Is there a forum specially for current/past associates? My son is working in merch this year and I am curious about some of the staffing procedures. My son gets sent home about every other shift. It’s very frustrating. Yesterday, for example, his dad drove him from his home 30 minutes away. My son worked for an hour and then was told he had to clock out. He  asked to stay but they refused. This happens all the time! He is scheduled to work every day of Labor Day weekend. We won’t make any plans for that weekend since he is scheduled but my guess is he probably won’t work all three scheduled shifts as he will surely be sent home one or all three days. He gets penalized for missing or calling off but they can force him to go home with no notice.  Anyone else had a similar experience or know of other associates who are forced to clock out from scheduled shifts with no notice? 

@Allison, thanks for the idea. We don't have a specific forum for associates. Here is a new thread for your question and discussion.

For past and present associates, is there a desire for a specific forum? Post your thoughts. 

 

 

 

It would be interesting. Due to the nature of my job, I probably wouldn't be able to post much about it though.

Well yes, but actually no. 

35 minutes ago, Allison said:

Is there a forum specially for current/past associates? My son is working in merch this year and I am curious about some of the staffing procedures. My son gets sent home about every other shift. It’s very frustrating. Yesterday, for example, his dad drove him from his home 30 minutes away. My son worked for an hour and then was told he had to clock out. He  asked to stay but they refused. This happens all the time! He is scheduled to work every day of Labor Day weekend. We won’t make any plans for that weekend since he is scheduled but my guess is he probably won’t work all three scheduled shifts as he will surely be sent home one or all three days. He gets penalized for missing or calling off but they can force him to go home with no notice.  Anyone else had a similar experience or know of other associates who are forced to clock out from scheduled shifts with no notice? 

As a former Supervisor from another department:

Generally we would take volunteers first.

Then send home minors (less strict break times).

Then send home your lower rated workers.

If your son is a minor, that's probably what's going against him, unfortunately.

Thanks! He is a minor so I figured they’re the first to go. But it has him frustrated to the point of him wanting to look elsewhere for a summer job next year. It was back in the PKI days when I worked there but I don’t recall this ever being the protocol. If we were having a slow day we cleaned or did inventory or maybe got moved to a different shop, we were never told to clock out. Before school started I would drop my son off before I left for work and if they sent him home he was stranded there until someone could pick him up. Just not the best policy when you employ a bunch of non-driving minors IMO. 

I'm sure that the higher wages have lead to lots of labor review/scrutiny/utlization.  Double edged sword.

23 hours ago, Allison said:

Is there a forum specially for current/past associates? My son is working in merch this year and I am curious about some of the staffing procedures. My son gets sent home about every other shift. It’s very frustrating. Yesterday, for example, his dad drove him from his home 30 minutes away. My son worked for an hour and then was told he had to clock out. He  asked to stay but they refused. This happens all the time! He is scheduled to work every day of Labor Day weekend. We won’t make any plans for that weekend since he is scheduled but my guess is he probably won’t work all three scheduled shifts as he will surely be sent home one or all three days. He gets penalized for missing or calling off but they can force him to go home with no notice.  Anyone else had a similar experience or know of other associates who are forced to clock out from scheduled shifts with no notice? 

And they wonder why they can't get people to work there. 

2 hours ago, Oldschool75 said:

And they wonder why they can't get people to work there. 

So all you did was come on here to do some passive aggressive complaining?

 

In my experience, they have had plenty of workers this season, who have been engaged and provided a good experience.  If you have people to send home, it seems like you have more than enough people to work there.  

4 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

So all you did was come on here to do some passive aggressive complaining?

 

In my experience, they have had plenty of workers this season, who have been engaged and provided a good experience.  If you have people to send home, it seems like you have more than enough people to work there.  

Not quite sure how hard it was for the park to hire people this season but to be honest I don’t think screwing with peoples hours is not a good way to keep recurring employees. It’d certainly leave a bad taste in my mouth if my hours kept getting cut. 

13 minutes ago, Benjamin22 said:

Not quite sure how hard it was for the park to hire people this season but to be honest I don’t think screwing with peoples hours is not a good way to keep recurring employees. It’d certainly leave a bad taste in my mouth if my hours kept getting cut. 

In general, yes.  But there is always a reason.  Was it raining?  Does the minor age figure into it?  Were others sent to fill in at other locations?  Was it just a draw out of a hat?

During COVID, while hospitals were cutting surgeries and focusing on preparing for a surge, staff were sent home.  We loved it!

3 hours ago, Oldschool75 said:

And they wonder why they can't get people to work there. 

I’ve worked at jobs where we were over staffed on certain days and people got sent home. It actually happens quite a lot with hourly jobs across the country. I understand it can be frustrating if you planned on working the whole day but as a business they have to staff people how they see fit