Well it's been a rollercoaster ride and a half over the past month now working for Sainsbury's and I'm very, very disappointed with what I am on the receiving end of here.
To put it simply, from the moment I hit "submit" on an online application form of the Sainsbury's Careers site in August 08 after desperately scurrying around for part time work and having been rejected by McDonald's for being too young, to being interviewed late September and messed around at the beginning of October by HR at the branch and HRSS, to THIS.
I went on holiday to Australia over Christmas/New Year (basically 17th Dec to 7th Jan) and when I got home I found a letter addressed to me. I was unsure what it was and it had the name handwritten on it (odd for something coming from such a big company surely?) and when I opened and read it... it basically read that my temporary contract had ended and I had to return my uniform and locker key at the end of the day on Saturday 10th January.
The problems with this letter being:
1) I was employed with and SIGNED a PERMANENT contract
2) I was not scheduled to return to work until the 17th
3) [this doesn't matter but...] I don't even have a locker key
4) I have never been provided with any of the uniform I requested in October and have been "warned" about my dress code several times by my boss
I called and spoke to the HR manager who wrote the letter, who said she'd sent it to all the temp's... and sadly I'd just been mixed up with the lot of them. So I got to keep my job!
Here I am, still employed by Sainsbury's... hooray!
Anyway, I went back for my first shift on 16th in the end (swapped with a colleague for a bit) and on that first night, I was given grief by my boss's boss basically. Whatever happens, I know that I hadn't done anything wrong and we had a bit of a verbal battle away from the shop floor. This never caught on with my boss until I told her the next day when she decided it was time for my Week 8 review!
I think that I should NOT have had a review on my FIRST WEEK BACK from holiday. Unfortunately, because of the verbal bashing I got from her boss the night before, it didn't go so well.
Anyway, last night, when I should have got my payslip - it wasn't there. Instead, it arrived this morning accompanied by a P45 stating that I had left on January 10th 2009 and as a result of that, my payslip also read a big fat 0.00 in the NET Pay column!
Rumour has it that they overstaffed over Christmas, and tried to get rid of all the temps plus a few permanent employees and I believe what I feel was a verbal attack by my boss's boss was very unfair and on my first day back. And considering I hadn't done anything...
I'm being heavily taxed. They did not even know until just before Christmas that I was a student, despite me declaring this on my application. I haven't been given, or instructed on where to get a tax rebate form, despite asking in HR.
Another thing they have ignored as well is my learning difficulty (it doesn't help me much with the checkout work!) and a bit of a problematic knee/back and wrist (at times). This is despite me trying to explain this at my reviews, trying to show them letters from doctors and so on and even my parents speaking to HR! They received no acknowledgement for that, neither did I.
Finally, in October we were all told to fill in uniform orders at induction. I did so. All I got was a polo shirt, because they had a spare, and obviously my name badge. Since then, despite me going after them about it, they always have a different excuse.
So today, I know I'm going to work a bit earlier... and I'm taking the letter from last month, a copy of my contract, and my payslip/P45 form that I got this morning and I promise that heads WILL roll. I've been heavily taxed to the point I've lost (including the 3 weeks wages) in excess of £350 so far since October. I'm also going to really pick one with them about the uniform (it's so cold at the moment I'd love that fleece...)
I'm just pointing out here the fact that I have applied for a new job elsewhere and have an interview for it on Friday. If I get it, I will absolutely be leaving Sainsbury's behind for good. Not cos of my colleagues, but because of the way that HR there handle everything and the general workings of the company as a whole.
LONG-WINDED, I KNOW! I feel like me going and talking to them isn't going to be enough and that I've had enough bull off them for 3 months that I don't want to go to work anymore and that I would, if possible and reasonable, go as far as making a grievance against them.
Does anybody else think that if I get to the point where I'm in a position to leave (God willing I get a new job somewhere), I should make a grievance against them?
Are they even allowed to send a letter like I previously mentioned to people like me, knowing that it's contradictory to my contract?
Crazy!! Thoughts and opinions all-round will be much appreciated.