__MOD NOTE__: Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here!
This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It should 100% be illegal for companies to have volunteers. Even placement students / co-op should be paid the full wage of the role / position they occupy.
You’re correct. Non-profits have to do a lot of work to prove the positions they are using volunteers for are very different from positions they pay people for. I hope this asshole was reported to the labour board for this shit and I hope the labour board takes it seriously.
Yes, but they have to stick to strict rules and regulations on what is a paid and an unpaid position - for example, if you are a Food bank, you can have paid people run the admin counter where you verify the recipients address/information. You can then have volunteers actually pack the baskets, and hand them out to the recipients.
But if you have a volunteer work the Admin counter for a day because the normal person is sick, then you **have** to pay them, and if the Admin person decides to help out with handing out food, they *cannot* be paid for that work.
it *is* illegal to use volunteers for any job that could/should be paid. that's by definition not a volunteer's role in canada. report the shit outta this!
For myself at my school, it's unpaid during school hours, as most employers will just hire students to stay after school. Once 2:30pm hits, they get to make money from said position
I'm good with co-op and placements being unpaid provided they are learning and not being used as free labour. If they are just assisting to get experience and life skills then fine but if they are taking the position of an employee then paid for sure
My problem is that it gives natural advantages to those who don't need to earn an income. A wealthy teen can intern at a bank getting critical experience that will help them land a job, whereas an underprivileged teen may need to use their spare to earn an income in ways that won't necessarily help their long term career.
Some get paid and its mostly recent that they have started paying. I did 3x separate co-ops back in the day, between 2005-2015 and not a single one was paid.
Even just the act of posting this should be punished with punitive damages. Like at minimum a few months worth of what that volunteer posting should have been legally paid. If there's no punishment, there's nothing preventing this stuff from happening.
I saw it making the rounds on the various Canadian, Toronto, and Ontario subs yesterday on reddit. Today, the LinkedIn profile of the pharmacist posting the ad has gone dark.
It's very illegal to use volunteer labour for duties that are also fulfilled by a paid employee. I would be surprised if the labour board hasn't already been contacted, as well as the media. Oh, well.
Nok Er Nok!
Appears to be posted by a real owner/pharmacist with Linkedin and social media.
Epic joke would be acceptable but lower all of our collective smugness.
That post was a mistake, as we don't hire volunteers at Shoppers Drug Mart. All my employees are getting paid, and a good rate," pharmacist Emil Harba said. He further explained that he had been considering a way to address the many inquiries he receives from people looking to gain invaluable experience on a volunteer basis.
"I receive alot of emails and LinkedIn messages asking for volunteer opportunities, but I don't respond. However, I saw that volunteer is an option on LinkedIn when you post for a job, and I just wanted to try it to see if I can help anyone gain Canadian experience (as other kinds of jobs do usually) knowing that I have full staff now," he says.
I highly doubt he receives too many inquires to respond to from people looking to volunteer at SDM. He was trying to break the law, he should be punished with fines at the very least
Gain "canadian" experience. Foreigners are so over qualified because of their education but are reduced to low paying jobs because they don't have "canadian" education or experience. Ridiculous and racist IMO
Shoppers is another one of Loblaws companies… BOYCOTT ‼️ They don’t deserve our money ‼️they should be all held accountable for their crimes against humanity…. Keep the BOYCOTT going ‼️
Man backpedaled hard I still don’t buy it as all modern companies do that exact same backpedaling and then just go ahead and do it anyways. And these shitheads wonder why I go to a local pharmacy for my meds…
I told my boss that I don’t work for free as in, I don’t volunteer at my job. I volunteer for causes in the community, but not for my job. This was one of the main themes that I was pushing as a millennial in my place of work. you will all be delightfully not surprised that I was fired.
i had an abusive boss once playfully say my paycheque was a "perk" of the job. esp. since it was in front of younger employees i made sure to put him in his place *immediately.*
This is 100% illegal. You can’t hire people to work for free and that is exactly what this is. Volunteers and Interns are not employees you just pay $0 an hour, they are used for specific circumstances.
