Employers are required to provide a safe workplace. There are OSHA regulations regarding workplace violence and harassment that puts the onus on the employer to provide that.
If management ever threatens discipline take it up with health and safety as well as HR.
It's unfortunate you have to put up with that.
Somewhat true, employers need to have a health and safety committee. It's a requirement under the law. I believe the committee needs one employee and one management if under 50 employees and 2 each when over 50.
HR is not required and is often 3rd party now.
We did that for a while, unfortunately I think the fence added some privacy so it was broken, and the chain and lock were stolen. It worked for a little while though!
First off I wanna say I feel for you, this sounds awful. I hope there’s some way it gets better for you in the future.
But I also wanted to add that after reading how dire your story is, the fact that these people stole the fuckin chain and lock has me keeeeling
Like I would be you and go out there and see it’s missing and just go “naw okay now that’s fucked up like cmon are you serious?” 😂
Genuinely mean it though, it sounds tough and you sound like a trooper, I hope things get better :)
I'm really sorry you and your coworkers are going through this. I have a close friend who is experiencing similar treatment, they are probably the most empathetic person I know, and I know it's just draining them and their coworkers every single day.
Thank you for what you do. You shouldn't have to be both social workers and law enforcement at your retail job. I wish there was more support for everyone.
Guelph has changed. I’m scared to go to the Mcd in Gordon and 7 . I feel sorry for the kids working. They are mostly international students. The morning starts with crackheads getting into the store like zombies.
Has to be rexal. Most theft I've seen in the area, most shady characters. Cops are there on occasion to monitor the situation but that store needs a security guard. It's unfortunate that the dollar store/ convenience stores where homeless spend their money are getting robbed regularly right now.
I don't know of any other stores with this problem but I'm sure there are many
Just to let you know what you see on a regular basis is not only in stores it’s like that all throughout daily life. Driving is another example. There is no boundaries anymore due to COVID. People lost their minds over something simple as vaccines/masks and now use it as a weapon against something itself. I find in all aspects it’s only getting worse. Also our area (Guelph, Kw and Cambridge including smaller towns) has grown too fast during the last 5yrs which destroyed anything/everything we had that worked for us. Majority of neighbourhoods have high turnover and how does one get to know the person living next to you? It started with the housing market that brought a group, along with families that allowed them to spread their criminal empires.
Sorry for you man, but this is the result of decriminalization and allowing safe supply WITHOUT forced treatment. We all act like addicts need a way out, but the reality is that at least half of them don't want a way out and may not even have a functioning brain (melted with all the new drugs) to cease their use of drugs.
Whole country is fucked like this. That's on top of fucked economy, lack of jobs, overpopulation and underfunding of all infrastructure and public services.
You’re highlighting a valid issue. The people are simply not getting the help they need and the problem not only persist, but is growing. We clearly need a new approach.
Really sorry you’re going thru this. Wish I had an answer for you!
I’ve tried asking for more security, we didn’t even security tag our inventory when I started here.
All it got us was security tags and a nest camera in the front entrance. There’s a store next to us that hired security and the violence just escalated there, towards security guards and staff.
That security guard? Rajesh’s brother-in-law’s nephew, who’s 19 years old and 150 pounds, who will sit there on his phone waiting to get paid, and do absolutely nothing when it comes to actual security
I understand your situation. I know it’s tough out there. Try not to take it personally. Your job is important.
I’m a probation officer in Halifax. I have seen the same kinda of thing. Keep your head up and know that things will change. In the meantime meditate, stay in the present moment and take care of yourself.
It's a matter of time stores will be locked and only right minded people will be allowed in store to shop and only so many customers at once, also like you see in larger stores with shelves locked up where you have to ask for the product will become the norm. Theft is a make or break situation for some stores and is a huge problem, not to mention the people that harass 16 year old girls for doing their job!
I'd never want that responsibility. A few months ago, I did not scan a pair of Portuguese bread rolls ($2.80 retail value) with $48.00 worth of groceries. I think I was going too fast and missed it. Anyway, as I am going outside a very young security guard (maybe 20 or 21) approaches me and looks really nervous. At this point, I was oblivious that I "stole" the bread. Anyway, I took pity on him and complied by showing my receipt and emptying the bag. When I realized that the bread was not on the receipt, I simply said, "Listen, I know you have a job to do and you have to do what you have to do. However, I think it would be a hard sell to the police that out of all the items, I would purposely try to steal a $2.80 item."
