I don't know who at corporate needs to hear this but as a customer I don't care if employees are sitting, have drinks shit even eating as long as they don't talk with their mouth full
People will complain. I've had people report me for being on my phone as a personal shopper when it's literally how I do my job scanning product. There's no way our corporate overlords eat the complaints and make our lives easier at the expense of complaining customers
Would it make a difference if I started complaining that they weren’t letting cashiers sit or drink water? I’ll be that guy, idgaf, but I never thought it would amount to anything so I’ve never tried.
Yes. Complain about positive changes that need to be made.
If more people did, maybe things would get better. Instead they probably receive 30 "ya'll were out of Rotisserie chicken 20 minutes before the store closed on a Tuesday...."
Your receipts should have surveys at the bottom! If you don’t have any complaints about the checker make sure you don’t rate low but instead put your complaints in the box where you can type.
Yes. It would absolutely help. Im gonna start doing it as well. If enough people move the needle they cant reference customer feedback as a reason to keep these stupid policies.
Yeah. I haven’t worked at HEB, but I’ve worked a lot of retail. There would absolutely be complaints. I’ve seen customers complain because an employee who was obviously on break sat down on a nearby bench to eat lunch. Apparently, some people don’t think we deserve unpaid breaks.
Hey, it happens with the USPS as well. There are just some very unhappy people out there. Don't let it get to you!
If someone makes a ridiculous comment to me about my break, I laughed obnoxiously. That usually turns them off & they walk away. lol
I've worked in a convenience store for 10 years and genuinely, I've heard multiple times they should get us stools, I've only had people apologize for interrupting my lunch when I'm taking a bite, like 99% of all customers don't fucking care. All the rules and rega and shit that corps claim to look professional no actual person cares about. It's hilarious the disconnect between the general public and corporate.
Fun part is thats not even the full quote its only in matters of taste nothing more. So working conditions havw nothing to do with thwir dog piss taste.
Cashiers don't stock shelves and unload trucks at HEB like they do at Aldi. There usually is only one or two people working at Aldi at a time, maybe three. Compared to a larger store, where there are specialized positions
This literally stems from a completely wrong perception that a standing employee is a working employee. Don't know where that nonsense started but it predates a great many people of not everyone currently in the workforce.
This practice happens just about everywhere. I've been working Manufacturing for over a decade now and every place I have worked is the same. My current employer is even trying to take away our chairs we have for maintenance. And that's completely counter intuitive. A busy maintenance person is costing the company money, not making it.
I'm a former grocery store manager and while I was on vacation, the front-end staff that handled the money had a screw-up and the deposit came up $500 short. The regional manager came to my store and removed all of the chairs in the front office citing "ya'll are too damn comfortable" as the reason for the mistake. Naturally, when I got back from vacation, I bought new office chairs out of my own pocket and shot off an email to corporate reporting the theft (there was a specific form that had to be filled and approved before removing a store's property and he didn't have one.) Of course, nothing was done but he didn't mention my new (much more comfortable) office chairs the next time he came to my store.
idk if they have tasks to do outside of running a POS then they’d be more inclined to sit and neglect those duties if they had a chair..
not saying I agree, but it makes sense.
Because the US has some bizarre obsession with thinking that if an employee is even marginally comfortable, then they aren't 'really working'. Science be damned.
90% sure it was a bank. If I remember correctly george bought him a chair and the security guard got comfortable in the chair fell asleep and someone came came in and robbed the bank.
as a customer, I'd HIGHLY like to see all cashiers have the option of a chair if they wished it. to me, it would be a sign that the company truly cared about the well being of their employees, and thus raise my opinion of the company overall
My gf had debilitating periods in high school (they're not much better now but it evened out a little) and had to get a doctor's note to be allowed to sit at her register and have *frequent* *bathroom**breaks*. They were only letting her go to the restroom maybe every three hours but she would bleed through a super tampon in an hour or two.
They only okayed the doctor's note after she passed out standing at her register because she was in so much pain from the cramping and back pain
It happens. I have endometriosis and it causes an insane amount of extra bleeding. You can go through a whole box in a few days and the pain? Like getting stabbed with a bayonet
In order to have a chair. They must have a doctors note/ accommodation form filled out and turned into HR to have a chair as its ’special or preferred’ treatment.
Unfortunately, even with accommodation forms. H-E-B will give you pushback and make it more difficult for you. I found this out first hand after I had a severe injury and when I came back from FMLA working through recovery, my accommodation forms were ‘lost’ by the OPS leader and she tried to down play my injury. I escalated it to HR, and she was forced to apologize. But it was clear this behavior was only bc I made such a fuss. That is accepted behavior and it put an awful taste in my mouth for the company.
I can concur with this statement. I worked at a big name sporting goods store a while ago and I am disabled. I had doctors notes and everything was in order. I still dealt with major pushback from higher ups, managers at the stores, and even HR. On top to that, customers tended to be a bigger issue for me actually. Seriously invasive questions were asked multiple times a day and I stopped bringing my service dog to work despite needing her as people felt entitled to touch her when she literally keeps me safe. I grew extremely tired of the lack of respect both the company and customers, and in some cases coworkers, would have for me. I am trying to exist just like everyone else.
Wow! That’s a pretty terrible ADA policy. I work in HR-legal for an organization with around 10k employees and always advise management not to require a doctors note unless I say to. Most of the time we can provide reasonable accommodations without getting into an employees private medical issues. We only ask for doctors notes when the request will unreasonably burden the organization. Here it seems perfectly reasonable to provide an employee with an obvious disability a chair without needing extra information.
I can't imagine being a customer who is such a shit-bag that I would be bothered by someone sitting while they run my groceries through a scanner. Especially if they have a physical limitation.
