Publix reviews

They make the cashiers and front service clerks(baggers) do custodian duties. Those duties include cleaning bathrooms, emptying trash in the entire store, sweeping and mopping the entire store, vacuuming and window cleaning, cleaning the break room, cleaning the refrigerator, cleaning the mop room. This is all addition to cleaning the register area, which is the only place they should be cleaning, anyway. They also make the cashiers and front service clerks run the auto-scrub floor machines until 11pm at night. It is hot in Florida, and the front service clerks (baggers) get to wear shorts and Publix polo shirts. However, the cashiers, who can spend at least half, it not their whole shift bagging, also have to bag and take people out to their cars, but they won't allow them to wear shorts. Instead cashiers have to wear the cashier uniform of long black pants, black shoes, a button up shirt on the men and a button up shirt with a vest for the women. It's dangerously hot, to the point I've seen coworkers at the point of collapse. The company will also not provide or allow baggers to wear any type of reflective gear, and being in the parking lot is dangerous, and it's just a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt.

*The hours are horrible (could start at 4am and end at 11pm or 12am). How bad the hours really are depends on what department you work in and if you are a manager or not. Non-management works a max of 8 hours with usually an hour break, but what you work varies, and could be any day of the week, and your schedule changes from week to week. In management you work 10 to 12 hour days (sometimes longer), and no guaranteed break, but you usually get one, and your schedule can change from week to week though they try to give you a set schedule, if possible. Due to the long hours, and stress of the job, many find it hard to maintain a healthy work/life balance. *This is retail and lets face it- working with the public can make you crazy. *Each store is usually ran differently, even though they are part of the same company. Everything depends on your Store Manager, who makes the rules and procedures as they see fit, even changing the rules or misinforming other employees because of their ignorance or to suit their needs. *The corporate office insists on using archaic technology and software.. I find it ironic that a company that prides itself on being the first supermarket to have such advanced equipment in their stores when they first opened, like automatic opening doors, yet now they consistently fall behind or neglect their stores in this way. *Cut back on benefits to part time workers. This has happened in just the past few years. *The constant cutting back of payroll or not having enough payroll for business needs has to be the number one gripe with most people who work in the stores, especially in management. And that would lead to my next point, how does a manager effectively manage a store or their department if they spend almost all of their time bagging groceries or stocking shelves and making subs? Nor should they spend all their time locked away in their office, but most managers end up making up for the lack of payroll by doing the work themselves. Managers are told to just "make it happen." *Management or leading to management can be very competitive. I have seen people lie and cheat (among other things) to make their way to the next position. *There are a few amazing managers, but sadly not nearly enough to go around. Managers are so key to the stores moral, and to business, but in most areas all the bad managers are placed into the same stores, usually low volume/slow stores, while the good ones go to the high volume/busy stores. I have seen this too many times to count. The same thing has happened can with non-management employees, but in management it can be more detrimental. *In the past few years, there has been a growing disconnect and disdain for Publix corporate and their DM's. They seem almost oblivious to the what goes on in their stores- good or especially bad. It would be amazing to see any District Manager in your store for more than an hour (though there are exceptions, a rare few will spend more time), and even more amazing to see anyone in a management position who is above the District Manager. How do you really know how your stores are operating if no one above the Store Manager ever goes in there?! Managers are asked to spend time with their employees, mentoring and coaching them. I think if the District Managers and Corporate did the same with managers (and even employees) in their stores, I think that alone could make a huge difference in moral and they way the stores are operated.