, yeah, talk to Cash Office about incorrect pay, are u sure ur casual though? the trend of late is to get people as PPT now

 

[shinji]

i have less of a social life than BOTH of you

Friday nights, saturday day till night and sunday nights, every week, for the past 4 years

also, yeah, talk to Cash Office about incorrect pay, are u sure ur casual though? the trend of late is to get people as PPT now

k, so we have established that

Townie < Me < Nicollete

in terms of social life. haha

 

[CieL]

Is it normal to dream about EFTPOS and registers by the way...LOL

Yep. When I first started I dreamt about barcode numbers and PLUs.

i just don't really feel comfortable issuing orders around. I should be more assertive i know, but yeah... I knw what it feels like to be bossed around all the time and I didn't like it. lol, especially when I'm told to do one thing and then another thing. -_-

Yeah possibly. I reckon in every department besides service it's all laid back, staff can just do things at their own pace.. but at service if you're not serving and you've got like 2mins to spare, there are HEEEAAAAPPPS of things that need to be done.. then the office and managers go off at me if I don't have enough time or staff for things to get done, so I'm strict and don't care about "asking" people to do things.. if that makes sense..

 

[shinji]

Yep. When I first started I dreamt about barcode numbers and PLUs.



Yeah possibly. I reckon in every department besides service it's all laid back, staff can just do things at their own pace.. but at service if you're not serving and you've got like 2mins to spare, there are HEEEAAAAPPPS of things that need to be done.. then the office and managers go off at me if I don't have enough time or staff for things to get done, so I'm strict and don't care about "asking" people to do things.. if that makes sense..

Yeah, i get you. I work in a service department as well (Deli); a bit different but it's the same thing really. Especially on the weekend where you can't have anybody slacking off or the case would look smashed (ie. empty).

And I shall be more assertive from now oN!! >O

 

[nicollette]

Haha, I guess we're all on the same boat..holidays coming up, better check my roster. Arghh and you know how I had shifts this friday and saturday, they called me during school hours and asked if I could come in at 3 today..what the fuck, and to think when I started working I wouldn't get enough shifts.

I'm sure I'm casual, I sent an email to my HR manager and he cleared everything up for me. That was the base rate, minus the 20% loadings so it is actually 9.85. My shift today was alright, didn't stuff up much..only one transaction, some fat old bitch decided she wanted chocolate in the middle of EFTPOS and I said she can pay for it seperately once I've processed this transaction..the fatty then said she couldn't wait, so I cancelled the transaction and rescanned all the items just to piss her off. I was furious because she was speaking so goddam loud..was embarassing.

I know I shouldn't of done it, but revenge is sweet Ehh I gave the my payroll slip last Wednesday and I still haven't got paid..argh.

 

[mlee72]

hi,

as u know i am newly an office cashier, however i have one problem my seesion summary hardly ever matchs the physical money from my pickup, are there any other office cashiers out there that have any tips e.g. certain ways to count money to improve accuarcy or any tips and tricks

any help is much appreciated

Thankyou,

 

[townie]

Well, here's my process:

1. Open Capsule
2. Get all the money from THIS register in piles, seperated by denomination
3. For each denomination, count out ten notes, re-count to make sure it's 10 notes, then bundle with a rubber band. Repeat untill all that denomination is bundled except for any leftovers that can't be bundled into 10 (e.g. if you have 47 $50 notes, you should have 4 bundles and 7 left over.)
4. Enter each denomination into the qty section of the pickup window based on how many you have, count the number of bundles and left-overs at this point to get your quantities (e.g. if u have 2 bundles of $20 notes and 2 left over, you have 22 (2X10 +2=22) $20 notes).
5. Record the total register pickup amount next to the register on the Approaching Cash Limit Report. optional: recount the register pickup and check against the total (i note this is optional as this really is a third check, i only do it for registers that send down say >$1500)
6. COUNTED AND ENTERED MONEY SHOULD BE KEPT WELL-AWAY FROM WHERE YOU ARE COUNTING YOUR CURRENT REGISTER.
7. Repeat for each register.

Edit: NOTE if you have 10 bundles of one denomination, these should also be bundled together by wrapping a rubber band around each end of the bundled notes (whilst keeping the rubber bands on the bundles of 10 singles).

 

[Roga]

I have a question:

I've been working in the Longlife department for almost 11 months and I'm 18 years old. What is the minimum age to be 2IC or Manager of any department and what the pay is? Also, how long employment is needed to become a senior person?

 

[Harry778]

OMG!

They asked me if I would like to be an office cashier today!!
I said I would like to work in there ONE DAY but not just yet. On one hand I would really like to but on the other I dont think i'm quite ready.

There is so much to know and do. And you have to be a little bit mean to be in there.

I guess i'll say yes. Get trained upp. She said I'm a good little supervisor. I guess she forgot about the time I was doing an open and was about to open the roller doors and the key snapped off in the first key hole. :O
She also said not to take anyones shit. heheh that will be fun.

 

[townie]

okay, all you people being promoted to work in cash-office, i just want to know how much you actually do in there, r u just doing pickups and change-orders, or more.?

cause when i work in office i do:
1. Pickups
2. Change Orders
3. Payroll
4. DGMS/eDGMS invoices
5. Store Trading Statement
6. Daily Dumps and Markdows Report
7. Price Changes
8. Other maintenance tickets
9. Changing the survailence tapes
10. Sealing the store dore with a security tag
11. Getting the mail
12. Shortbanking petty cash and postage (when required)
13. Out of Code for Perishables and Prop. Bake (if there's time)

and it seems like a decent proportion are working in there, but are you doing the whole deal?

