THE LOWS.....where to start? I'm going on my third year with the company and I can't wait until I find a better job. The pay is low end for a grocery store not to mention a lame once a year raise/review system. Even if you work really hard (which I have) you will only possibly (maybe) get a raise on the anniversary of your hire date. The raise amount is based on a % of points you score on your review. This equates usually to 20,30,or 40 some cents even with a good review. When it comes to attendance there is a (between a rock and a hard place) points system that makes it so if you stay late(even to finish your job,help a last minute customer,maintain the companies standards) without a managers approval you receive points that lead up to you being terminated. You have 5 minutes after your shirt is suppose to end to clock out point free. You also receive points for : clocking in more than 3 minutes early, being over 5 minutes late or calling in sick (even if you follow company protcol and call 2hrs in advance). These points are given in different increments depending on the occurence. A late gives you half of a point. An excused absence of one to two days consecutively gives you 1 point. A no call no show (for any reason except a dire emergency that left you completely unable to call) gets you the max number of points instantly. Any more and your terminated. Advancing in the company is nerely impossible even if you work hard and know the job. This is due to overwhelming nepitism, favoritism, and what I like to term the Corp./manager social club. Hard workers and diligent people who actively try to move up(even those who have been at a location for a long time and have been promised on the side that they're next in line for promotion) are frequently passed over for family members, personal friends, and ass kissing buddies. Not to mention that some of the managers get away with leaving early Constantly (and sticking you with an unfair workload) while you are short staffed as it is half the time, and doing things against company and health dept. standards. And guess what, if they have friends in high places (in store or Corp.) and you don't, your skrewed if you say anything. It will either get zero results or worse manager and corp. buddies will talk, it gets back to your manager you complained about and they either make things intentionly hard on you(this can come in many implicit or explicit ways) or set you up to fall (this can also come in many ways) or just short you on hours severly in an effort to fire you or usually to get you to quit so they can avoid paying unemployment. On top of all this Sprout's HR dept. is a trainwreck. God help you if you have an accident of any kind (be it at work or off) because getting benefits, time to recover, and returning to work are an uphill battle. Let me conclude this by also saying that what I've written here reflects the experiences and opinions of not only myself but a great majority of the people I personally know that currently work, or have worked for this sham of a company.