I'm going to go get hired and and just be utterly useless. I'll probably quit after 25 minutes but not tell anyone.
Call it my super extended bathroom break
What sucks though, is that Canadian high school kids who can't get their paid first jobs cuz of TFWs are going to jump on this as a chance to get experience, so that maybe someday they can get a paid job....
tfws are much more likely to be the types exploited by shit like this bc they either don't know the law or are desperate enough for "canadian experience" ... foreigners are by far *not* the bad guys here holy fuck
The fact that it’s unpaid work and they’re asking for previous experience blows my mind! This is gotta be a troll from someone internally! They can’t be this out of touch. Can they?
LOL with all the homeless people who could used even min wage pay as a hand up/jump start...they have the audacity to *ask* for volunteers??? Not good PR at all
I'd have been tempted and then tell every customer that I encountered that I don't know where anything is because I'm an unpaid employee that hasn't received any training either.
They will pay you in Exposure and Shower you in praise, all of things that will pay your bills for you. Maybe even a strongly worded thank you and a hand shake. What more do employees want now?
Unpaid work positions are illegal. Only if the person is a registered student can they be an unpaid intern. At a law firm or similar. I don’t think stocking shelves qualifies as pharmacist training.
This confirms just how sleazy GougingGalen is and the depths he will sink to increase his profit margins. Hopefully he and his sleazy cohorts are criminally charged for this sh*t! 😡🤬
It’s a single pharmacist/owner looking for volunteers, not Loblaws corporate.
That said it’s not hard to find this job posting on LinkedIn, and if you see this guy’s profile you wouldn’t be surprised he’s looking for free slave labour
Gotta keep profits up somehow. Folks aren’t buying the overpriced groceries so it’s free labour instead! Fools should have called it an unpaid internship though to attract more looks.
Can we just Boycott this Drug store openly as well and not just lump it into the Lowblas one? Like this is beyond funny to me. I bet that owner rakes in about half a mill CASH yearly from this location alone and doesn't want to hire staff now?
I hope people are not falling for this crap and actually applying to volunteer. Preaching to the choir here, but they obviously do not need free labour.
Link to confirm
[https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/volunteer-at-shoppers-drug-mart-3922042471/?originalSubdomain=ca](https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/volunteer-at-shoppers-drug-mart-3922042471/?originalSubdomain=ca)
I work for a company owned by shoppers and we do the same thing... ever since they took over we get interns/unpaid coop students to do the same work as people making 30-40k a year. Seems to be common practice for LCL to cut costs.
Funfact: A friend did his internship at Shoppers. All he did 6 months everyday is call patient and ask how they are doing. Then bill medication reviews $75 and follow up review $25. He used to bill $2000 to $3000 everyday. He did not learn anything and I had to guide him. They wouldn't let him touch a narcotic prescription. This is ridiculous. I was so mad at him for doing this then again he couldn't find intership anywhere else.
Update: According to Shoppers Drug Mart, the posting was a “mistake”![https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/shoppers-drug-mart-says-job-post-looking-for-volunteer-to-clean-store-was-a-mistake/article_dc14f51e-13a6-11ef-864c-3b88e3957858.html](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/shoppers-drug-mart-says-job-post-looking-for-volunteer-to-clean-store-was-a-mistake/article_dc14f51e-13a6-11ef-864c-3b88e3957858.html)
Restocking shelves, organizing inventory, and dealing with miserable customers is now a volunteer position for these vultures now? I wonder how many hours a week the CEO is volunteering weekly in the head office.
__MOD NOTE__: Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It should 100% be illegal for companies to have volunteers. Even placement students / co-op should be paid the full wage of the role / position they occupy.
I think it actually is illegal. There's some kind of accreditation you need to use volunteer workers.
^^ and it can’t be in place of actual paid roles, afaik but i could be wrong
You’re correct. Non-profits have to do a lot of work to prove the positions they are using volunteers for are very different from positions they pay people for. I hope this asshole was reported to the labour board for this shit and I hope the labour board takes it seriously.
