For starters, there are two kinds of people at this company; managers, and everyone else. Managers make the kind of money you might expect to make as a typical employee at any other retail establishment. Everyone else makes minimum wage. For both, the chances of ever getting a raise are slim to none. I was not a manager, so I'll describe that experience. Your name is on the schedule, posted each week, for a total of about 12-16 hours. However, this schedule is largely ignored, and you can consider yourself "on-call" for the entire week. If the manager's budget for hours is good, you can expect to work as many as 32 hours, if not you'll probably be working your scheduled hours, if that. Each day you wait for the call to let you know if you're coming in the next day. Planning ahead for anything is impossible. Sure, you're free to say no, but then you're probably less likely to be asked to work more hours in the future.
I mentioned before, pay is minimum wage. I asked another employee about raises, and he laughed at me. Dollar Tree would probably pay you less, but that would be illegal. I assumed that it was because they charge a dollar for everything, but looking further into it they've actually got some very comfortable profit margins for a retail establishment. They've been very successful, and with the recession driving more people looking for a bargain, they've been doing VERY well. There is no reason why they couldn't pay their employees more than they do.
No perks I could see. They offer no health insurance to part-timers, and there is no employee discount. Also, off-the-clock security checks left a bad taste in my mouth.
If you work for Dollar Tree, all purchases you make must be overseen by a manager, and they are tracked. This is extremely inconvenient, as while waiting for a manager, you are either holding up the line, or standing around while other customers go ahead of you. This felt wrong to me as well, as these purchases are made off the clock, and yet your are treated as a potential thief, which is not something ordinary customers have to deal with.
I cannot recommend this job to anyone other than childless young-people who do not intend for Dollar Tree to be their main source of income and who only intend to work for Dollar Tree in the very short term. Even then, these people would likely be better off working in fast food, or any other retail establishment.
