UPDATE: A current Target employee rebuts these statements, inside…
Target gets a free pass in many cases, as opposed to say, a certain blue-colored store, thanks in large part to its eye-popping ad campaigns and associations with artists and feel-good organizations, but the allegations by one disgruntled Target worker, which you should read with a hunk of salt, paint a different picture…
landlease: I work full time at Target and id like to tell their secrets
benpopken: We love secrets
landlease: I worked day time and overnight so i know what its like around the clock First, the security mostly follows black people. One manager told me they don’t want a black person working in electronics, because they steal more than others…
(Photo: nycmstar
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landlease:A hell of a lot of team members steal from the stock rooms.
Everyone makes fun of customers as soon as they walk away. We wear fake name tags so that when a customer DOES tell a manager that an employee was rude, nobody gets in trouble.
When we apply, we are promised 40+ hours a week. I am down to 24. And every week my manager tells me they will go up to 40. The only reason is that I’m under 40 is that then you don’t get health benefits.
benpopken: What store do you work in?
landlease: I work in NY. I’m not telling where. Oh and theres a bar across the street. So on the measly half hour breaks they give you in an 8-hour shift, many people down as much as they can and return to work buzzing or drunk.
Oh, and I’m getting a surgery next month, so i begged to work 40 hours so my health insurance can activate, they said no. So I’m gonna have to pay like, full price.
Oh oh oh, one more thing before i go, the dog recalls. Apparently the people working in pets, don’t give a shit, cuz they didn’t remove anything….
Whether these allegations are true and/or limited to just one store is hard to say. All we know is that the Brooklyn Target is really dirty and the shelves are always in disarray— a far cry from the gleaming image they beam out the boob tubes. — BEN POPKEN
UPDATE: And now, counterpoint from a current Target employee:
I just read the new article about Target and wanted to share my insight on the issue.The employee said some truthful things, but some were extreme exaggerations.
1.The security mostly follows black people
a. Not true at all. I work at a very busy target, and we usually have 3 AP people on site at all times. They rarely have time to follow anyone. One usually stands at the doors, one is in plainclothes and wonders the stores looking for suspicious activity – never following unless told to do so by the third person who is usually watching the cameras.
2. Everyone makes fun of customers as soon as they walk away. We wear fake name tags so that when a customer DOES tell a manager that an employee was rude, nobody gets in trouble.
a.Several things wrong with this one
b. We sometimes make fun of customers, usually in jest to make the time fly by faster – and it’s usually not about a certain individual.
c. We do wear fake name tags SOMETIMES. The majority of team members wear their real names. The executives give you a random nametag if you come to work without one.
3. When we apply, we are promised 40+ hours a week. I am down to 24. And every week my manager tells me they will go up to 40. The only reason is that I’m under 40 is that then you don’t get health benefits.
a. Bull Fucking Shit.
b. When you apply, you’re told that you have an opportunity to work 40+ hours. You are never scheduled over 40 hours unless you’re paid overtime. There were no promises. Target has been cutting hours but if you are only working 24 hours a week suck it up and maybe learn other areas of the store. I’m trained in 8+ areas of the store and get over 30 hours per week.
c. Theres also a sheet where you can cover shifts for another employee – great way to get new hours.
4. On half hour lunch breaks:
a. Yes, this is true but it’s plenty of time if you don’t try to get drunk before coming back to work. Almost all of the team members at my store eat in the break room or restaurants nearby and end up waiting at the punchclock to be able to clock back in.
5. Dog Recalls
a. It was removed if there was a specific recall. Target stores were sent signs and lists of recalled food items and dates. The food was removed from the store I work at the same day.
Target does have some flaws, but this is just crazy – she was probably reprimanded for working drunk and took out her anger on here.
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Well, clue #1… if the jackass won’t say where he works why even bother posting his claims… no one can even begin to research the issue.
Agreed with the others.. this is a wasted post.
@kerry: I love teh one in Evanston! I think it is a very nice store, they have everything I need, and they have great shoe selections. I am shocked to hear you call it dirty, unless it has changed over the years.
@amyjay: Is this a federal law, or does it vary from state to state?
My experience working at Target was nothing like this although it wasn’t perfect. I came in my first day to train and they put me on the floor quickly training me to use the register. They also liked to be constantly out of stock of items in the weekly flier, which meant customers would bitch at me as if I was responsible. Yeah, I don’t miss that place.
@amyjay: Geez, that’s right. When I worked there benefits started at 35 hours, not 40. If anyone promised him 40+ hours, they were lying. But in my orientation, they were REALLY clear about all of that and gave no impression that anyone was going to get benefits. I also now recall that benefits don’t kick in as soon as you worked a 35+ hour week. You had to maintain an average of 35+ hours for a period of time. I can’t recall how long, though. I remember it, though, because I was getting scheduled for 35+ hour weeks (which I didn’t want; had a full time job with benefits already) but I knew it meant if I stayed long enough, my hours would be cut severely to compensate and keep my average below 35. They were always very upfront and honest about this.
My sister’s a department manager at a Target in southern California, and while nothing she’s ever said indicates racism on the part of the LP staff, she’s certainly been more irritated with her job since there was a change in management. She’s always got full-time hours, but with the new manager, her hours are continually being cut, or she’s losing her level I staff and having to do more herself without overtime available. She says that the entire staff is up in arms, and she’s looking for something else, not in retail. Bottom line, she was happy enough with her job before the management change, and the things this poster was complaining about could certainly vary from store to store. But the chain doesn’t seem plagued by systemic/business practice problems the way that Wal-Mart is, and its stores are consistently cleaner and better stocked, in my experience.
I’d rather pay the Container Store’s prices and know that people were being treated well, honestly. People are a better investment than cheap toilet paper.