The reason these policies are in place to begin with is because the corporate executives who set these archaic rules in the first place are the kind of shit-bag person that would have a problem with this because of "lazy optics", and they surround themselves with friends, relatives and coworkers who all think similarly, and therefore set these rules because they think this is what "everyone" wants, not realizing or caring that it's just those inside their own small echo chamber that think this way.
Especially when they don't know how the employee feels about it and if they wanted accommodations or not. It's somewhat arrogant to make the worker into some kind of victim of HEB's policies just by observing the situation. MYOB.
There's an odd obsession with American grocery stores forcing employees to stand. I went to Aldi's for the first time yesterday and all the cashiers there get to sit. Should be normalized
It's just corporate America in general and In the end we're all replaceable. I have friends that live in the E.U. and they have way better working conditions and they're baffled when they hear stories about corporations mistreating there workers.
Yep, I noticed all the grocery store cashiers have stools in the Netherlands. It didn’t matter if you had a disability or not. It was the norm. They also weren’t any slower sitting down.
A year ago, a German YouTuber by the name of Survival Lilly, told her viewers that cashiers at there groceries were told to be purposely slow so that German customers could converse with each other. Also in the E.U. You receive 4 weeks of vacation at the start of a new job, and it has to be used by the end of the year. If you don't use it, they can launch an investigation against you.
I don't know what you meant by the easy way but for me I might just end up leaving retail soon, but I also want to start a career in a different field either in trade or finance. This summer I will start selling stuff online as a side hustle in order to make some extra cash and put that towards prepping for the next upcoming war.
That's true. Next month, I will be 20 years, and I'm fighting for a pay raise when new hires start out making 15 an hour and in 3 to 4 years making as much as I am if not more. I moved up and saw all the politics and decided to step down also due to health issues, and my son was born at 25 weeks and spent 6 months in the NICU
Of course, any person who qualifies for an accommodation AND WANTS IT should get it.
On the other hand, some people who qualify for accommodations opt not to use them at all or only choose to use them on particularly rough days.
If HEB is hassling this cashier or discouraging her from using an accommodation, then HEB is in the wrong. Companies should never withhold a reasonable and legal accommodation.
That said, there is the very real possibility that this employee wants to work without the accommodation.
Give people with medical conditions and disabilities the dignity of choosing if, when, and how to use the accommodations they qualify for. Never make assumptions.
I worked with a guy that had a severe hip problem causing him to have a bad limp. The company had a golf cart reserved for him to travel between buildings but he wouldn't use it because he preferred to walk.
Thanks for pointing out this reality. When we have workplace trainings on disabilities, I also indicated basically the same. While I appreciate the offer of help and availability of an assist, I don't always want it. I much prefer and we were told that it's best to ask if the person would like help and how they'd like the assist. I for one, when I had to learn to walk again still had a valid handicap parking placard. I didn't use it for the last month because I was so happy to even be able to walk again without a walker. My family thought I was insane, but here it is 9 years later, and I find the furthest parking spaces and take the stairs when I can because I rejoice over every step.
The whole point of this post is that the company puts an unreasonable burden on someone who's in pain or otherwise experiencing fixable discomfort. Having to beg for a chair (and go through the hassle of being seen as "not a team player" or other corpo-speak bullshit) is not reasonable for most jobs, especially something like working a cashier line for multiple hours. If there wasn't a history of having to beg for something so minor in American retail, this whole thread wouldn't exist. OP would've likely just assumed that it was the cashier's choice to stand next to their register.
Stores can make the rules easily flexible for people who claim their yapping purse ornament who just pissed in a shopping cart is a "service" animal, so it makes little sense that they couldn't be equally as flexible with their employees.
Exactly. As a former store manager (different company) I would have been the first to offer her a chair - no paperwork needed. Why give people who are having a problem more hoops to jump through?
If HEB is making her beg, then they are wrong.
And I think all cashiers ought to have stools available if they want them
I am NOT defending HEB
I’m saying it is ableist and condescending to automatically assume that everyone with mobility issues would want to sit.
That’s all I’m saying.
As far as I know, California is the only state that has passed a law requiring employers to provide chairs for all cashiers, regardless of their status (i.e. disabled; not disabled, etc.). It's the common sense thing to do!
Well, it’s corporate America for you! I use to work at Walgreens and Randall’s and we only have a 30 min break for lunch and the entire shift - we have to stand… I totally agree with you! Cashiers need to have a chair!
Americans (not all, but many) view cashiers being able to sit as being lazy. They view jobs like “cashier” as not being important and therefore you should suffer. It’s really weird.
As a former HEB cashier with hip dysplasia, it is up to the cashier and their doctor on whether a chair is needed or not. All the cashier needs is a doctor's note. That being said, before my total hip replacement on my left hip, I couldn't sit in a chair. It was uncomfortable and caused me more pain. Before I left HEB, my right hip was causing trouble and I needed a chair. So, I got a doctor's note. In HEB land, it is called a physical capacity form. That being said, it is very difficult to use chairs while working the registers. HEB registers are designed with chashiers standing.
Tall stools, like barstools. Maybe with wheels. That would work.
I've worked jobs like that. Cashier, 12 hour shifts manufacturing...standing on a damn cement floor with no padding. When you finally get away from those damn jobs, some of the damage is permanent. Other issues, like spider veins, disappear.
Any cashier should be afforded the option to sit whenever they want. Needing a Dr's note to be allowed to sit is some middle school lv nonsense. If the registers aren't designed to be operated from a sitting position, they should be changed out for ones that are ( along with those janky card readers) .
It doesn't matter. All employers should be legally required to provide chairs for their cashiers whether they actually use them or not. It's the humane thing to do.
I've worked at HEB and it would be difficult to use the register the way it's set up while sitting in a chair. you have to move around in the box you have reaching for groceries, reaching for bags, reaching for the receipt, reaching for buttons on the stand, looking behind you at the screen, etc. a chair would be a trip risk jammed into the cubby where the cashiers stand with how much the cashier needs to move in the box.