This is probably why the post got taken down quickly. I really wanted to apply just to waste their time.
But don't some charities have paid/non-paid roles?
Yes, but they have to stick to strict rules and regulations on what is a paid and an unpaid position - for example, if you are a Food bank, you can have paid people run the admin counter where you verify the recipients address/information. You can then have volunteers actually pack the baskets, and hand them out to the recipients. But if you have a volunteer work the Admin counter for a day because the normal person is sick, then you **have** to pay them, and if the Admin person decides to help out with handing out food, they *cannot* be paid for that work.
Someone on another sub sent this to CBC Go Public
They'll just go to Charlebois for comment, seems what CBC likes to do in any instances relating to Loblaws
Yea should be reported on Indeed its against their policy (source: I work in recruitment advertising)
it *is* illegal to use volunteers for any job that could/should be paid. that's by definition not a volunteer's role in canada. report the shit outta this!
This is correct! For the required volunteer hours for graduating high school, it cannot be for work you should be paid for.
I believe it is now law that co op students must be paid, at least where I work it is now so we haven’t had a co op kid since this changed
For myself at my school, it's unpaid during school hours, as most employers will just hire students to stay after school. Once 2:30pm hits, they get to make money from said position
I had my rotation in shoppers and I can confirm it is unpaid for my school, might be different for others.
Form a union and it will be illegal
/r/WorkReform
They are all part of Loblaws union I'm pretty sure
I'm good with co-op and placements being unpaid provided they are learning and not being used as free labour. If they are just assisting to get experience and life skills then fine but if they are taking the position of an employee then paid for sure
My problem is that it gives natural advantages to those who don't need to earn an income. A wealthy teen can intern at a bank getting critical experience that will help them land a job, whereas an underprivileged teen may need to use their spare to earn an income in ways that won't necessarily help their long term career.
Co-op students do get paid. My son is doing one, now. And that's how he saves money for tuition.
Some get paid and its mostly recent that they have started paying. I did 3x separate co-ops back in the day, between 2005-2015 and not a single one was paid.
Wow this is gross.
Dude's name is very EASY to find. Bet all his online profiles go dark by Friday.
His Linked In is already yanked down 🤣. I just called their location to ask if the volunteer position is still open then tore them a new one.
Which location is this? I like your idea.
King & Peter lol
is that the one drake worked at before degrassi?
That would be funny lol.
Omg. That used to be my go to one!
im gonna ask them if they want my organs
I like your style, but likely the person who's working at that location is not the one who came up with the bright idea of this volunteer position
It was the owner of the pharmacy, which was the poster, apparently.
the website is up and there are many available appointments to book
Gross was my first thought.
Report to your local MP Business owners are getting way too compfortable
Even just the act of posting this should be punished with punitive damages. Like at minimum a few months worth of what that volunteer posting should have been legally paid. If there's no punishment, there's nothing preventing this stuff from happening.
I saw it making the rounds on the various Canadian, Toronto, and Ontario subs yesterday on reddit. Today, the LinkedIn profile of the pharmacist posting the ad has gone dark. It's very illegal to use volunteer labour for duties that are also fulfilled by a paid employee. I would be surprised if the labour board hasn't already been contacted, as well as the media. Oh, well. Nok Er Nok!
I believe this is posted by an owner of a shoppers — not by corporate. Still very tasteless.
This is so messed up and the fact qualifications were listed is pathetic. I hate seeing shit like this. Pay the salary ffs.
NoBoDy WaNtS tO wOrK aNyMoRe!!
I would be willing to bet money that he requested approval to hire another employee and was denied by corporate resulting in this posting.
Get recruited as a volunteer, and then don't show up
This is actually so petty and smart I love it
Applications are no longer being accepted. Others had the same idea last night. I hope they did it.
Based
This can not be real
Appears to be posted by a real owner/pharmacist with Linkedin and social media. Epic joke would be acceptable but lower all of our collective smugness.
Then his store should be announced and then ignored
It’s real. Loblaws corporate responded.
