Deliberately breaking rules

[LadyBarbossa]

It seems my workplace is crawling with people, long-time employees, who seem to take personal offense at what's expected of them from the 'Mart. Case in point: I was on break a few days ago and one of the cashiers was sitting at the table with me, complaining about the fact that she was being asked to guard the GM receiving door, possibly for the whole day. I find it sad that we even have to have someone watch the door in case of employee theft, but I digress.

Store rules are that any employee on a register or in receiving may ONLY have water to drink, and it must be in a closed container that will not spill if tipped over. Other employees are not to carry drinks with them. This cashier said that she thinks that's an idiotic rule, because "What can possibly get messed up by a (non water) drink in receiving?" and that the other people in receiving have sweet drinks and such, and that you're only in trouble if the Asset Protection/Safety Team lead catches you with it. She then declared that she was going to go to the in-store McDonald's and get a coffee to take back there with her, and just hide it if AP lady came back there. I've known this person for years, and she's always got something negative to say/something to bitch about. She's an older lady, late fifties at least, and knows better. I realize some rules may seem cumbersome/stupid, but really, you asked for the job when you applied. The store is paying you to work for them, and you still moan and complain that you can't carry a coffee/tea/diet coke everywhere with you while on the job? It aggravated me to know end that she and other people are constantly trying to 'get one over' on the company by breaking rules, whether boldly or sneakily.

All I could think was that it was a shame AP lead was on vacation this week, because I've never wanted her to catch someone so badly. AP is a great person; she used to be a CSM and I always liked cashiering when she was on shift.

[JustaCashier]

I'm 100% with you on this.

And conversely, I think it's just as wrong for a store policy to not allow water in an employee's work area, as long as they are following the no spill container rule, and keeping it away form any electronics, paperwork, product, and other stuff that even plain water can damage.

Water is sufficient, and I think necessary. I've heard of instances, probably here on CS but also personal accounts from others, in real life, where they are not even allowed water in a closed container at or near their workstation, because "it doesn't look professional".


Cashiers are on the move, and talking to the customers, and in places like hardware stores (much of my experience) it's dusty, customers are bringing up plants, and just the pollen etc in general can be hell for those of us with allergies, and we often need a quick sip or two of water, to get rid of the tickle in the throat, and allow us to continue to talk with the customer. In shipping/receiving the employees are moving boxes around, kicking up dust, and getting all sweaty, so they should be able to have water nearby as well.

But anything else, is not needed, except perhaps on an individual basis for medical reasons such as a diabetic employee, who has provided management with a Doctor's note. Of course, you'll always get the occasional employee without the medical issues, that think they should be able to have pop or coffee at their workstation, because (employee with medical issues) gets to have it.

I've always had pretty strong feelings on this matter, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a klutz, and can easily knock stuff like drink bottles and cups over. So, I don't want to have to hassle with getting in trouble for knocking mine over, and having it cause damage, or somebody elses for that matter, if they leave it in a stupid place, where I'm not expecting it to be.


Mike

[blas87]

I love it when people do that. Then the privilege gets taken away and everyone gets screwed.

Where I work, we CANNOT have any water or liquids in the area because of the machinery, but no one will ever say anything if you sneak out for a minute to get a drink from the bubbler. Well, until 10 people do it all at once constantly and everyone has to get a talking-to.

[DrFaroohk]

yay I get to disagree here.

Every rule must have a point. If the rule is only water at the register - why? What's the point? Why water and not iced tea? Is one different? What IS the difference?

the typical answer is: "It's my store and I said so."

Sorry, not good enough. Again, what's the point of your rule?

Maybe there's a good reason for it - it's a pet store and the aroma of any beverage other than water sends the animals into a bloodthirsty rage.

Well ok then, there's a good point. I will leave my iced tea in my locker.

Maybe it's just because "it's my store and I said so." So in other words, you were looking for reasons to flex your authoritative muscles to feel good about yourself. You feel powerful now.