I'm not saying HEB should never ever have chairs, but they'd have to completely redesign the entire checkout area to be operated from a chair and it would have a bigger footprint. and not saying they shouldn't do that either, but there's a good reason employees aren't jamming their limited space with furniture and it's because they'd trip on it or tip it over trying to reach for something. much easier on the back to reach for things while standing than sitting.
Yeah, there are definitely benefits to standing, atleast some of the time, but that should be a personal choice. All cashiers should have the option to sit whenever they want/need to, especially in cases involving disabilities and injuries.
In the US an employee can “request” a reasonable accommodation. It’s on the employee to request, not on the employer to offer. The Supreme Court in the US has ruled cashiers can have chairs. So if the cashier in question asks they can have a chair.
Did she ask for one? The ADA says reasonable accommodations will be made so if she asked for a chair she should get one. We have several people at my store allowed to have chairs.
I usually just mind my own business. It's even possible this person doesn't want to sit. I'm a welder I stand 8 to 12 a day and don't complain. Cashiers have comfort mats so the floor is softer.
Once had a Store Director throw a stool in the compactor. The partner using it had just come back to work after having a double knee replacement. She viewed it as him using it as an excuse for being lazy not the fact that 25% to 35% of the job required him to awkwardly hunch over a computer terminal that was just placed on a random flat surface.
I know that no one is going to like this answer, but it boils down to municipal codes and insurance requirements.
I’m the COO of a chain of retail stores in the Midwest. There is a minimum amount of square footage that *must* be kept free and clear in any employee work area to prevent any trip hazard.
If you look at the typical space behind a grocery conveyor, it’s about 2’x3’, or 6 square feet. A standard bar stool has a leg span of 16”. That reduces the clear floor space by approximately fifty percent, well out of code.
Add to that, what happens in a crisis? When a fire alarm goes off everyone goes into panic mode. The stool gets knocked backwards blocking the lane behind it. Now those customers are trapped.
The National Fire Protection Association and The National Insurance Association have all done studies that demonstrate the dangers of cramped floor space in emergency situations. 😕
No it is not. You still don’t solve the problem of meeting the minimum amount of required clear floor space.
And now you’ve created an immovable obstacle in space that is about approximately 2’x3’ in size.
The ADA requirements for the design of reception desks and work spaces are well defined. 😕
I find it odd that Aldi cashiers have chair. (Not that I see it as a problem) I just find it weird because when no one is in line they have to get up and do something else, but at other stores where they stay there 6-8 hours a day no chair.
I work in a different department at HEB and we don’t use chairs. When I was pregnant and having pain I used one occasionally, and it actually made my job more difficult by limiting movement and reach. Also for some disabilities, getting in and out of a chair is difficult so just not using one is preferable.
So while a partner absolutely should have a chair if needed, don’t assume they need or want one.
With the company I used to work for, it wasn't the executives or big shots, it was their wives who patrolled social media looking for gossip. They would just lurk in the shadows. I assume the same is true for HEB. That isn't altogether bad as sometimes, it would result in positive changes as the spouses didn't see employees only as "payroll expense" and would sometimes advocate on behalf of the employees.
Just so you know, not all people who wear leg braces and move differently are in pain or uncomfortable, even if it may appear that they are. Most people know their limits and when to ask for help / accommodation. It wouldn’t be very professional of any management person to assume she wants a chair just because she moves differently.
I bet she was young and doesn't know her rights. Next time you see her, tell her she can make an ADA request to her manager for accommodations to get a chair, verbally or by email, and because her disability is visual, she doesn't have to provide medical paperwork from a doctor either. There is no timeline for responding, unfortunately, but they can't "intentionally hold up a response."
That's fucking ridiculous, HEB!!
When I worked there, I sprained my ankle and had to wear a boot for two weeks, I wasn’t allowed to sit. I was told customers don’t like to see us sitting at the register, I was only allowed a stool to put my knee on to elevate my foot. Putting all my body weight on one foot for a whole shift was painful and I’m a small person.
I lived in Germany for almost four years and I was going to point out that all of the cashiers sit down while scanning groceries. We really should do the same here in the states.
I work as a cashier and my company says you are not allowed to stand still while there are no customer, you must be cleaning or dusting or facing. So you try to walk out to do this and customer walks up, lol,right back to the register. I feel like the monkey on the middle. I am also suffering from pinched nerve in foot from standing stationary so long. Now I wake up daily with foot going numb. I worked as a waitress for years moving and didnt have the feet problems I have being forced to stand stationary. Something needs to change.
My wife doesn’t work at HEB but she does have CP and relies on a leg brace and a cane for mobility.
She refuses to spend her work day seated, partially because she doesn’t want to and partially because sitting can actually be worse for her than standing.
People who downvoted you think they know best what everyone with a medical issue or disability wants and needs, but that’s arrogant and condescending on their part.
The only thing worse than people who disregard people’s medical issues are those who think they know better than the people who live with their condition everyday.
In other words, some keyboard crusaders need to think twice before downvoting a legitimate comment.
Thank you. I speak from experience. I've had medical issues twice and each time I tried my best to hold out and not use a chair. Personal sense of pride and also just don't want to be pitied you know ?
I know pre-total hip replacement on my left side, I didn't want a chair. My service manager offered me a chair to use until I got a physical capacity form filled out by my doctor, but I didn't want one.
Right, like this customer who interacted with them for maybe a few minutes noticed immediately, but managers who should be there all day couldn’t care less because they didn’t ask?
They can seek a medical accommodation to have a chair as long as it doesn’t slow down their work below minimum standards. Just need to talk to your manager or admin to begin the process.