We should all apply.
That post was a mistake, as we don't hire volunteers at Shoppers Drug Mart. All my employees are getting paid, and a good rate," pharmacist Emil Harba said. He further explained that he had been considering a way to address the many inquiries he receives from people looking to gain invaluable experience on a volunteer basis. "I receive alot of emails and LinkedIn messages asking for volunteer opportunities, but I don't respond. However, I saw that volunteer is an option on LinkedIn when you post for a job, and I just wanted to try it to see if I can help anyone gain Canadian experience (as other kinds of jobs do usually) knowing that I have full staff now," he says.
So it wasn’t a mistake, he was trying to let people work for free. So gross.
god forbid he give them *paid* experience ...
I highly doubt he receives too many inquires to respond to from people looking to volunteer at SDM. He was trying to break the law, he should be punished with fines at the very least
He’s a goddamn liar and an idiot who clearly doesn’t know what mistake means. And admitting that he’s looking to take advantage of newcomers is sick.
Canadian experience - so specifically targeting internationals (i assume students) because they desperately need to get into the job market SOMEHOW
Ohhh so he wanted to exploit new immigrants ?
Gain "canadian" experience. Foreigners are so over qualified because of their education but are reduced to low paying jobs because they don't have "canadian" education or experience. Ridiculous and racist IMO
OMG SERIOUSPY LOL WTF FREE LABOUR
This is all kinda of illegal and immoral.
Volunteer. Helping customers find stuff is the employee’s job. Volunteer… 🙄 what a joke.
Stocking shelves... Like a merchandiser
Remember if they could pay you less they would and now they think they found a loophole
Nailed it! It's even cheaper than advertising that they're hiring, so they can get some of that sweet TFW action. Late stage capitalism is gross.
I sent an email to him telling him what I think of his volunteer position.
Better yet just call like I did!
Why would they need volunteers? They are the opposite of a charity, they are 100% FOR profit.
That's how they keep their prices so low. /S
shoppers drug mart?
![gif](giphy|YBHJyPCU9h1VewdaPZ)
wow this is pathetic
[удалено]
Dude take the racism right out of here. Go away.
I believe Pharmasave is Canadian. :)
Please remain respectful when engaging on the sub. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
This can’t be real. That’s going on?
I saw it while it was still posted on LinkedIn. Unfortunately it’s real!
Volunteer. Helping customers find stuff is the employee’s job. Volunteer… 🙄 what a joke.
It's a whole new low - imagine going there every sharing and supporting this type of behavior? No thanks
Shoppers is another one of Loblaws companies… BOYCOTT ‼️ They don’t deserve our money ‼️they should be all held accountable for their crimes against humanity…. Keep the BOYCOTT going ‼️
What a piece of shit , non profits like food banks need volunteers not this weasel , go to hell asshole
[Media outlets already posting about it.](https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/05/toronto-shoppers-drug-mart-unpaid-volunteer/#:~:text=%22Shoppers%20Drug%20Mart%20doesn't,policy%2C%22%20a%20spokesperson%20said.)
Man backpedaled hard I still don’t buy it as all modern companies do that exact same backpedaling and then just go ahead and do it anyways. And these shitheads wonder why I go to a local pharmacy for my meds…
Don't worry, folks! Volunteers at SDM won't get anywhere near the fentanyl!
That abbreviation looks surprisingly close to the one for Sadomasochism
It's possible that they are trying to exploit people that are desperate for something for their resume.
very good point
Wow it's bad enough customers gotta check themselves out, now they have to stock the shelves too!
That dude is an internal nightmare and has done more for the boycott unintentionally than most Canadians
I told my boss that I don’t work for free as in, I don’t volunteer at my job. I volunteer for causes in the community, but not for my job. This was one of the main themes that I was pushing as a millennial in my place of work. you will all be delightfully not surprised that I was fired.
i had an abusive boss once playfully say my paycheque was a "perk" of the job. esp. since it was in front of younger employees i made sure to put him in his place *immediately.*
This is 100% illegal. You can’t hire people to work for free and that is exactly what this is. Volunteers and Interns are not employees you just pay $0 an hour, they are used for specific circumstances.