Sorry, but that is one of the few times I'll say "It's not my job." Because its not my job to be your guinea pig or scapegoat or just plain entertainment center.

Go ahead and fire me for being like that, but keep in mind I'm also one of your best workers. I'm always early, never late, I take the shortest breaks of anyone and you'll never see me standing around gabbing at the pretty girls and screwing off in the sporting goods aisle. And if you cross me by enforcing silly rules, I can be vindictive as fuck.

[LadyBarbossa]

yay I get to disagree here.

Every rule must have a point. If the rule is only water at the register - why? What's the point? Why water and not iced tea? Is one different? What IS the difference?

the typical answer is: "It's my store and I said so."

Sorry, not good enough. Again, what's the point of your rule?

To be fair, the point of having only water at registers and in receiving is because tea and other drinks will stain and leave a sticky mess all over everything if an accident occurs. I'm sure no one who grabs a box of freight to stock their department's shelves wants to touch it after someone's latte has dripped all over it, not to mention how it would look if a customer saw it sitting on a pallet or cart on the sales floor.

As for my 'other employees may not carry drinks' statement, I should clarify that it applies mostly to people who simply have no place to put it, like at a register or under a counter. We can try to remember that we set our bottle of water on X shelf in isle 3, but it will more often than not get forgotten and end up sitting there looking trashy. Or you might place it on a rocket cart or L cart and a coworker will inadvertently roll away with it, because things like that just happen.

Trust me, I guzzle water like a racehorse, and when I was cashiering, I'd empty my 32oz bottle at least once over the course of a shift. I worked at a Winn Dixie for a short while where cashiers were not allowed ANY drink and it was hellish. I was constantly dehydrated and put on weight during my time there. People need water.

I'm just irritated at people who seem to go out of their way and almost seem to feel a burning need to find some company rule to break or get around 'because they can'.

[Racket_Man]

I would like to point out that there are valid medical reasons WHY someone may need to have access to water throughout the day. Diabeties is one and being prone to Kidney Stones is another, a sever kidney infection (dealt with both me the stones and my Ex the diabeties).

yes the average adult, statictically speaking, may need only one liter of water a day but seaonality (meaning warm or hot weather) can change those averages.

yes I am prone to kidnet stones, but my company's rules state I can not even have even a bottle of water in my CAR when performing my job ie. pizza delivery. and yup I break the rules ALL the time. yeah I have heard that any distraction could be fatal. BUT if you have ever had a kidney stone and the associated pain and suffering, you would break the rules too. esp during the warm hot months (NO I will not run my AC during the summer. It drops my gas mileage too far down for the meager gas compensation I get).

If you can show a very good reason, it should be allowed.

[blas87]

I must agree regarding people who feel the need to break rules just because they feel that they can.

I really would like to know the reasoning behind it. What do you stand to gain by breaking a rule and potentially getting yourself and everyone else in trouble? (Because, as we all know, one person usually screws it up for everyone). Are these people that dense or careless that they really wouldn't mind if the privilege was revoked for everyone because that one or two people felt the rule didn't apply to them?

This is how we always end up having our breaks so heavily monitored at work and the wrong people always end up getting in trouble. One or two people or a small group feel that they can take as long of breaks as they want, or that they've worked really hard or had a bad shift, so therefore, the rules don't apply, then once they get caught, everyone ends up being watched like hawks.

[linguist]

To be fair, the point of having only water at registers and in receiving is because tea and other drinks will stain and leave a sticky mess all over everything if an accident occurs.

not to mention that water is unlikely to attract pests (ant, roaches, etc.), while this is not the case with syrupy sweet drinks.