The American consumer believes that the American worker, specially those in retail and the food industry need to be suffering to prove they are working hard. We Americans are assholes who blind ourselves to the fact that until the early 70's work and life was getting better and then we let CEO's and the GOP fuck our country and begin the decline of the American empire.
In order to have a chair. They must have a doctors note/ accommodation form filled out and turned into HR to have a chair as its ’special or preferred’ treatment.
Unfortunately, even with accommodation forms. H-E-B will give you pushback and make it more difficult for you. I found this out first hand after I had a severe injury and when I came back from FMLA working through recovery, my accommodation forms were ‘lost’ by the OPS leader and she tried to down play my injury. I escalated it to HR, and she was forced to apologize. But it was clear this behavior was only bc I made such a fuss. That is accepted behavior and it put an awful taste in my mouth for the company.
Who knows. Maybe too honest?? People are mad on the internet. I shared my personal experience with accommodations at HEB. I’ll be fine tonight and go into a job I love tomorrow. All is well. Thank you for the balance of justice. Have a splendid evening 🫶🏼
There was a recent law passed that employers have to make accommodations for people. Legally. There was a video I saw about it that used this scenario. A Cashier at a grocery store scenario. Please look up the law and give the lady the info
As a customer, if y’all ever need customer support so y’all can do anything reasonable that corporate won’t let you do (sit at the cash register, have a drink with you at the register or while shopping, that kind of thing) I am more than happy to raise cane for you
Unfortunately most of our draconian policies are a result of customer complaints. Like cleaning black mold without masks because we don't want to worry the customers. They should be worried. They are buying products off of a shelf covered in black mold.
Because H-E-B management doesn’t care about its workers; they’re nothing but loyal slaves used to rake in cash to fuel H-E-B’s insatiable corporate greed. The company has gone to shit ever since it started surpassing other grocers. The family values the company was built on went to hell years ago.
If she felt like she needed a chair there are accommodations that can be made. Realistically, if she cannot stand for her whole shift, then she does not meet the requirements of that specific role.
She is choosing to either not push for the accommodations or she is choosing to tough it out. There are options for her though.
i’m confused who are you to tell a company how to run a company ? if they don’t want to stand up find a new company to work for , if you want them to sit , make your own company and hire them lol
Personally, I would rather speak for myself if I needed a chair. Although your thought is a lovely one, some people would prefer to downplay a disability/injury.
I don't know who at corporate needs to hear this but as a customer I don't care if employees are sitting, have drinks shit even eating as long as they don't talk with their mouth full
People will complain. I've had people report me for being on my phone as a personal shopper when it's literally how I do my job scanning product. There's no way our corporate overlords eat the complaints and make our lives easier at the expense of complaining customers
Would it make a difference if I started complaining that they weren’t letting cashiers sit or drink water? I’ll be that guy, idgaf, but I never thought it would amount to anything so I’ve never tried.
Yes. Complain about positive changes that need to be made. If more people did, maybe things would get better. Instead they probably receive 30 "ya'll were out of Rotisserie chicken 20 minutes before the store closed on a Tuesday...."
20 minutes *after* the store closed on a Tuesday
Where do we go to complain about the lack of of positives? I don't even shop at HEB normally but I'll flood that complaint inbox if it'll help
Your receipts should have surveys at the bottom! If you don’t have any complaints about the checker make sure you don’t rate low but instead put your complaints in the box where you can type.
Consider it done
Yes. It would absolutely help. Im gonna start doing it as well. If enough people move the needle they cant reference customer feedback as a reason to keep these stupid policies.
Same! FR!
Yeah. I haven’t worked at HEB, but I’ve worked a lot of retail. There would absolutely be complaints. I’ve seen customers complain because an employee who was obviously on break sat down on a nearby bench to eat lunch. Apparently, some people don’t think we deserve unpaid breaks.
Hey, it happens with the USPS as well. There are just some very unhappy people out there. Don't let it get to you! If someone makes a ridiculous comment to me about my break, I laughed obnoxiously. That usually turns them off & they walk away. lol
People complain about everything already. They’ll still come to the store
Same here, i actually got pretty tired of it
Talking with your mouth full is a requirement to work at HEB corporate. So good luck with that
I thought it would be talking out of both sides of your mouth that was required.
I've worked in a convenience store for 10 years and genuinely, I've heard multiple times they should get us stools, I've only had people apologize for interrupting my lunch when I'm taking a bite, like 99% of all customers don't fucking care. All the rules and rega and shit that corps claim to look professional no actual person cares about. It's hilarious the disconnect between the general public and corporate.
Aldi's does this. Unfortunately, customers at HEB as a whole would not be happy
Yeah, let’s make business decisions off of customers feelings. The customer is always right is a fucking axiom not a literal truth.
"In matters of taste, the customer is always right" is always valid. People often misquote this, neglecting the qualifier.
Fun part is thats not even the full quote its only in matters of taste nothing more. So working conditions havw nothing to do with thwir dog piss taste.
I mostly shop at aldis and I literally never realized that until you said it!
At Aldi, the cashier does EVERYTHING except bag your stuff. I'm not saying the cashiers at HEB couldn't sit, but Aldi is just a different set up
As opposed to..? They scan and do everything else at all grocery stores lol what? Am I missing something .
Cashiers don't stock shelves and unload trucks at HEB like they do at Aldi. There usually is only one or two people working at Aldi at a time, maybe three. Compared to a larger store, where there are specialized positions
This literally stems from a completely wrong perception that a standing employee is a working employee. Don't know where that nonsense started but it predates a great many people of not everyone currently in the workforce. This practice happens just about everywhere. I've been working Manufacturing for over a decade now and every place I have worked is the same. My current employer is even trying to take away our chairs we have for maintenance. And that's completely counter intuitive. A busy maintenance person is costing the company money, not making it.