Word to everyone about mocking customers behind their backs. It’s impossible to make it through the day in retail or food service without doing so. Personally, venting about idiot customers to my coworkers made it easier for me to be calm and colleced with the next person I encountered.
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“The only reason is that I’m under 40 is that then you don’t get health benefits.
….
I’m trained in 8+ areas of the store and get over 30 hours per week. “
No mention of whether you get health benefits.
Also, depending on where the Target is, following mostly black people might not be a bad idea. But WTF re: “no blacks working in electronics.”
Doesn’t seem legit.
@FatLynn: It may have changed for the better in recent years. Before it was remodeled (about 3 years ago, I guess) I would routinely go in and find aisles literally filled with merchandise on the floor, stuff scattered everywhere, dingy everything and not enough checkout people. That place was a mess.
I worked at target for nearly two years…some points.
I didn’t see any racial profiling by AP that I recall, but I did have multiple coworkers that did blow (and occasionally ice) in the parking lot on breaks (and by coworkers, I mean both salesfloor and management).
There isn’t a shift-cover sheet in every store, because of the three I worked in, none had one.
The hour-cutting to save the company money on medical coverage – I saw that happen the entire time I worked there. People would be scheduled 38 hours, 39 hours, etc. Underscheduling was a consistent problem. The vast majority of people got nothing like what they were originally promised at date-of-hire.
Grumpy employee story, sure. But a lot of what the OP said wasn’t that far off.
@TechnoDestructo: you miserable racist failure. following black people for theft…gee, the country really has progressed in the last half century. take a toaster bath for the love of Darwin…please.
@mantari: Maybe you’re just shopping at a very cruisy Wal-Mart.
Not calling on anything else said, but 30 minutes for lunch is never enough. That’s just enough from your feet to go from numb to pained before you have to get back up on them again.
I worked at Target and I never saw or heard of security following only black people. I was told when I worked there that most theft was done by employees, but in the 3 years I worked there no one ever was fired for stealing.
At the Target I worked at they would have loved for people to take 40 hours… most people didn’t want that many hours. During Christmas we got a lot of overtime. When I was working (~94-96) you didn’t have to work 40hrs to get medical insurance, I think it was around 30hrs.
Yeah we made fun of customers. And management. And whatever lame advertisement was on the TVs in electronics. And other employees. And politics, merchandise, other stores, food, etc. You get the point right? It wasn’t just about shoppers or “guests” as Target likes to call them.
There were employees that didn’t wear name tags (if they forgot them), but I never saw anyone wear the wrong name tag on purpose.
30min lunches are bullshit, it forces you to either eat at the nasty Target cafe, or fast food if you didn’t bring lunch. On slow days I would take longer lunches, on my last Christmas eve I took a 2hr+ breaks because I worked every damn Christmas eve for 3 years.
Our store was neat and clean. They would often have us work 1 to 3 hours (3hrs usually around Christmas and Halloween) past closing just to clean up the store.
This is TRUE AS HELL
Take it from someone that worked at Office Depot….
We were instructed to watch indiscriminantly every black that came into the store.
By the way, you want stereotypes….well, they do steal the MOST.
The black bum that comes in goes after the small items with boxcutters….like books….computer mice and headphones….The black male that is…
The female black is stupid and generally goes after expensive consumables and crummy dvd players…like the cyberhomes and toner…
Now, when there is a well dressed black dude, then he is either a drug dealer or a top level thief…
Generally hes a theif….he will come in, try to buy a laptop, and when they cashier put the laptop on the counter to scan it, he grabs the laptop and tries to run out with it….
Also, if you see a group of black kids….they will generally fill up the cart and try to push it out to a waiting truck…..
These are all true stories of TRUE events…that hit a few ODs in out network…
I’m the source for the update – Just wanted to write in and say that Target Employees don’t have time to follow black people either – We’re busy doing pulls, backstock, zoning, the works. We rarely have time to talk to friends that happen to stop by, let alone follow African Americans around becuase of a steriotype.
How does he “work full time at Target” if they only give him 24 hours a week?
Either way, he sounds like a dipshit.
Target is a awful place to shop and work at. I have worked there for a year now and I have a bunch of KIDS Micromanaging me. I have been in the work force for over 20 years. I moved to Auburn, CA a year ago. I have a small child so I needed a job that would work around me. I mistakenly applied at Target. All the ETL’s (Executive Team Lead), and STL (Store Team Lead) and the TL’s (Team Lead) are children. They were all in diapers or not even thought of yet. I really think that they are all BRAINWASHED. I take care of all the stupid ads that they put up weekly. As Advertised is just that. NO difference in Price. Sale thru Saturday is normally around .05 cents to around .50 cents savings. They have ones that say EVEN LOWER. Do not believe that one. It’s the same price. Not Lower. Then they have TPC’s which is Temporary Price Cut. Yeah right. It’s funny they will put something on sale by .50 cents and then on Monday I will receive a TPC’s to go up on Tuesday, and it’s the same frickin price. DUH. Target really sucks. They give $3 million to the community and talk about how they take care of the community they are in. Big deal that’s a tax write off. Target is one of the worst companies I have ever worked for. They are nothing but a joke. Oh yeah, watch the price of everything that gets rung up. It may say that it’s on sale and they charge you the regular price. Sorry, I could go on and on about this awful company. I won’t. I just want the public to know that they are a joke. All you are doing is lining the BIG WIGS pockets. They do nothing for most of their employees. They only like to give you around 8 hours a week. Like anyone can live off that. Who the hell wants a 3% raise making $8.00. Wow .24 cents, when everything else goes up 3 bucks. TARGET SUCKS.