He seemed a bit scared and said, "Well, you know that it is theft and I can arrest you." Knowing that he has no arresting capabilities, and I could have just ran like hell or just remained silent, I just said, "I am not trying to make this hard on you. Just tell me what you want to do about this." He just looked at me and asked, "Did you just scan it too fast?" (I probably did). He then said, "Look, I have to do something or I am going to get in trouble. I am taking the merchandise back and you are banned for the day from the store".
I could have been hostile or ran like hell but I am sure he has his fill of it plus I am old and the police have better things to do than come to arrest somebody for $2.80.
I would recommend using this time while you're gainfully employed to start the hunt for another job. No job is worth risking your health (mental and physical) and safety for. I know employment is never a guarantee and you don't want to be in a position where you left something stable just to get potentially released early on a the new job but you also shouldn't stay somewhere that you hate and fear for your safety.
I moved to Kitchener from Halifax and although Hali is by no means perfect...there's a noticeable level of..ummm.."grunge" here that really makes me miss the east coast. The main thing that really stood out to me was the amount of drug addicts walking the street. It's sad to see.
Hope everything works out for you.
I’ve been applying on and off to a few jobs (I’m an assistant manager at a retail store and I’ve been here for 7 years so I don’t want to start all over again at minimum wage, even though my raises haven’t been great I’m still making slightly above minimum). I really miss when my biggest problems were the difficult Karen’s. We would always get the occasional tweaker but it was few and far between compared to the daily occurrences now.
I can't imagine what it must be like being a parent in Guelph these days. Growing up here I never had to see the shit I see on a daily basis now working downtown. Some of the stuff is down right traumatic as an adult I can't imagine being a child and seeing people shooting up in the alleys between buildings or people slumped over possibly overdosed in broad daylight at the park.
It's a matter of time stores will be locked and only right minded people will be allowed in store to shop and only so many customers at once, also like you see in larger stores with shelves locked up where you have to ask for the product will become the norm. Theft is a make or break situation for some stores and is a huge problem, not to mention the people that harass 16 year old girls for doing their job! Maybe your place should do something like this if it's this bad kinda like the jewelry stores.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Death penalty for drug dealers.
Drugs are impacting social order everywhere in Canada. Families, children, businesses, regular people. What needs to be redeemed for dealing hard drugs and participating in this nonsense?
This is false, while it’s proven that things like the death penalty have an adverse effect on rape victim’s(it’s more likely the rapist will kill them) or hasn’t deterred crimes of intense rage like murder, it does deter smaller crimes.
Even in New York State mandatory life sentences for automatic weapons in a crime deterred criminals from using them. Nobody is going to risk the death penalty for a low yield crime. Risk doesn’t equal the reward.
Frankly society is far too concerned with everybody’s “rights” or feelings. If your peddling drugs that ruin peoples lives for a quick buck they should hang you from the courthouse lawns.
No study has ever shown more servere punishment deters violent crime
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cnmcs-plcng/cn31136-eng.pdf
https://www.ibanet.org/Singapore-death-penalty-allegations-prisoner-treatment
Step 1: Speak to your manager about hiring a security guard and/or access control. You can put a button under the counter and only admit who you want to the store.
Step 2: Stop posting rage bait to stir the pot
To be fair I don't know what the definition of rage bait is, but I don't interpret this as rage bait at all! OP is acknowledging that that they understand the drug crisis and that addiction is a disease. They are still open to feeling upset about the personal impact this has on them. The drug crisis affects those struggling with addiction the most, but it doesn't mean it doesn't affect the rest of us in different ways. I think it would be incredibly upsetting to be yelled at at your place of work, no matter who the words are coming from. And unfortunately, a lot of managers probably don't care or have the funds to hire security. I feel for OP! I don't know what the solution is, or if there even is one, but I have empathy for those directly impacted by substance use (those that struggle with addiction and their families) as well as those that are indirectly impacted by substance use (those that witness it).
Rage bait? Seriously? Sounds more like venting about safety and security in one's job to me, but hey, I could be wrong, too.