[smileyeagle1021]

Where I work every rule comes with an explanation.
Only water at the workstations and only in company approved containers.
A spill on the keyboard, even with just water, will at the very least take it out of service... a spill to the computer could do a shitload of damage.
No food at the workstations... crumbs getting into the keyboard slows it down... we depend heavily on the speed and accuracy of our typing which requires a keyboard in pristine condition.
No personal electronics, they're paying us to work, not screw around with our toys.
No instant messenging while on a call (unless it is to the floor manager for a reason relevant to the call)... well that one's obvious, way too much risk of a security leak... even inadvertent (start typing in the wrong window and hit send without realizing it and you just sent someone confidential information).
All windows other than the call client and your messenger window with the floor manager must be closed while on an active call (exception being if you need to use one of the online lookup tools for say, local 911 number lookup).
All breaks must be approved by the floor manager, this isn't just to micromanage, the FCC has strict rules regarding how many people we have available to take calls. Yes it sucks being asked to wait for your break after it's scheduled time, but when call flow is higher than expected we have to do what we have to do to meet FCC requirements.

You would be amazed how many people I see violating the above rules because "they aren't fair"
Excuse me, every single one of those rules has explanations for exactly why they are in place. This isn't some power hungry manager flexing his authoritarian muscles. This has everything to do with data security and meeting FCC requirements and protecting our equipment. If you don't like those rules then I suggest you find yourself a job that does not require data security, protection of equipment or FCC requirements.

That said, when I cover shifts at the hotel I break rules all the time. I see no reason why at 3am I should stay standing at the front desk when I know that there is no one else who is going to check in and no one is checking out until at least 5. At that time I'm sitting myself into one of the comfy chairs in the back office where I can keep an eye on the security camera to see if some odd straggler comes wondering up to the desk and I can answer on the cordless phone if someone should call.
Of course the manager doesn't like it, but he knows I'm the only person he has (and I don't even work there anymore technically) who gets there on time, finishes all shift paperwork properly and on time, and despite my flagrant flaunting of some of his rules, follows all guest relations guidelines to the T.

[Fryk]

At that point, I'd say you were at least following the spirit of the law, if not the letter, Smiley.

And that's the point for me. I am much more into the spirit of the law/fulfilling the why. As long as I'm following that, I don't see the problem.

[LadyBarbossa]

OMG it's the same lady again. The CSM told me to go to her register for her break at 1:45. I got over there and she complained that it was early and she really would rather go at 2, so she waited on two more customers and finally left at 1:50-ish. She didn't come back until nearly 2:20, meaning the cashier on the next register I was covering went to lunch almost a half an hour late. GAH!

[Android Kaeli]

We're not allowed to have any drinks whatsoever on the floor, back room, registers, etc, with the exception of the break room. The only time this was ever truly enforced was when the first store manager was here and that lasted all of two months after I started. The managers don't care, so long as we don't spill the drinks or leave our leftovers everywhere.

I have only worked at one place that didn't allow drinks on the floor, and that was because of where I worked at the time. However, it was only for non-water drinks -- as long as we didn't spill the water and kept the flavored drinks in the fridge, management didn't care.

Even so, I still much rather have a lax policy on drinks over the "no drinks, no exceptions" policy.

[Racket_Man]

If you look at my previous post about having no drinks while driving and wonder about "other reasons", that would be ----- SOME person on the street6 "MIGHT" think I am comsuming (God forbid) something OTHER than water or soda or tea (esp tea as it is near the same color as beer) and call in to complain about a driver allegedly driving drunk.

Well again I am sorry, but I have already had one kidney stone this year (about a 6 weeks ago and NO I still have not passed it yet I am still having painful twinges every other day and NO I can not get them taken care even IF I had insurance ie. crap insurance from work that does not cover much of ANYTHING) and I WILL NOT get another. I WILL NOT go through that pain and puking again this year. Sorry a small cup full of water every couple of hours (esp if it is busy) from inside the store will NOT cut it with me. I NEED large amounts of water to keep me hydrated and stone free. I need to keep peeing so I can get my body to shrink the stone so it will pass (also painful and puke worthy)

Yes I know there are rules to follow but......