Sacked from Clarks

Hi,

Last Sunday I was sacked from my part-time job at Clarks, which rather took me by surprise and I had not been expecting it at all. I had previously been given a formal warning for leaving the shop floor without asking my manager (who wasn't present at that point) and this is a warning I accepted and I told them I wouldn't do it again. Along with falling below my £200 an hour selling target, they were not impressed with my performance that day, a performance which had been affected by an argument I had had at home regarding university. I came in the next week the Sunday later (after being called and told I couldn't work Saturday because it wasn't busy enough) and was told as my performance wasn't up to scratch last time, I needed to really impress her (my manager) to keep the job, as I was still on my 12 week probation period allowing them to terminate my contract at any point (I had been working for 4 weeks, little under a month).

I made an extra effort with customers, did my best and half way through the shift I was told there were things I could do better e.g. greeting customers as soon as they walked into the store, not talking as much with a colleague of mine etc. Following this discussion I made sure I greeted as many customers as I could, was friendlier and generally did a better job, yet my manager was not around to observe this. When she did come down to the floor I was in the process of sorting out shoes to be put on the shelves with aforementioned colleague, which of course my manager took as not listening to her advice. I had also been warned about keeping an eye on my customers, and when one went missing while I was collecting shoes from the stock team for another customer, I panicked and immediately informed everyone on my radio that I was going downstairs to men's floor to locate this customer. My manager took that as leaving the floor without leave again, as she didn't have a radio and therefore was not informed, but as she was not on the shop floor I had no way of informing her.

At the end of my shift I was called to her office and asked why, despite warnings, I hadn't improved. I explained that I had been making more of an effort and gave her reasons for the aforementioned incidents which caused her more concern. Despite this, she told me that my contract had been terminated and that that would be my last shift.

Now I know this rambles on a bit, so apologies, but there are a number of things that angered me about this:
1) Up until that day where I got a warning, my performance had been of a very good standard.
2) I gave the manager justifications for everything that she found questionable.
3) I had already been treated unfairly by the store, in several ways -
- I was asked to do two 2 hour trials, as my first one was done on a bank holiday Monday (at their request) and was not indicative of my ability, 4 hours of work which went unpaid.
- I took this job in order to gain some money to rectify my current poor financial situation after my first year of university, and was expecting decent hours, but contractually they only sign part time workers up for 4 hours a week, which is laughable. I was also told by my manager that in order to get given "over-time", I had to earn those hours.

I wonder if anyone on here has had similar experience, not just with Clarks but with any retail job? My theory is that they needed an excuse to get rid of someone as they had hired to many people (lots of people were on trial during the time I worked there). It not only leads me to question the morality of Clarks, but of the retail sector as a whole. I feel rather taken advantage of, and it really has knocked my confidence. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Do you feel I was treated unfairly (of course what they did was totally legal, I acknowledge that they are well within their legal right to sack me, but is it indicative of a system where young workers are treated poorly)?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your experiences,

Jacob

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Do you feel I was treated unfairly (of course what they did was totally legal, I acknowledge that they are well within their legal right to sack me, but is it indicative of a system where young workers are treated poorly)?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your experiences,

Jacob

Reading through that you sound like the type of person I would not want as an employee. You didn't sound very good at your job, you sound like you don't take direction well, you answer back, you bring your home life into work.

You didn't even have the foresight to go above and beyond from day one until you got a permanent contract. That is something basic with any job let alone a retail one.

The fact is, you're there to make them money... Some one mentioned that when you don't, you're gone - then said this was unfair... Of course it's fair. Because that's your job. You're contracted and paid a salary to make a business money, when you don't, not only do they lose potential sales; they throw money away on your wages. This is the whole concept of business - to make money.

As for the words on the retail environment, it's not that bad and if you're a people person - it can be a lot of fun. If you're a good performer in sales you can make excellent money and will be seen as an asset to your company. If you can only bring 'customer service' to the table you better learn fast :-)

EDIT: negative 'rep' for that? Sometimes the truth hurts I guess lol.

I guess the shoe shop...gave you the boot.

But seriously, an unskilled, low wage job is going to be an easy position to fill, so the shop can probably demand quite high performance from their employees. It doesn't sound like they've done anything you can appeal against. I would try and find another job without such high pressure for low reward.

Never aspire to work in sales. It's good for a short time period, but imagine living that life until you retire.

I understand your frustration and that you needed to get that out, but as has been said, the working world is harsh and basically you need to make sure you're seen to be doing (by your boss) before anything else, even above actual competence.

They're awful. I worked for Iceland and they're ten times worse.

Really?
I've Iceland nearby but lots of foreigners working there; mostly Indians.

The fact is, you're there to make them money... Some one mentioned that when you don't, you're gone - then said this was unfair... Of course it's fair. Because that's your job. You're contracted and paid a salary to make a business money, when you don't, not only do they lose potential sales; they throw money away on your wages. This is the whole concept of business - to make money.

As for the words on the retail environment, it's not that bad and if you're a people person - it can be a lot of fun. If you're a good performer in sales you can make excellent money and will be seen as an asset to your company. If you can only bring 'customer service' to the table you better learn fast :-)

EDIT: negative 'rep' for that? Sometimes the truth hurts I guess lol.