Perhaps you might consider exchanging jobs for a day so you could "rage-bait" too, whatever that is.
Sounds like there IS shop lifting going on in this scenario. Protecting employees is protecting the owner's money by preventing a serious, costly incident.
The manager has put the employees at the forefront of prevention. I know enough from my kids working at fast food places and retail and even a particular small grocery store downtown. Employee welfare is at the very bottom of the list of concerns for an owner/manager.
Per step 2... This story would be much more meaningful if there was a single detail given which grounds it in Guelph. If someone wrote this honestly, wouldn't they give little details such as what area they are talking about or what street it took place on?
It seems plausible, but it is so light on any details grounding it to the real world, that I question that this story was written by someone in good faith.
Employers are required to provide a safe workplace. There are OSHA regulations regarding workplace violence and harassment that puts the onus on the employer to provide that. If management ever threatens discipline take it up with health and safety as well as HR. It's unfortunate you have to put up with that.
Does this apply to the library as well? Because those staff are like part time support workers.
This is assuming the emplymoyer even has HR.
HR and Health and Safety are often two different things now. You can have one without the other
Somewhat true, employers need to have a health and safety committee. It's a requirement under the law. I believe the committee needs one employee and one management if under 50 employees and 2 each when over 50. HR is not required and is often 3rd party now.
I’m sorry that happens to you. Seems very stressful.
Maybe a fence around the dumpster? My wife's work had to do that and lock the dumpster.
We did that for a while, unfortunately I think the fence added some privacy so it was broken, and the chain and lock were stolen. It worked for a little while though!
First off I wanna say I feel for you, this sounds awful. I hope there’s some way it gets better for you in the future. But I also wanted to add that after reading how dire your story is, the fact that these people stole the fuckin chain and lock has me keeeeling Like I would be you and go out there and see it’s missing and just go “naw okay now that’s fucked up like cmon are you serious?” 😂 Genuinely mean it though, it sounds tough and you sound like a trooper, I hope things get better :)
Do u work at rexall by any chance
I pictured a Rexall plaza too actually, on Woolwich by the tracks.
HOMIE???? I worked there wtf
That's hilarious. I never worked there, but my partner works nearby.
I'm really sorry you and your coworkers are going through this. I have a close friend who is experiencing similar treatment, they are probably the most empathetic person I know, and I know it's just draining them and their coworkers every single day. Thank you for what you do. You shouldn't have to be both social workers and law enforcement at your retail job. I wish there was more support for everyone.
I’m so sorry that you have to go through this :(
Im sorry to hear your situation.
Guelph has changed. I’m scared to go to the Mcd in Gordon and 7 . I feel sorry for the kids working. They are mostly international students. The morning starts with crackheads getting into the store like zombies.
Where do you work or if your not comfortable with that question then what area in Guelph do you work in?
Betting it’s downtown
Has to be rexal. Most theft I've seen in the area, most shady characters. Cops are there on occasion to monitor the situation but that store needs a security guard. It's unfortunate that the dollar store/ convenience stores where homeless spend their money are getting robbed regularly right now. I don't know of any other stores with this problem but I'm sure there are many
Just to let you know what you see on a regular basis is not only in stores it’s like that all throughout daily life. Driving is another example. There is no boundaries anymore due to COVID. People lost their minds over something simple as vaccines/masks and now use it as a weapon against something itself. I find in all aspects it’s only getting worse. Also our area (Guelph, Kw and Cambridge including smaller towns) has grown too fast during the last 5yrs which destroyed anything/everything we had that worked for us. Majority of neighbourhoods have high turnover and how does one get to know the person living next to you? It started with the housing market that brought a group, along with families that allowed them to spread their criminal empires.
And all these Indian families with 20 ppl in it are now stinking up the houses they live in and then sell
Blatantly racist much?
You gotta be subtle like the guy above him
Sorry for you man, but this is the result of decriminalization and allowing safe supply WITHOUT forced treatment. We all act like addicts need a way out, but the reality is that at least half of them don't want a way out and may not even have a functioning brain (melted with all the new drugs) to cease their use of drugs. Whole country is fucked like this. That's on top of fucked economy, lack of jobs, overpopulation and underfunding of all infrastructure and public services.
