Today I was informed that they will be cutting the in-store marketing team leaders by half. There are currently 13 of us. If you win the second round of Whole Foods Hunger Games, you get to be in charge of 4 stores instead of the 2 you have currently. Oh, no severances this time (Thanks to Patrick Bradley). We're all supposed to find positions on a team and get paid 1/2 of what we used to get paid. I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship. It's time to get out while I can.
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So glad I took the severance back in September. It had been an abusive relationship with the marketing team up until that point so I'm surprised how many people stuck around to keep being abused LOL. Sorry you guys aren't getting severance but really, did you expect it to all of a sudden improve when no real change has been made?
Dear Unions-
Please stop trolling and commenting on messages left by legitimate Whole Foods Market Team Members. Unionization isn't the answer here...
1-800-638-0800 Please contact these people and inquire about starting a union. They unionized most major grocery stores and help them secure there jobs. they can do the same for us.
http://www.ufcw.org/
Severance pay IS outlined in the GIG. Not sure how they think they can get out of this, but I would highly recommend that you all consult labor law attorneys....
I'm so happy I took the severance and ran for the hills.
meeee too. wish you the best.
Anyone who stayed with this company after the first restructuring shouldn't be surprised. What does surprise me is that they are increasing the number of stores for MMFTL's instead of just cutting that position altogether. I'm so happy I took the severance and ran for the hills. I feel for anyone affected and wish you all good luck. A new, better job will come along!
Even if what they're doing is within the scope of the 'law', it's damn SHITTY to do something like this. The media should be alerted right away. The media seems to love all the dirt being dredged up from this awful company.
Just emailed a lawyer friend of mine for some guidance. I also found another firm in California that specializes in labor law. I will be calling them tomorrow. My goal is to get severance and leave. I'll never look back. This is how they are getting around the no severance thing. They are not calling this a layoff because they will supposedly place everyone in new positions. These positions are jobs, but for probably 1/2 the pay. Ta-da no need for severances!
@1fua- Please keep us updated on what happens with your situation. I've only looked online and I know laws vary by state but I'm pretty sure that if you reasonably expected to qualify for severance according to company policy and you were not given a reason for being denied, or were denied for a reason not outlined in the policy, a lawyer may be able to help you. It would be great if they end up losing even more money trying to cut corners on human decency. I consider myself to be part of a high-risk group and would like to be able to defend myself and colleagues against the company when the time comes.
Best of luck, and thanks.
If anyone could post updates after consulting with a labor lawyer, please keep us up to date.
Did anybody take a screen shot of the regional responses? I missed them and I'd love to hear flimsy excuses they have
I couldn't believe it when I read that Patrick Bradley responded, didn't the WFM lawyers warn him about responding as a Regional? So of course no one is going to read about " loosing" team members.
I'm SO HAPPY that I took severance, I didn't think for one minute that anyone in the second round would receive that, no way! They only did that as good will to keep TM's calm and work through the holidays so they would feel safe. Obviously.
Wow... Regional is finally doing A JOB! Censoring us and taking away our first amendment right... Freedom of speech (just in case you idiots don't know what that means)! We're all allowed an opinion. Regional marketing is filled with a bunch of unprofessional morons. You send out emails, forced marketing "tactics" and more filled with grammatical errors, direction that makes no sense and even more I could go on for days about. Instead of getting rid of these idiots, they down size people on the ground who actually work and make a difference. They honestly feel bad for them I'm sure... NO ONE on that team could actually make it in the real marketing world because they don't even understand what real marketing is. We should have just taken the severances in the first place, Whole Foods Market is literally becoming the exact opposite of what it used to be. Keep your nose up Patrick's ass ladies and gentlemen, one day you too will end up driving a Maserati around the OC just like him! #wfmlove #teamwfm
Patrick and rahobed pulled all those responses....lol
again why the "F" are field associates in existence. Wow regional you sure pick some "bright" people. "Not!"
What happened to the "Patrick Bradley" responses!?! lol
-2nzw, were you offered severance back in september? I'm not trying to make people feel bad because they opted no and decided to keep working there. But. The reason I decided to gtfo immediately was because there were all kinds of indicators that the house of cards was getting a strong wind blown directly at it, and it was beginning to crumble. Being offered money to walk away cleanly from a disaster just seemed too good to be true, so I took it. I still don't understand why some of my friends decided to stay. Would you share your story?
I want my severance just as everyone was offered during round 1 cuts. Marketing is being pushed out with no severance. If anyone can recommend an employment attorney, please let me know. I should have left in October and now I am kicking myself.
What surprises me is that anyone decided to stay instead getting that severance and getting the FO. I thank myself EVERY DAY that I took the severance and ran. The store I used to work at is a nightmare now. I feel so bad for y'all.
Hey patrick.can we make regional ast. Coordinators a pt20 position?? And just twice as many of them..let em feel the burn of no benefits and shit schedules at a regional position
Spoken to an employment lawyer who is very interested in picking this up. I believe that Whole Foods knew these cuts were coming, and persuaded people to stay to pick up some slack during the busy thanksgiving and Christmas season. Now they are trying to force the remaining marketing team out with no severance package and the offer of another job that very few want. I didn't go to college to work in the bakery team.
Hey "Patrick Bradley" maybe you should learn how to spell. Thank you for calming us down by telling us all not to overreact. Whew! Now I can go back to "business as usual." You expect loyal veteran team members to leave marketing and start slicing meat in Prepared Foods for $11/hr.? I read the GIG book and we are supposedly required to be offered severance but this company changes their own rules as they go to suit their needs. I'm disgusted.
How can they justify cutting the number of jobs by half without touching the regional marketing team?
Log on to Workday and download the Gig. You can only do this on a computer. You can't use your phone. Search for "severance". Screenshot that mofo but beware since the gig is online it could change at any time.
To my knowledge, MMFTL will not be receiving a pay increase and nobody at regional marketing is getting the ax. I currently have 2 stores and am overwhelmed. If I win Whole Foods Hunger Games this time around, I'll have four stores with NO support and no raise. Field Associates do NOT A THING. I have no idea why we have them. Checked the GIG and saw the severance piece. Since they hired an outside consultant to manage this layoff, I'm sure they are legally finding ways to get around paying severance. Who do I need to contact at the CA Labor Board?
Good Luck with that. Our MKT leader is over worked with 2 stores.
This is getting desperate by management. Sad yet again, that they are looking at TM's on the ground. There is far too much fat on the top. Maybe it's about time the Dept of Labor looks at the tactics and devious labor practices of this evil corporation. JMHO
Are they keeping their pathetic field associate?? Do the metro marketers get a raise?
@prr- I believe that the first part of the gig is the same for all regions. Page 79
It says any voted on tm who is layed off is eligible for severance. But it also says in the book intro that they can pretty much do whatever they want so I'm not sure what to believe.
This is So Pac region. I never saw that in the GIG book. Where does it state severance in the GIG? Patrick Bradley stated-no severances. They are working with a consulting firm on how to lay us off this time around.
What region?
No severance? How can that be? The policy is expressly listed in the GIG. Can they legally violate their own written guidelines?