Thread regarding CVS layoffs

No rule on nights worked but if you limit your availability it is not manager’s responsibility to get you the 30 hours for full time. It is the employees responsibility to get scheduled over 30 each week by being flexible with schedule and getting stuff done during the shifts. Especially if you change availability it is not guaranteed manager needs to schedule you 30 hours

Yes at CVS you have to do nights and weekends! Not all retail establishments require this, but cvs does. And yes it s---s, I know. However, the issue at stake here isn't so much that people have to do nights and weekends, it's that too many people are stuck doing closings and weekends EVERY week non-stop with no rotating or no break from that ever. What I mean is that some people get stuck on several closing shifts every week, because their manager "requires" them to do so. Or their manager says that it's a "requirement" for you to have to do this. And the same thing applies to weekends. I hear managers say on this site, that we rotate nights and weekends so no one gets stuck week after week and everyone gets a little break. BUT, not all managers are like this. That's the point of having some sort of uniform corporate policy regarding availability. If you get a nice manager who cares to give everyone a break once in a while that's great for you, and you don't get stuck on EVERY LAST night or weekend. However, if you get a NOT so nice manager who only cares about themselves or corporate or making the DL happy, then your screwed and there's very little you can do about it. I think that's what's going on here. Everyone understands that this is retail and that retail does mean nights and weekends if the store is open. It's those that have a bad boss who are getting the shaft.

I’m a SM and close 4-5 nights a week because I hate waking up early and was sick of everyone complaining about closing. The closing shifts go by way faster since it’s busy and you never have to stay late!

Going up the chain of command doesn’t always work either. Some DL’s will always side with a store manager in a dispute. Our current DL only deals with store managers, so if you’re a supervisor or a cashier, he won’t take your call. Unless you’re a store manager, you don’t exist in his eyes. And forget going to the ethics line. One of my coworkers went to the ethics line, and got what they asked for, but caught hell for it, as our Manger found out about it, and was p-ss-d!

Perhaps too if corporate weren't so CHEAP with the hours, then we might be able to hire more people to solve these problems! Alot of these issues/concerns go back to a lack of available people to begin with! You can't put on people you don't have, and you can't hire anyone if you don't have hours!

With over 9,000 stores there is no way to have availability rules that would apply to all. All stores are different and have different situations/hours. I have minimum hours with 3 shifts and 2 cashiers. I share a weekend with a shift and 2 other shifts work opposite weekend. If someone needs their weekend off we swap weekends with another shift and its all agreed on. It's called teamwork and being fair. When someone has an emergency then another manager covers. I can't run this store by myself and we all need to work with each other. When I interview I always cover availability and hire for the store needs. It's retail and if you can't work weekends or nights I don't have anything for you. And yes I close minimum 2 nights a week, sometimes 3 and work every other weekend. Teamwork. If you have a manager that is being unfair to you, try to transfer to another store or speak to your DL.

And that is exactly WHY we need clear cut rules in regards to colleague availability! So employees have a leg to stand on and don’t get taken advantage of by their boss! Alot of managers are good people, but not all! And if you get a bad boss, well just look at the previous poster... I rest my case! Again remember folks this is retail the “cvs way!”

There’s a difference between doing what your boss tells you and being taken advantage of. My boss works M-F 7-4 and expects all other supervisors to work every weekend and every night during the week. So before you assume I’m complaining over nothing, I’m not

How about this. You do what your boss tells you to do. If you don’t like it there are real choices. Either leave or get promoted so you are the boss. Otherwise stop complaining because this is life. No safe rooms here. Sorry

Actually to the previous poster your only HALF right! There’s retail, and then there’s CVS brand of retail, better known as retail done “the cvs way”! And retail cvs style is like retail on steroids! So to answer your comment, NO this isn’t retail, it’s cvs retail! No other place I know treats its employees SO BADLY as cvs does! There are retail establishments that DO allow their employees to have a life outside the store, cvs is NOT one of those companies!

Here’s a solution, get out of retail. It’s not a Monday-Friday 9-5 job. It’s a business that’s open 7-10, and 365 a year. You aren’t smart if you think there should be some clear cut rules about availability. Retail is one of the most remedial and replaceable forms of employment. Quit being whiny little babies, and look for a job outside of it. It isn’t going to be far, your weekends aren’t going to be rotated. Your schedule will be made based on your availability and the needs of the business. You need some time off? Request it, it’ll be approved or denied. What’s so hard to accept and understand? If you don’t like it, then leave.

I can’t tell you the last weekend I had off without requesting it. There is too much vagueness in the “availability policy.” That is why when my schedule came out managers inputted employee’s availability. Now if there was a policy stating that FT supervisors have to be 100% available- what was the point of collecting availability’s?

Simple fix: just have each store hire more shift supervisors and then problem solved! You’ll have enough management personnel, so everyone can have the opportunity for a better schedule they want. Then just rotate the scheduling, so people only close or do weekends every other week. Tell me why this wouldn’t work. And don’t tell me about corporate and hours. Store managers need to do what’s best for their stores, NOT what’s best for corporate!

My store manager said that ALL full timers (cashiers or supervisors/managers) are REQUIRED to close 2 nights a week. Now you guys all say that there is no OFFICIAL requirement that you need to open or close a certain number of days per week. So who is right? And if the OP is right that there is no official requirement of being 100% available, etc., then that spells out the problem here... That there is TOO much "store manager discretion" in this regard to colleague availability, and not enough "official rules policy". With no official cvs corporate policy, then store managers (or even District Leaders), can do and say whatever they want. And your forced to believe them, because their your "boss" and what they say goes. I said before, I believe in giving managers leeway and flexibility when it comes to scheduling issues. But NOT to the point of taking advantage of people because "I'm the boss and you have to do what I say!" And I think the taking advantage of people is exactly what's happening to alot of people here.

What about the "expectation" that store managers must work two closing shifts per week? I've looked and can't find it in writing anywhere

Thank you to the OP for posting this! And this vagueness in the policy of FT (or even PT) availability is EXACTLY what's wrong with cvs right now. There needs to be more uniformity of policy, when it comes to availability. In fact there needs to be solid set in stone rules and regulations when it comes to this.

That having been said, I fully support giving Store Managers leeway in scheduling, so that the needs of their individual store/business can be met, since every store is different. And you need a certain amount of flexibility. However... that "flexibility" can also be used to screw over employees by requiring certain things of them that are NOT in line with corporate policy. I understand completely the need to have more availability as a FT person, but NOT 100% open/close availability! It perpetuates the idea that as CVS you have NO life outside the store, the store is your life!

This is most certainly a "hot button" issue! And I speak from personal experience, as we are dealing with this very issue in our store from both full AND part time people.

The policy is purposely vague so that managers can schedule to the needs of thier businesses.

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I personally use these best practices:

1) Only hire part time, period. Nobody is coming in off the street as FT with benefits.

2) Because I'm using you as PT, you tell me your availability day 1 and I schedule you within that availability. You want time off? Tell me anytime before the schedule posts and you got it. After I publish if you want it off, you better find coverage.

1. You want full time? Good. Open availability. Will I consider you for FT with limited availability? Depends on the needs of my business. But if you can't work at least 2 closes and every other weekend, you can save us both some time.

Best guidance I can give someone who doesn't like thier schedule is get promoted to making the schedule. It's amazing how quickly doing a couple changes tunes.

On that same note, then there’s no policy guaranteeing you hours either.