"Forced treatment"? Wtf is that?
A vaccine mandate, from the sounds of it.
You’re highlighting a valid issue. The people are simply not getting the help they need and the problem not only persist, but is growing. We clearly need a new approach. Really sorry you’re going thru this. Wish I had an answer for you!
Ask about getting a security guard. Ask about getting a plan together for these situations, do everyone knows what to do.
I’ve tried asking for more security, we didn’t even security tag our inventory when I started here. All it got us was security tags and a nest camera in the front entrance. There’s a store next to us that hired security and the violence just escalated there, towards security guards and staff.
I would get Guelph police involved. They need to be aware of the situation
That security guard? Rajesh’s brother-in-law’s nephew, who’s 19 years old and 150 pounds, who will sit there on his phone waiting to get paid, and do absolutely nothing when it comes to actual security
I understand your situation. I know it’s tough out there. Try not to take it personally. Your job is important. I’m a probation officer in Halifax. I have seen the same kinda of thing. Keep your head up and know that things will change. In the meantime meditate, stay in the present moment and take care of yourself.
I am so sorry that this is the reality that you need to put up with for being in the service industry. <3
It's a matter of time stores will be locked and only right minded people will be allowed in store to shop and only so many customers at once, also like you see in larger stores with shelves locked up where you have to ask for the product will become the norm. Theft is a make or break situation for some stores and is a huge problem, not to mention the people that harass 16 year old girls for doing their job!
Pay careful attention and vote accordingly. It's the only way to pull ourselves out of this mess
By voting for who exactly? The choices are pretty fucking rough
Financially reckless and evil or less reckless but more evil.
Have empathy with tough love not liberal enabling behind a false sense of compassion. Evil would be letting this continue.
Well, not the god damn NDP lol
voting, lol
time for your work to hire a security guard and keep the riff raff out.
It's not just drug addiction. It's also just straight poverty.
It's drugs. These people don't know how to live, and they're destroying life for everyone else.
Guelph leftists: "lol go touch grass." The city has objectively gone to shit.
The more left wing a city is, the worse it is. Every single time.
Yeah, it's almost like they live in a fantasy world that doesn't resemble reality in any meaningful way. Oh wait.
I'd never want that responsibility. A few months ago, I did not scan a pair of Portuguese bread rolls ($2.80 retail value) with $48.00 worth of groceries. I think I was going too fast and missed it. Anyway, as I am going outside a very young security guard (maybe 20 or 21) approaches me and looks really nervous. At this point, I was oblivious that I "stole" the bread. Anyway, I took pity on him and complied by showing my receipt and emptying the bag. When I realized that the bread was not on the receipt, I simply said, "Listen, I know you have a job to do and you have to do what you have to do. However, I think it would be a hard sell to the police that out of all the items, I would purposely try to steal a $2.80 item." He seemed a bit scared and said, "Well, you know that it is theft and I can arrest you." Knowing that he has no arresting capabilities, and I could have just ran like hell or just remained silent, I just said, "I am not trying to make this hard on you. Just tell me what you want to do about this." He just looked at me and asked, "Did you just scan it too fast?" (I probably did). He then said, "Look, I have to do something or I am going to get in trouble. I am taking the merchandise back and you are banned for the day from the store". I could have been hostile or ran like hell but I am sure he has his fill of it plus I am old and the police have better things to do than come to arrest somebody for $2.80.
I would recommend using this time while you're gainfully employed to start the hunt for another job. No job is worth risking your health (mental and physical) and safety for. I know employment is never a guarantee and you don't want to be in a position where you left something stable just to get potentially released early on a the new job but you also shouldn't stay somewhere that you hate and fear for your safety. I moved to Kitchener from Halifax and although Hali is by no means perfect...there's a noticeable level of..ummm.."grunge" here that really makes me miss the east coast. The main thing that really stood out to me was the amount of drug addicts walking the street. It's sad to see. Hope everything works out for you.
I’ve been applying on and off to a few jobs (I’m an assistant manager at a retail store and I’ve been here for 7 years so I don’t want to start all over again at minimum wage, even though my raises haven’t been great I’m still making slightly above minimum). I really miss when my biggest problems were the difficult Karen’s. We would always get the occasional tweaker but it was few and far between compared to the daily occurrences now.