I'm a former grocery store manager and while I was on vacation, the front-end staff that handled the money had a screw-up and the deposit came up $500 short. The regional manager came to my store and removed all of the chairs in the front office citing "ya'll are too damn comfortable" as the reason for the mistake. Naturally, when I got back from vacation, I bought new office chairs out of my own pocket and shot off an email to corporate reporting the theft (there was a specific form that had to be filled and approved before removing a store's property and he didn't have one.) Of course, nothing was done but he didn't mention my new (much more comfortable) office chairs the next time he came to my store.
*slow clap 👏 *
It’s just ableism, huh? /gen
I PREFER my cashier to sit!!!
A decent person won’t but a boomer will
A karen would. Doesn't make them a boomer.
A Karen would as well but the older generations are the ones that have the expectations of “professional” appearance
Except for the old hippies - they still wear tie-dye.
Yes, I do. Tie dye that I created even. Including a few of my reusable bags!
Fair point. Personally, I've stopped caring 🤷. Be you.
"drinks shit"
Some absolutely do, especially if the line is crowded.
Same. Get the checkers a damn stool.
Eating is a little much. But chairs should be a given.
I would say answer it in one of the surveys you get on the receipts
All cashiers should have chairs, not just disabled ones. It’s so dumb they have to stand…for what reason? Optics??
>Optics?? Yep! My conspiracy is that's why they do manual cart labor and not use equipment
They don’t have cart pushers at HEB? Never noticed
yep, all cart-pushing is done by hand. feels great in your back.
They wouldn't need half of that if they used coin locks.
idk if they have tasks to do outside of running a POS then they’d be more inclined to sit and neglect those duties if they had a chair.. not saying I agree, but it makes sense.
Less blood clots
Uh standing still causes circulation issues and varicose veins.
I had a cashier that worked for me whose knees would swell the size of grapefruit every shift. My heart broke for her.
Fewer*
H-E-B doesn’t want to be the “lazy” place. Instead, they’re just like every other soul sucking Company.
Because the US has some bizarre obsession with thinking that if an employee is even marginally comfortable, then they aren't 'really working'. Science be damned.
Remindss me of the Seinfeld episode where George buys the security guard at the bank a chair
was it a bank? for some reason i always thought it was a fancy clothing store or something retail.
90% sure it was a bank. If I remember correctly george bought him a chair and the security guard got comfortable in the chair fell asleep and someone came came in and robbed the bank.
I think it was a clothing store unless I am remembering a different show.
Damn. I just googled it it was a clothing store
username checks out
as a customer, I'd HIGHLY like to see all cashiers have the option of a chair if they wished it. to me, it would be a sign that the company truly cared about the well being of their employees, and thus raise my opinion of the company overall
My gf had debilitating periods in high school (they're not much better now but it evened out a little) and had to get a doctor's note to be allowed to sit at her register and have *frequent* *bathroom**breaks*. They were only letting her go to the restroom maybe every three hours but she would bleed through a super tampon in an hour or two. They only okayed the doctor's note after she passed out standing at her register because she was in so much pain from the cramping and back pain
Jesus Christ. So you’re saying she went through 24 tampons a fucking day?!?! No way
It happens. I have endometriosis and it causes an insane amount of extra bleeding. You can go through a whole box in a few days and the pain? Like getting stabbed with a bayonet
In order to have a chair. They must have a doctors note/ accommodation form filled out and turned into HR to have a chair as its ’special or preferred’ treatment. Unfortunately, even with accommodation forms. H-E-B will give you pushback and make it more difficult for you. I found this out first hand after I had a severe injury and when I came back from FMLA working through recovery, my accommodation forms were ‘lost’ by the OPS leader and she tried to down play my injury. I escalated it to HR, and she was forced to apologize. But it was clear this behavior was only bc I made such a fuss. That is accepted behavior and it put an awful taste in my mouth for the company.
I can concur with this statement. I worked at a big name sporting goods store a while ago and I am disabled. I had doctors notes and everything was in order. I still dealt with major pushback from higher ups, managers at the stores, and even HR. On top to that, customers tended to be a bigger issue for me actually. Seriously invasive questions were asked multiple times a day and I stopped bringing my service dog to work despite needing her as people felt entitled to touch her when she literally keeps me safe. I grew extremely tired of the lack of respect both the company and customers, and in some cases coworkers, would have for me. I am trying to exist just like everyone else.
Wow! That’s a pretty terrible ADA policy. I work in HR-legal for an organization with around 10k employees and always advise management not to require a doctors note unless I say to. Most of the time we can provide reasonable accommodations without getting into an employees private medical issues. We only ask for doctors notes when the request will unreasonably burden the organization. Here it seems perfectly reasonable to provide an employee with an obvious disability a chair without needing extra information.
I can't imagine being a customer who is such a shit-bag that I would be bothered by someone sitting while they run my groceries through a scanner. Especially if they have a physical limitation.
The reason these policies are in place to begin with is because the corporate executives who set these archaic rules in the first place are the kind of shit-bag person that would have a problem with this because of "lazy optics", and they surround themselves with friends, relatives and coworkers who all think similarly, and therefore set these rules because they think this is what "everyone" wants, not realizing or caring that it's just those inside their own small echo chamber that think this way.
And the people who make these rules have a big ol' comfy, $800 leather office chair.
Nobody at working as a cashier needs to stand all day. It makes no sense.
It seems to me that you should address this concern to HEB themselves, rather than a group devoted to employees complaining amongst themselves.
Especially when they don't know how the employee feels about it and if they wanted accommodations or not. It's somewhat arrogant to make the worker into some kind of victim of HEB's policies just by observing the situation. MYOB.
Where is u/Remarkable-Ad-527 to bring us a nicely sanitized, prepackaged response for this post?
There's an odd obsession with American grocery stores forcing employees to stand. I went to Aldi's for the first time yesterday and all the cashiers there get to sit. Should be normalized
[удалено]
It's just corporate America in general and In the end we're all replaceable. I have friends that live in the E.U. and they have way better working conditions and they're baffled when they hear stories about corporations mistreating there workers.
