There is no such thing as an excused absence at Wal-Mart
I was hurt at work because I was not given the proper equipment. Per company policy, I reported the accident and resulting injury. Two days ago, I was written-up for the injury because I did not follow procedure. I was unable to follow procedure because I did not have working equipment.
This is my second time being written-up. The first time was for missing days to recover from a cancer-related surgery. This should fall under the Family Medical Leave Act.
On a store level my managers have been more than sympathetic, my immediate supervisor isn’t, but my upper management is not bad to me. It is against Wal-Mart policy for my store manager to do exactly what they did for me when my home caught fire (leaving us homeless) while I was at work and my children were home alone, so just believe me when I say that my manager has gone above and beyond for me on numerous occasions.
However, when my children and I were homeless and waiting for our Wal-Mart benefits, the corporation was in no way sympathetic and even insisted that I be written up for leaving early the day of the fire. Between that and the day my sitter called saying that she thought my daughter broke her arm falling off her bike, I was over the limit for absences and had to be written up.
It was two months before the write-up was put on my record for the fire though. It was “leaked” to me that someone had been fighting it because of the circumstances being beyond my control. Management was then threatened with termination if I was not written-up. They were able to get the day that I missed directly after the fire removed from my record though. During my write up interview, I was told that there is no such thing as an excused absence at Wal-Mart.
Because I have a write-up for attendance and now one for an accident, my transferring to another department to get a better wage will not be approved by the home office. I am working shifts that are all over the place. Sometimes I have to be at work as early as 5 am or as late as 11 pm. I don’t dare change my availability because I already get so few hours.
Unfortunately, getting another job is impossible. I was out of work for months when I got the call from Wal-Mart and jobs are very scarce in the rural area where I live. So even though I know the game is rigged, it’s still the only one in town. Unions would keep these things from happening.
- Anonymous