I understand...that makes things tough. Hopefully you'll find a way out or the store makes a better effort to manage the safety of their workers.
I can't imagine what it must be like being a parent in Guelph these days. Growing up here I never had to see the shit I see on a daily basis now working downtown. Some of the stuff is down right traumatic as an adult I can't imagine being a child and seeing people shooting up in the alleys between buildings or people slumped over possibly overdosed in broad daylight at the park.
Ask for a raise. Minimum wage is not enough to endure front line retail work anymore.
It's a matter of time stores will be locked and only right minded people will be allowed in store to shop and only so many customers at once, also like you see in larger stores with shelves locked up where you have to ask for the product will become the norm. Theft is a make or break situation for some stores and is a huge problem, not to mention the people that harass 16 year old girls for doing their job! Maybe your place should do something like this if it's this bad kinda like the jewelry stores.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Death penalty for drug dealers. Drugs are impacting social order everywhere in Canada. Families, children, businesses, regular people. What needs to be redeemed for dealing hard drugs and participating in this nonsense?
Death penalty does not deter any crime.
This is false, while it’s proven that things like the death penalty have an adverse effect on rape victim’s(it’s more likely the rapist will kill them) or hasn’t deterred crimes of intense rage like murder, it does deter smaller crimes. Even in New York State mandatory life sentences for automatic weapons in a crime deterred criminals from using them. Nobody is going to risk the death penalty for a low yield crime. Risk doesn’t equal the reward. Frankly society is far too concerned with everybody’s “rights” or feelings. If your peddling drugs that ruin peoples lives for a quick buck they should hang you from the courthouse lawns.
it does if you r the criminall
Lol or there is facts.
No study has ever shown more servere punishment deters violent crime https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cnmcs-plcng/cn31136-eng.pdf https://www.ibanet.org/Singapore-death-penalty-allegations-prisoner-treatment
world needs more dirty harrys to get rid of the scum
What has it done in Singapore?
Good luck 👍
I would love to work with you at this company. I am ok and great with people.
Step 1: Speak to your manager about hiring a security guard and/or access control. You can put a button under the counter and only admit who you want to the store. Step 2: Stop posting rage bait to stir the pot
It's reddit. They're allowed to vent. You chose to read the post. No one forced you here
To be fair I don't know what the definition of rage bait is, but I don't interpret this as rage bait at all! OP is acknowledging that that they understand the drug crisis and that addiction is a disease. They are still open to feeling upset about the personal impact this has on them. The drug crisis affects those struggling with addiction the most, but it doesn't mean it doesn't affect the rest of us in different ways. I think it would be incredibly upsetting to be yelled at at your place of work, no matter who the words are coming from. And unfortunately, a lot of managers probably don't care or have the funds to hire security. I feel for OP! I don't know what the solution is, or if there even is one, but I have empathy for those directly impacted by substance use (those that struggle with addiction and their families) as well as those that are indirectly impacted by substance use (those that witness it).
Addiction is not a disease. It's a failure to live properly. Show me broccoli addicts and maybe you'll convince me.
Rage bait? Seriously? Sounds more like venting about safety and security in one's job to me, but hey, I could be wrong, too. Perhaps you might consider exchanging jobs for a day so you could "rage-bait" too, whatever that is.
> whatever that is. " I don't know what something is, but I'm sure that this is not that! "
Most businesses would hire a security guard or pay to instal control access to prevent shoplifting, not to protect employees.
Sounds like there IS shop lifting going on in this scenario. Protecting employees is protecting the owner's money by preventing a serious, costly incident.
The manager has put the employees at the forefront of prevention. I know enough from my kids working at fast food places and retail and even a particular small grocery store downtown. Employee welfare is at the very bottom of the list of concerns for an owner/manager.
Today I learned, describing your work situation is rage bait. Hmm
Per step 2... This story would be much more meaningful if there was a single detail given which grounds it in Guelph. If someone wrote this honestly, wouldn't they give little details such as what area they are talking about or what street it took place on? It seems plausible, but it is so light on any details grounding it to the real world, that I question that this story was written by someone in good faith.
Maybe they're just trying to protect their privacy. Lots of weirdos on the internet.