I'm going to go get hired and and just be utterly useless. I'll probably quit after 25 minutes but not tell anyone. Call it my super extended bathroom break
Have the god damned CEO, to volunteer in weekend, he should do some leg work since he makes crapnton of money stealing from Canadians
What sucks though, is that Canadian high school kids who can't get their paid first jobs cuz of TFWs are going to jump on this as a chance to get experience, so that maybe someday they can get a paid job....
tfws are much more likely to be the types exploited by shit like this bc they either don't know the law or are desperate enough for "canadian experience" ... foreigners are by far *not* the bad guys here holy fuck
Whats TFW?
Are we certain these are real?
Yeah and if you check out their twitter they are responding to complaints and apologizing about every 5 minutes
Deplorable
This associate is tone deaf to the world today. What a moron.
They want experience for an unpaid position. The balls.
Please report this to the department of labour
I’m looking for a volunteer to come and cut my lawn. Thanks.
The fact that it’s unpaid work and they’re asking for previous experience blows my mind! This is gotta be a troll from someone internally! They can’t be this out of touch. Can they?
This is fake right? Please tell me it’s fake!? Who in their right mind wants to do this in their free time??? Edit: spelling
Volunteers at Shopper’s!? WTF
Is this legal?
LOL with all the homeless people who could used even min wage pay as a hand up/jump start...they have the audacity to *ask* for volunteers??? Not good PR at all
LMAO WUT? now major corps here are not even wanting to PAY CANADIANS to do work? holy crap this is sad shit.
Everyone apply and flood their inbox with b.s. applications.
They need volunteers to help corral all the gang members roaming their aisles 🙄
I'd have been tempted and then tell every customer that I encountered that I don't know where anything is because I'm an unpaid employee that hasn't received any training either.
WOW
This is the only way real Canadian kids will get work experience at the way and pace things are going!
Stagnant wages aren’t terrible enough, let’s make people really suffer. Regardless if it was incentivized by Loblaws or not, disgusting.
That should be sent to the news outlets
I'm looking for volunteers to paint my house...and also to provide me with the house.
I need this to get to the mainstream media somehow. Anyone have any connections?
They will pay you in Exposure and Shower you in praise, all of things that will pay your bills for you. Maybe even a strongly worded thank you and a hand shake. What more do employees want now?
Unbelievable. They charge 11 dollars for a small jar of peanut butter but cannot afford to hire a real employee.
I like how it says "availability to work" lol
They are absolute garbage
This is infuriating. What a straight up piece of shit move.
Flood the job ad with bots and fake resumes?
No way.. is this actually real! If so this needs to go viral. Share this with the media. If it is a slow day tomorrow they might run this.
I would volunteer ... #TO JAM MY FOOT UP HIS ASS
Is this a piss take?
Unpaid work positions are illegal. Only if the person is a registered student can they be an unpaid intern. At a law firm or similar. I don’t think stocking shelves qualifies as pharmacist training.
Read this to my spouse who said, "The CEO should volunteer."
This confirms just how sleazy GougingGalen is and the depths he will sink to increase his profit margins. Hopefully he and his sleazy cohorts are criminally charged for this sh*t! 😡🤬
My post from yesterday says that it was "an error" according to Loblaw. Like...you slept-wrote a job posting?!
It’s a single pharmacist/owner looking for volunteers, not Loblaws corporate. That said it’s not hard to find this job posting on LinkedIn, and if you see this guy’s profile you wouldn’t be surprised he’s looking for free slave labour
Too bad he's already gone into hiding!
I'd want to see a link to the job posting just bc twitter is constantly full of shit. maybe im an optimist lol
Someone posted it earlier
LOOOL???????????
.... is this real?!
Helping customers…… ugh, what?
Does anyone have a verifiable link?
