The workplace

So a lady at work got fired the other day for stealing. She was really working on my nerves and deserved it so I have no pity for her. But anyways, it got me to thinking, why do people steal from their employers and what can we do to change it.

Obviously, people are stealing because they feel slighted or even so much as abused by their employer. We aren't getting paid enough to even survive. They say don't bite the hand that feeds. What about the one that doesn't give you enough to feed even close to comfortably? Bite.

You can't pay an employee minimum wage which is only 14, 872 a year before taxes (7.15, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks in a year). I get about 13% taken out per pay period so yeah. For a family of two, that skirts right above the official poverty level in the US. Oh, and believe me, it's hard to do 40 hours a week at a minimum wage job. Then the employer has to start paying for benefits an all that fun stuff. At BiLo, only 5 people in the entire store have benefits. Five.

Also, a fun fact; in 2006 1 in 8 people in the US were below the poverty level.

So we have the poverty thing. Then start adding acquired debt, medical costs, children costs, etc. Minimum wage is nothing. It's a slap in the face.

Especially because the people who work minimum wage jobs usually do the shit jobs no one else wants to. They wear you down, more or less humiliate you, then the employer treats you like shit. You're sick. They scream and holler. You work with food but are so flued up you can barely function. yet they want you to come in and spread the sickness to the patrons. And of course, fuck with your body's need for rest to fight off the sickness. And they don't pay for your doctor's visit after you've worn yourself out so badly that you won't get better.

And if someone does actually call off, do they call in someone else to fill in the position? No. I got bitched out (My manager joked about yelling at me like she does her kids, in front of me. Excuse me, I'm your employee, not your child. Bitch) one day I tried to call in sick 30 min before my shift. I had been trying to psych myself into feeling well enough to go. Well, 30 minutes before a shift obviously wasn't enough time. I ended up dry heaving in the bathroom and behind the deli most of the day. No, I wasn't hung over. I have stomach issues. After going through all the shit, I consistantly see other people calling off when they need to. But my manager never calls anyone in to fill the shift, no matter how far in advance she knows about it.

It leads to the worker there having to pick up the slack. It's stressfull. It's horrible. And you don't even get a thank you.

Oh and then Labor Day! I worked 7-3. Labor day was made to be "a day off for the working citizens". Yeah, fuck that. Almost every place I can think of where the real working class, those making minimum wage, works was open. Oh, but BiLo closed 2 hours early in respect for the holiday. Why even bother? Slap in the face.

Back to stealing... I'm sure you know that many many employers train the security camera on the workers, not the consumers. But did you know they have secret shoppers basically doing the smae thing. That's how the lady at work got busted. At Bon-ton we all had to bring whatever we needed to our station in clear plastic purses. Imagine carrying your tampons through a store in a clear plastic purse, yeah.

Employer scrutiny is not going to help. Trust and compassion really is the only way to lower employee stealing. Would you really steal from a nice person? It's like taking candy from a baby. Stealing from someone who thanks you for coming in on your day off, for trying to get you a pay raise, for understanding sickness, for showing you respect would be all but unheard of.

We've come so far as a society in workplace issues. But we have not come nearly far enough.

Edit: Check out Poverty In America and find the Living Wage Calculator. It's pretty awesome/eye-opening. The Living wage for Indiana, PA is 19.14 per hour for a family of 2 adults and 2 children. Check it out, seriously.