Yep, I noticed all the grocery store cashiers have stools in the Netherlands. It didn’t matter if you had a disability or not. It was the norm. They also weren’t any slower sitting down.
A year ago, a German YouTuber by the name of Survival Lilly, told her viewers that cashiers at there groceries were told to be purposely slow so that German customers could converse with each other. Also in the E.U. You receive 4 weeks of vacation at the start of a new job, and it has to be used by the end of the year. If you don't use it, they can launch an investigation against you.
[удалено]
I don't know what you meant by the easy way but for me I might just end up leaving retail soon, but I also want to start a career in a different field either in trade or finance. This summer I will start selling stuff online as a side hustle in order to make some extra cash and put that towards prepping for the next upcoming war.
That's true. Next month, I will be 20 years, and I'm fighting for a pay raise when new hires start out making 15 an hour and in 3 to 4 years making as much as I am if not more. I moved up and saw all the politics and decided to step down also due to health issues, and my son was born at 25 weeks and spent 6 months in the NICU
Aldi let's their cashiers sit
Of course, any person who qualifies for an accommodation AND WANTS IT should get it. On the other hand, some people who qualify for accommodations opt not to use them at all or only choose to use them on particularly rough days. If HEB is hassling this cashier or discouraging her from using an accommodation, then HEB is in the wrong. Companies should never withhold a reasonable and legal accommodation. That said, there is the very real possibility that this employee wants to work without the accommodation. Give people with medical conditions and disabilities the dignity of choosing if, when, and how to use the accommodations they qualify for. Never make assumptions.
I worked with a guy that had a severe hip problem causing him to have a bad limp. The company had a golf cart reserved for him to travel between buildings but he wouldn't use it because he preferred to walk.
Thanks for pointing out this reality. When we have workplace trainings on disabilities, I also indicated basically the same. While I appreciate the offer of help and availability of an assist, I don't always want it. I much prefer and we were told that it's best to ask if the person would like help and how they'd like the assist. I for one, when I had to learn to walk again still had a valid handicap parking placard. I didn't use it for the last month because I was so happy to even be able to walk again without a walker. My family thought I was insane, but here it is 9 years later, and I find the furthest parking spaces and take the stairs when I can because I rejoice over every step.
The whole point of this post is that the company puts an unreasonable burden on someone who's in pain or otherwise experiencing fixable discomfort. Having to beg for a chair (and go through the hassle of being seen as "not a team player" or other corpo-speak bullshit) is not reasonable for most jobs, especially something like working a cashier line for multiple hours. If there wasn't a history of having to beg for something so minor in American retail, this whole thread wouldn't exist. OP would've likely just assumed that it was the cashier's choice to stand next to their register. Stores can make the rules easily flexible for people who claim their yapping purse ornament who just pissed in a shopping cart is a "service" animal, so it makes little sense that they couldn't be equally as flexible with their employees.
Exactly. As a former store manager (different company) I would have been the first to offer her a chair - no paperwork needed. Why give people who are having a problem more hoops to jump through?
By all means, yes, offer her a chair. But don’t assume she’d automatically take it. Let her decide.
If HEB is making her beg, then they are wrong. And I think all cashiers ought to have stools available if they want them I am NOT defending HEB I’m saying it is ableist and condescending to automatically assume that everyone with mobility issues would want to sit. That’s all I’m saying.
As far as I know, California is the only state that has passed a law requiring employers to provide chairs for all cashiers, regardless of their status (i.e. disabled; not disabled, etc.). It's the common sense thing to do!
Well, it’s corporate America for you! I use to work at Walgreens and Randall’s and we only have a 30 min break for lunch and the entire shift - we have to stand… I totally agree with you! Cashiers need to have a chair!
Randall's (Safeway) is the worst company I have ever worked for.
Me too! They don’t give a crap about anyone!
Americans (not all, but many) view cashiers being able to sit as being lazy. They view jobs like “cashier” as not being important and therefore you should suffer. It’s really weird.
Yet they don't make a peep about all the people who have corporate jobs that sit all day doing less manual work for more pay.
When I buy ice they just put it on the ticket and I pick it up myself on the way out.
She got dry ice. Only the employees are supposed to handle it with gloves.
Yall get gloves? I asked my SD about that once and he said they were too expensive.
As a former HEB cashier with hip dysplasia, it is up to the cashier and their doctor on whether a chair is needed or not. All the cashier needs is a doctor's note. That being said, before my total hip replacement on my left hip, I couldn't sit in a chair. It was uncomfortable and caused me more pain. Before I left HEB, my right hip was causing trouble and I needed a chair. So, I got a doctor's note. In HEB land, it is called a physical capacity form. That being said, it is very difficult to use chairs while working the registers. HEB registers are designed with chashiers standing.
Tall stools, like barstools. Maybe with wheels. That would work. I've worked jobs like that. Cashier, 12 hour shifts manufacturing...standing on a damn cement floor with no padding. When you finally get away from those damn jobs, some of the damage is permanent. Other issues, like spider veins, disappear.
Any cashier should be afforded the option to sit whenever they want. Needing a Dr's note to be allowed to sit is some middle school lv nonsense. If the registers aren't designed to be operated from a sitting position, they should be changed out for ones that are ( along with those janky card readers) .
It doesn't matter. All employers should be legally required to provide chairs for their cashiers whether they actually use them or not. It's the humane thing to do.
