Managers have launched an investigation after they found descriptions of customers as "pikey skanks" on social networking website Facebook.Even assuming that they were real employees, the problem with that is….?
Dozens of staff contributed to the discussion forum on the page called Waitrose Isn't a Supermarket, It's a State of Mind, where staff were asked to list what annoys them most.
Are Waitrose employees required to give up their rights to free speech?
A spokesman for Waitrose said: "This is completely unacceptable behaviour.A supermarket has ‘teams’ of people monitoring website activity and conducting investigations…? Are you kidding me?
"It goes against our codes of conduct which make it very clear that partners who post this type of material are in breach of their terms of employment.
"The nature of the internet makes it difficult to get content removed once posted, however we do have teams that monitor website activity and will be conducting an immediate investigation."
I guess now we know why their prices are higher than the Co-op….
This is the second Daily Mail 'shock horror' story in a week where it has uncovered supermarket workers letting off steam this way.
ReplyDeleteMost jobs would be great if it wasn't for the public and anyone who has worked in any occupation 'serving' the public must surely sympathise.
To be honest I can't see what the problem is nor why Waitrose and Tesco have launched internal enquiries and the police have become involved. I'm sure each supermarket has its regular loonies, chav gangs, pompous twats and the Romanian Big Issue seller etc etc.
Supermarket workers also have to pretend to like us at the checkout, 'have a nice day'? 'Do you need help packing'? 'Have you found everything you need in store today'?
To be honest I have to be in a certain frame of mind to endure my nearest Morrisons where just parking the car can veer from merely stressful to downright dangerous. Many people who attend do smell of stale fags and body odour and many feed their snotty wailing offspring as they manouvre the aisles in family groups of 5 or 6 etc. That is their target customer base.
Waitrose on the other hand is a more pleasant but expensive experience where I get myself annoyed as I see the brand new 4 x4's driven by yummy mummys extracting their golden haired child out having just been to the gym. Credit Crunch? Really?
Sounds snobby I know but everything else is so stressful and annoying that I'm glad I have such choices.
Ranter
ReplyDeleteIs it a design problem at Morrisons' car parks?
My local one is an absolute sod to get in and out of as well, even when it's half empty.
Well Waitrose, monitor this:
ReplyDeleteIf your company policy is not to allow under 18's to sell alcohol or tobacco without "supervisor approval" then keep the poor delicate little flowers off the checkout tills adjacent to the ciggies.
Or, have a supervisor close at hand and not having a jolly chat in aisle 7.
Apologies for the rant.
Supermarkets are even more stasi than labour to work for.I know i used to work for tesco,a very evil company.
ReplyDelete"To be honest I can't see what the problem is nor why Waitrose and Tesco have launched internal enquiries and the police have become involved."
ReplyDeleteThe police!? Surely not. Don't they have anything better to do?
I mean, someone, somewhere, might be stipping out of a fake police uniform!
Having worked directly with the public - I echo Ranter's comment.
ReplyDeleteThese posts were anonymous/psuedonymous. In this country we have freedom of speech (just). It is none of the employer's business what people are saying in their own time. Contrary to the managers' opinions, they do not own their staff. Providing those staff behave appropriately during working hours, what they do outside is their business.
I'm behind Waitrose on this one. You wouldn't let your staff insult customers to their face, so why let them insult your customers on the internet?
ReplyDeleteI could have more sympathy with the staff if they didn't use the companies name on their discussions, or their own names.
I used to work on a checkout, and we used to take the piss out of the customers, but were never stupid enough to do so in front of the customers.
Employers should be free to choose staff who are not stupid, and do not insult their customers to their faces.
Staff should be free to discuss customers and frustrations in private. But not on a public forum.
The whole thing starts to go to Hell when you even take the kind of low-pay work in which you are made out to be a "partner" and it sounds like you even /have/ rights....
ReplyDeleteI used to work for a well known "ethical" bank. If any organisation has to spend a fortune in time and money producing videos, in house magazines and e-mails telling you how valued you are and how ethically you are being treated you can bet you last penny that you are not. As for the customers... it was a contest as to who were the more ignorant of basic banking practice, them or the management!
ReplyDeleteTTFN