 

[phoneyid]

Hi all,
I'm an antique compared to most of you, new to this site, and haven't studied for decades.

My son works at woolies:
today, and not for the first time, he was asked to sign off and continue to work; and he did.
Apparently there is another emloyee that often works wit him in the bakery that often works 'without pay'.
Is this a common practice within the woolworths company?
Are there any others here with same experience??

Are there many kids out there being screwed by woolies in such a manner??

 

[townie]

Hi all,
I'm an antique compared to most of you, new to this site, and haven't studied for decades.

My son works at woolies:
today, and not for the first time, he was asked to sign off and continue to work; and he did.
Apparently there is another emloyee that often works wit him in the bakery that often works 'without pay'.
Is this a common practice within the woolworths company?
Are there any others here with same experience??

Are there many kids out there being screwed by woolies in such a manner??

hi phoneyid,

I've never been asked to do this myself, nor have i known anybody at my store been asked to do this. I do know some people (myself included) will occasionally do a few extra things after signing off, but nothing major - mainly run a few errands or sign off on some paperwork.

Is your son a member of the union? if so, i suggest he contacts them, and if not i suggest he joins up. If he feels uncomfortable with this, i suggest he takes it up with the store manager - or if the store manager is encouraging the practice, to take it up with the Area HR manager (indeed this may be a better course of action initially, but the union would be a good thing to have on your side taking up the matter has repurcussions within the store).

doing such a thing is totally unacceptable, and whilst i wont deny it probably happens in some stores, i dont think the practice is encouraged, mainly as it could present an image problem for woolworths, something they would want to avoid.

if your son is reluctant to take any action, may i suggest you write a letter to the corporate office, non-frivolous complaints of any nature are usually taken very seriously by corporate.

My final point to make is that Woolworths is a large, large, large company, and even though it might seem like the bakery manager, or even the store manager, are scary intimidating figures, in the scheme of things they are very minor bit players, and people they answer to people much higher up who not want to see the practice continue.

 

[Mark-AJ]

Congratulations!

Now, as for the unpaid workness, definately don't let it go on for any longer, its uncalled for, and completely illegal!

Like Townie said, contact the Union / HR Managers

 

[CieL]

Why would you work without pay in the first place?
The whole point of a job is that you get paid for doing something.
If someone told me to sign off and still work [for over 10mins] I'd tell them to fuck off.

 

[AndromedaAiken]

Haven't been on for ages. Have been on checkouts for almost four months now! Yea, when I first started, I got quite obsessed with looking for the barcodes on products. I still do sometimes!

KaaN10,
- Cant identify different types of produce.
--> This takes time. You'll slowly get used to it and having a busy day in store really helps you learn the different types of produce. Apples have stickers so use them! =D If there's any produce you don't know the name for, ask the customer politely. Most of them will tell you what it is because they don't want to be charged wrong as well. Of course, there's the occasional fella (normally males ) who'll tell you the price is blabla but don't know what it is. In that case, ask one of the cashiers nearby. The produce test (if you're made to do it) helps you identify really weird produce that you rarely see hehehe.

- Underpacking/Overpacking the bags, mixing up what can be put in the same bag.
--> I remembered this little quote on our counters: "Pack those you can eat in one bag. Those you can't eat in another." There are exceptions like when customers have very few items. In that case, just ask them if you can put them altogether in one bag. Most will be okay with it but I guess you will get some occasional idiot who'll tell you they want it in separate bags. GAH.
--> With the under/over packing issue, when the bags are full, you generally don't stack stuff on top of them because they'll break. With the green bags, go right ahead and fill them up (they're strong enough) but please make sure that you can still lift it after you remove it from the rack as a consideration to the customers because I've noticed many customers use their back to directly lift their bags (which is what we're taught NOT to do in induction) and it will injure their backs. I'm dealing with a weak back now so I kinda understand the feeling lol. It's also a service to yourself because you won't hurt yourself if it's not too heavy.

- Some items not scanning but when others do it scans, lol.
--> I have this problem sometimes and it could be due to the speed at which you put the item through the scanner. Make sure the barcode faces the scanner. If it still doesn't scan through after a few tries, get your supervisor.

- I don't have my Tax File Number yet, when I do what do I do?
--> Apply for one from the Australian Taxation Office website.

I hope this helps. =) PM me if you have further questions. Good luck!

By the way, for those who've been working in woolies for ages and have really high scan rates. How do you get them up high? I'm currently at the 13-14 items per minute mark. Target's 15 but I just can't reach it. I sign off when I'm not serving. What else can I do? Tips would be appreciated thanks!

 

[shinji]

@the tax thing; since he's still in highschool; just go to your careers advisor and ask if you can get a tfn form.

 

[jas62]

AndromedaAiken I found it hard to get a high scan rate for a while it was stuck around 12-14. I find scanning as quick as possible and hitting enter as soon as you finish scanning then asking the customer if they are paying by cash/eft then pressing whatever they are paying by while they are finding their eftpos card or getting the money ready. Mine is usely 18-22!! highest in the store by far.

Also for people working in cash office has anyone heard about systerms and cashoffice joining into one??? vbmenu_register("postmenu_3737862", true);