STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

BargainQueen · Marc Jacobs

Employee Raises

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

Ouch. Yeah. I kind of doubt that employee is planning to stick around much longer. You sound like a nice boss though. I'm sure she appreciates working with someone like you.

Hermione · Kate Spade

You know - at my last job, I got hired as an assistant manager - our store was brand new, and the manager was the only employee who had been with the company (she'd been there for 5 years.)
She was extremely laid back, and never really trained any of us well, but we knew enough to know that something with the record-keeping wasn't right, and also she'd pick an employee every couple of weeks to just go crazy on (full-out cussing and all - luckily I never got any of it.) She was fired six weeks after I started.
So, as assistant, I stepped up and filled in her role until they got a new manager. I also had two part-time girls who had keys to the store. One of them started leaving the store while it was open and drinking on the clock. She got fired.
The other one ended up becoming addicted to crack and most of the time wouldn't show up for her shift and if she did it was hours late.
One of my other part-timers quit.
Basically, I was at the store every day, and when I wasn't, I was constantly being called, or I would come in during my off day or shift to give someone a break (when I worked, I just wouldn't get a break.)
Five months later they finally give us a new manager (also experienced, several years.) She leaves the company entirely a month after she gets there. It is now October - Christmas season in retail. They decide who the new manager will be, and say she won't come 'till after Christmas because they don't want to disrupt her store in the middle of holiday season - And here am I, no management experience, no experience with this brand, no freaking Holiday retail experience, running the show. The entire time I had the store, we made plan, and one of the only stores in the DFW district too.
2 things - 1) I finally said "why didn't you just ask me to be store manager since I was doing it anyway?" They said "oh, we were waiting for you to say you wanted it." !!!!!
2) When I got my raise it was $0.50 And they said that was big.
I quit as soon as the new manager was established.

I guess that was more of a vent, but yeah. a raise like that feels like a joke. I'm sorry you're in that position.

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

Hermione wrote:

You know - at my last job, I got hired as an assistant manager - our store was brand new, and the manager was the only employee who had been with the company (she'd been there for 5 years.)
She was extremely laid back, and never really trained any of us well, but we knew enough to know that something with the record-keeping wasn't right, and also she'd pick an employee every couple of weeks to just go crazy on (full-out cussing and all - luckily I never got any of it.) She was fired six weeks after I started.
So, as assistant, I stepped up and filled in her role until they got a new manager. I also had two part-time girls who had keys to the store. One of them started leaving the store while it was open and drinking on the clock. She got fired.
The other one ended up becoming addicted to crack and most of the time wouldn't show up for her shift and if she did it was hours late.
One of my other part-timers quit.
Basically, I was at the store every day, and when I wasn't, I was constantly being called, or I would come in during my off day or shift to give someone a break (when I worked, I just wouldn't get a break.)
Five months later they finally give us a new manager (also experienced, several years.) She leaves the company entirely a month after she gets there. It is now October - Christmas season in retail. They decide who the new manager will be, and say she won't come 'till after Christmas because they don't want to disrupt her store in the middle of holiday season - And here am I, no management experience, no experience with this brand, no freaking Holiday retail experience, running the show. The entire time I had the store, we made plan, and one of the only stores in the DFW district too.
2 things - 1) I finally said "why didn't you just ask me to be store manager since I was doing it anyway?" They said "oh, we were waiting for you to say you wanted it." !!!!!
2) When I got my raise it was $0.50 And they said that was big.
I quit as soon as the new manager was established.

I guess that was more of a vent, but yeah. a raise like that feels like a joke. I'm sorry you're in that position.

Hermione, you might have a wage and hour claim. You should see a lawyer.