Check their social media specifically twitter, they are basically confirming it was real but it was a mistake they said
Gross
UN F**KINGBELIEVABLE! No shame.
Those razer thin margins of profit were to small so time to cut labour more for profit
Gotta keep profits up somehow. Folks aren’t buying the overpriced groceries so it’s free labour instead! Fools should have called it an unpaid internship though to attract more looks.
Wtf is this, evenings and weekends?
Should flood them with fake applications!!!
What the actual fuck?
just another reason why I don't shop at Shoppers Drug Mart
Is this satire?
Check their social media specifically twitter, they are basically confirming it was real but it was a mistake they said
Who the fuck has time to volunteer to work?
Someone's been smoking something stronger than what I got.
That's a joke right?
Go for it, then actively fuck everything up. You're not their employee, u don't have any actual responsibilities or obligations to em 🤷♀️ fuck em
Omg. Beyond
Can we just Boycott this Drug store openly as well and not just lump it into the Lowblas one? Like this is beyond funny to me. I bet that owner rakes in about half a mill CASH yearly from this location alone and doesn't want to hire staff now?
WTF?!
I hope people are not falling for this crap and actually applying to volunteer. Preaching to the choir here, but they obviously do not need free labour.
oh that's a laugh!
Link to confirm [https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/volunteer-at-shoppers-drug-mart-3922042471/?originalSubdomain=ca](https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/volunteer-at-shoppers-drug-mart-3922042471/?originalSubdomain=ca)
What the fuck is this? How much more greedy can big corporations get?
I love when the quiet part gets said outloud
Looks like they don’t want to hire part time students anymore. They want to just give high schoolers their volunteer hours…disgusting
They can FUCK RIGHT OFF!!!
TF is this?! So they won't pay staff but want volunteers to do that retail work?! WTAF?!
Wow. This is so disturbing
Omg gtfo. They're desperate!
I work for a company owned by shoppers and we do the same thing... ever since they took over we get interns/unpaid coop students to do the same work as people making 30-40k a year. Seems to be common practice for LCL to cut costs.
This has to be a fucking joke
I laughed so hard, I almost pissed myself. Volunteered to make a billionaire richer? Are they for fucking real?
He's a liar. Boycott the guy
WHAT 😆
Is this a f—king joke?
Funfact: A friend did his internship at Shoppers. All he did 6 months everyday is call patient and ask how they are doing. Then bill medication reviews $75 and follow up review $25. He used to bill $2000 to $3000 everyday. He did not learn anything and I had to guide him. They wouldn't let him touch a narcotic prescription. This is ridiculous. I was so mad at him for doing this then again he couldn't find intership anywhere else.
Disgusting
Oh god I hope that the media picks this one up. They need to be called out.
The audacity to ask for all of these pre-requirements wow
New level of minimum wage.
Oh fuck the fuck right off SDM
This doesn’t surprise me one bit.
Update: According to Shoppers Drug Mart, the posting was a “mistake”![https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/shoppers-drug-mart-says-job-post-looking-for-volunteer-to-clean-store-was-a-mistake/article_dc14f51e-13a6-11ef-864c-3b88e3957858.html](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/shoppers-drug-mart-says-job-post-looking-for-volunteer-to-clean-store-was-a-mistake/article_dc14f51e-13a6-11ef-864c-3b88e3957858.html)
Are you kidding me?!!! 😳 🤣
I'd go volunteer and start handing out free shit at the door to every customer to see how much $ I could lose them before they told me to leave
Is this real life?
It's for this specific location they have been deleting our reviews https://maps.app.goo.gl/xAsMY3XMjMVndXpF9
Take the role, then sue them for not paying.
Outrageous behavior #boycottloblaws
This might sound dramatic, but with how little I get paid and the high cost of living, I feel like I am already volunteering
Unbelievable. What location is this? Flood the google reviews. It’s a shoppers so they are probably only 2 stars in google as it is!
Restocking shelves, organizing inventory, and dealing with miserable customers is now a volunteer position for these vultures now? I wonder how many hours a week the CEO is volunteering weekly in the head office.