Discrimination against women and older workers at a Wisconsin store
“The pay cut was substantial yet I was required to do all the same work as when I was manager…I decided to quit and cash in my 401K savings just so I could catch up on bills that were getting behind.
I took the summer off to help with my then fiancé’s children while he attended school. I was fortunate enough to receive some unemployment during this time. When I decided to go back to work in January of 2008, I thought that since I had management experience, I would return to Wal-Mart, hoping that I would quickly get into a higher paying position. When I left the company, I was making $13.10/hr. They started me at only $9.40/hr despite my experience in retail and management. A few weeks later, I found from a fellow male employee, who had far less experience and no management, that they had started him at $10.80/hr. When I questioned management, they said they would look into it, but never did. The first week I worked at Wal-Mart, both my husband, (who had spinal fusion and is unable to work…but who is attending school full time through Vocational Rehab) lost our vehicles. Since I am the only family member working…and he has three kids, too…we were unable to get the cars fixed immediately. My car was salvaged. The other had a bad transmission. With help from family members, we finally got things rolling again…but at an expense to my job.
According to Wal-Mart policies…absolutely NOTHING is considered an excused absence unless you have a doctor’s note. I was given what they call a “coaching” for my attendance, despite my explaining the situation to management. I was also given a “below performance” 90-day review and expected to re-work another 90-days before they would give me another review and my expected raise. I was also threatened with termination because I purchased items “on the clock” one morning…even after discussing that it was a female emergency…feminine items needed to be purchased since the bathrooms were not stocked with the supplies. I had to discuss this matter in detail with the assistant manager for 20 minutes before he finally let it go. Also, when I first was hired I made it very clear that I wanted full-time as soon as possible since I was supporting a family of four on my own. I continued to ask if I was able to get additional hours in other departments…all met with no success. They declined my requests for full-time several times as well, claiming my department didn’t have enough hours to do so. Then all of a sudden, another male employee who worked in my department told me that he was being granted more hours…he was actually hired for part-time since he was a college student. But he wanted more hours, so they let him work up to 40 hrs a week…splitting time between photo department and electronics. I brought this up to the store manager who said he would check into the matter…which he never did. This store is horrible for its discrimination against women and older people. Giving choice positions to younger ones with less experience and time with the company and doing whatever they can to get rid of anyone who speaks up for themselves or those who are “making too much” in their book.
I have plenty of stories from other people who work there as well. Because of all of these ridiculous “coachings” they gave me in a matter of a month…this limited my chances of getting a higher paying position…which I am more than capable of handling. Because, according to their system, if you have a coaching on your file, you are not allowed to apply for any team lead or management positions for a full year after. My family is suffering because of this. I am back at Sam’s Club, where I was once a photo manager. But I am working as a cake decorator…the only position which offered me full time…yet I am still limited by the previous “coachings” I received from the horrible management at the store.”
- AP