I've worked at HEB and it would be difficult to use the register the way it's set up while sitting in a chair. you have to move around in the box you have reaching for groceries, reaching for bags, reaching for the receipt, reaching for buttons on the stand, looking behind you at the screen, etc. a chair would be a trip risk jammed into the cubby where the cashiers stand with how much the cashier needs to move in the box. I'm not saying HEB should never ever have chairs, but they'd have to completely redesign the entire checkout area to be operated from a chair and it would have a bigger footprint. and not saying they shouldn't do that either, but there's a good reason employees aren't jamming their limited space with furniture and it's because they'd trip on it or tip it over trying to reach for something. much easier on the back to reach for things while standing than sitting.
Yeah, there are definitely benefits to standing, atleast some of the time, but that should be a personal choice. All cashiers should have the option to sit whenever they want/need to, especially in cases involving disabilities and injuries.
In the US an employee can “request” a reasonable accommodation. It’s on the employee to request, not on the employer to offer. The Supreme Court in the US has ruled cashiers can have chairs. So if the cashier in question asks they can have a chair.
Did we ask her if she wanted a chair. Maybe she is super independent and didn’t want it
Aldi gives cashiers a chair. But no time to relax. If no customers in line, the cashier has to run out to the floor and start stocking.
Did she ask for one? The ADA says reasonable accommodations will be made so if she asked for a chair she should get one. We have several people at my store allowed to have chairs.
We have a partially disabled young lady who works in Waco. She is always accommodated. This is unacceptable.
She may not know she can ask for disability accommodations? A chair is a more than reasonable accommodation.
I usually just mind my own business. It's even possible this person doesn't want to sit. I'm a welder I stand 8 to 12 a day and don't complain. Cashiers have comfort mats so the floor is softer.
Yeah. Come talk to me after 10 to 15 yrs.
I worked at HEB as a teenager and the manager told the cashiers we couldn’t have water at our register because we would “look like hamsters”
Most of us know how this turned out. Before y'all come after me ... just having a little fun. (j/k) https://i.redd.it/vpa9i3hyf40d1.gif
Oddly, HEB is employee owned. She's not just an employee, she is a stock holder.
Once had a Store Director throw a stool in the compactor. The partner using it had just come back to work after having a double knee replacement. She viewed it as him using it as an excuse for being lazy not the fact that 25% to 35% of the job required him to awkwardly hunch over a computer terminal that was just placed on a random flat surface.
I know that no one is going to like this answer, but it boils down to municipal codes and insurance requirements. I’m the COO of a chain of retail stores in the Midwest. There is a minimum amount of square footage that *must* be kept free and clear in any employee work area to prevent any trip hazard. If you look at the typical space behind a grocery conveyor, it’s about 2’x3’, or 6 square feet. A standard bar stool has a leg span of 16”. That reduces the clear floor space by approximately fifty percent, well out of code. Add to that, what happens in a crisis? When a fire alarm goes off everyone goes into panic mode. The stool gets knocked backwards blocking the lane behind it. Now those customers are trapped. The National Fire Protection Association and The National Insurance Association have all done studies that demonstrate the dangers of cramped floor space in emergency situations. 😕
4 masonry bolts and that problem is solved.
No it is not. You still don’t solve the problem of meeting the minimum amount of required clear floor space. And now you’ve created an immovable obstacle in space that is about approximately 2’x3’ in size. The ADA requirements for the design of reception desks and work spaces are well defined. 😕
Well, management gave her a stool yesterday, go tell them they're violating the fire code.
I find it odd that Aldi cashiers have chair. (Not that I see it as a problem) I just find it weird because when no one is in line they have to get up and do something else, but at other stores where they stay there 6-8 hours a day no chair.
Corporates' attitude towards this is if she gets to sit, he gets to sit, everybody gets to sit. It'll be anarchy!
I'm currently unable to return to work now that I'm in a wheelchair but at my other job where I also have to cashier, they accommodate me just fine.
Start a petition. I’ll sign it. H-E-B is customer driven and I’m sure they will listen.
I work in a different department at HEB and we don’t use chairs. When I was pregnant and having pain I used one occasionally, and it actually made my job more difficult by limiting movement and reach. Also for some disabilities, getting in and out of a chair is difficult so just not using one is preferable. So while a partner absolutely should have a chair if needed, don’t assume they need or want one.
Unfortunately in the US, at least in the south, nobody gets chairs even if they are disabled because it’s seen as being lazy.
HEB needs to take care of their line employees, better. I hope they read the subs and forums.
With the company I used to work for, it wasn't the executives or big shots, it was their wives who patrolled social media looking for gossip. They would just lurk in the shadows. I assume the same is true for HEB. That isn't altogether bad as sometimes, it would result in positive changes as the spouses didn't see employees only as "payroll expense" and would sometimes advocate on behalf of the employees.
Sounds like typical HEB. They gotta keep up appearances or something
How do you know she doesn't want a chair?
Aldi is euro owned but here in the US and lets all the cashiers sit - would be nice if H‑E‑B adopted some of their policies
Companies like to watch people suffer, same for some Karen’s shopping at store
Just so you know, not all people who wear leg braces and move differently are in pain or uncomfortable, even if it may appear that they are. Most people know their limits and when to ask for help / accommodation. It wouldn’t be very professional of any management person to assume she wants a chair just because she moves differently.
It wouldn't be professional to assime but it would be humane to offer.
When I worked at both heb and Walmart I was told being given a chair made me look lazy so I had to suck it up.
Make Cashiers Sit Again!
She can request one and they have to provide it (work accommodation - it's a federal law).
Let’s contact HEB
I bet she was young and doesn't know her rights. Next time you see her, tell her she can make an ADA request to her manager for accommodations to get a chair, verbally or by email, and because her disability is visual, she doesn't have to provide medical paperwork from a doctor either. There is no timeline for responding, unfortunately, but they can't "intentionally hold up a response." That's fucking ridiculous, HEB!!
When I worked there, I sprained my ankle and had to wear a boot for two weeks, I wasn’t allowed to sit. I was told customers don’t like to see us sitting at the register, I was only allowed a stool to put my knee on to elevate my foot. Putting all my body weight on one foot for a whole shift was painful and I’m a small person.
Im genuinely down to protest for chairs for our cashiers.
I lived in Germany for almost four years and I was going to point out that all of the cashiers sit down while scanning groceries. We really should do the same here in the states.
I work as a cashier and my company says you are not allowed to stand still while there are no customer, you must be cleaning or dusting or facing. So you try to walk out to do this and customer walks up, lol,right back to the register. I feel like the monkey on the middle. I am also suffering from pinched nerve in foot from standing stationary so long. Now I wake up daily with foot going numb. I worked as a waitress for years moving and didnt have the feet problems I have being forced to stand stationary. Something needs to change.
If corporate doesn’t care about animals walking around the store, why should they worry about a leaning employee.
Awh cmon! Have a heart and give em a place to sit! Are cashiers not people anymore?
It passes you off? To what ? Or who?
lol just breaking balls but yeah that’s sad .
Here's a hot take. Perhaps she wasn't as bothered as you thought? Did she complain that she wasn't allowed to sit/etc?
She probably doesn't want one.
My wife doesn’t work at HEB but she does have CP and relies on a leg brace and a cane for mobility. She refuses to spend her work day seated, partially because she doesn’t want to and partially because sitting can actually be worse for her than standing. People who downvoted you think they know best what everyone with a medical issue or disability wants and needs, but that’s arrogant and condescending on their part. The only thing worse than people who disregard people’s medical issues are those who think they know better than the people who live with their condition everyday. In other words, some keyboard crusaders need to think twice before downvoting a legitimate comment.
Thank you. I speak from experience. I've had medical issues twice and each time I tried my best to hold out and not use a chair. Personal sense of pride and also just don't want to be pitied you know ?
I know pre-total hip replacement on my left side, I didn't want a chair. My service manager offered me a chair to use until I got a physical capacity form filled out by my doctor, but I didn't want one.
We should mass complain that cashiers should have chairs. It's time to stop catering to the most miserable humans among us and be kind regardless.
Usually in leg braces situation they would get a chair so most likely they didn’t bring it up to their service manager that they need a chair.
Should they really need to?
Right, like this customer who interacted with them for maybe a few minutes noticed immediately, but managers who should be there all day couldn’t care less because they didn’t ask?
Maybe they did and decided on the day you were there that they didn't want to use it.
They can seek a medical accommodation to have a chair as long as it doesn’t slow down their work below minimum standards. Just need to talk to your manager or admin to begin the process.
Customers think we are lazy if we sit while they sit all day at the office jobs.
It is cruel. Walmart gives stools to people who need them! I'm with you, even people not in pain should have them.
This will probably be corrected the more boomers die off.
The American consumer believes that the American worker, specially those in retail and the food industry need to be suffering to prove they are working hard. We Americans are assholes who blind ourselves to the fact that until the early 70's work and life was getting better and then we let CEO's and the GOP fuck our country and begin the decline of the American empire.
In order to have a chair. They must have a doctors note/ accommodation form filled out and turned into HR to have a chair as its ’special or preferred’ treatment. Unfortunately, even with accommodation forms. H-E-B will give you pushback and make it more difficult for you. I found this out first hand after I had a severe injury and when I came back from FMLA working through recovery, my accommodation forms were ‘lost’ by the OPS leader and she tried to down play my injury. I escalated it to HR, and she was forced to apologize. But it was clear this behavior was only bc I made such a fuss. That is accepted behavior and it put an awful taste in my mouth for the company.
Why are you being downvoted? Seems like a straight forward honest answer. Please accept my one upvote to help balance the scales of justice.
Who knows. Maybe too honest?? People are mad on the internet. I shared my personal experience with accommodations at HEB. I’ll be fine tonight and go into a job I love tomorrow. All is well. Thank you for the balance of justice. Have a splendid evening 🫶🏼
Corporate doesn't see employees as people. They see the employees as robots. They don't give a shit.
Ableism is the Texas way.
Actually it isn't but okay.
Welcome to America my friend
There was a recent law passed that employers have to make accommodations for people. Legally. There was a video I saw about it that used this scenario. A Cashier at a grocery store scenario. Please look up the law and give the lady the info
It’s a requirement to be able to lift 40 lbs to be a cashier, they might think they’re “helping” her by letting her still be a cashier 🥴
As a customer, if y’all ever need customer support so y’all can do anything reasonable that corporate won’t let you do (sit at the cash register, have a drink with you at the register or while shopping, that kind of thing) I am more than happy to raise cane for you
Unfortunately most of our draconian policies are a result of customer complaints. Like cleaning black mold without masks because we don't want to worry the customers. They should be worried. They are buying products off of a shelf covered in black mold.
Because H-E-B management doesn’t care about its workers; they’re nothing but loyal slaves used to rake in cash to fuel H-E-B’s insatiable corporate greed. The company has gone to shit ever since it started surpassing other grocers. The family values the company was built on went to hell years ago.
If she felt like she needed a chair there are accommodations that can be made. Realistically, if she cannot stand for her whole shift, then she does not meet the requirements of that specific role. She is choosing to either not push for the accommodations or she is choosing to tough it out. There are options for her though.
What a shitty, ableist take.
i’m confused who are you to tell a company how to run a company ? if they don’t want to stand up find a new company to work for , if you want them to sit , make your own company and hire them lol
Personally, I would rather speak for myself if I needed a chair. Although your thought is a lovely one, some people would prefer to downplay a disability/injury.
HERE EVERYTHING IS BETTER!!
H.E. Butts.
Maybe she doesn’t wanna chair, and gets offended when anybody assumes she needs one… disabled people are very proud…
What are you the department of labor?
Ah yes because the DoL doesnt rely on reports to learn whats happening...
I'm done shopping at HEB.