Publix used to be the vision that George Jenkins saw in a dream. My store was built in a richy-rich town where everyone thinks they are entitled to what they want. Management doesn't care about the associates well-being, and doesn't care about them as an employee, period. You give and give and when you ask for something they shove you aside because "it's not within their business needs", or, "we're too busy too give a damn." My store cries poverty and refuses to lift a finger for an associate when it comes to hours. Walmart was recently built near my Publix and they have cut hours, claiming that Walmart took away business. However, a few months later, they decided to post a certificate that they received for donating 3.4 million to an organization! They'd rather donate their money than give hours to associates. How pathetic! They'd rather hire minors who cannot do a thing, and pay them less, than pay those who have been with the company a while. They have hired at least 20 new people at the beginning of the year, and still continue to hire people, even after Walmart has opened. They refuse to tell anyone that they are not performing at the highest of standards because they don't want to "hurt our feelings."
There are many countless policies that they break day-to-day. They accept expired coupons from customers. The hand book says that we are to take advantage of the great customer service that an ordinary customer receives from the staff. They look down to us and don't care that we shop there. They always make us wait in line, but never the customers. There was only one person who actually went out of his way to help me. They have to seek "approval" before giving us their Publix satisfaction guarantee and price correct promise. They don't care enough about us as a customer. They consistently scaled us when we make one tiny "mistake" off the clock. They think they can control what we say and do off the clock, but they can't. We can freely defend ourselves off the clock. I honestly don't care, I let my opinion heard because I'm sick of the way we're treated as associates.
There is no room for advancement for men. They fill a quota of men so they don't get in trouble with the law, but most of the employees are female. They let women have fad hair cuts (such as short hair), long jewelry (the policy is pea-size earrings), they let them use their cell-phones on the clock to listen to music, it happened the other day. They consistently make men shave because they tell us that beards make us look dirty. They say that beards is not the Publix image. Beards are of natural origin- men are supposed to grow beards, that's why they grow. This is gender based discrimination. They make us cut our hair because men aren't supposed to have long hair. They make us call the women "ma'am," but when it comes to us, they don't have to respect us and call us sir.
They mainly hire bi-lingual speakers, and non English speaking people. They recently hired someone in my department who cannot speak English at all besides "hi".
They don't really fully accommodate people who have had an injury. I had an ON THE JOB injury. In the beginning they were trying to get me to work out of my medical restrictions developed by my doctor. They were consistently attempting me to risk my own safety by trying to get me to do tasks that were out of my restriction order. For example, I was banned from lifting heavy items (no more than 20lbs), required to sit, and I wasn't supposed to bend, stretch, etc... I wasn't supposed to do anything strenuous. (I'm still not supposed to be doing any of those things.) My team leader was trying to get me to do floor care, which requires us to be pulled by heavy machinery, to lift more than 20lbs, and I wouldn't be allowed to sit. They were refusing to let me keep the chair they were letting me borrow and tried to get me to buy my own. I refused and stood up for myself and eventually only after seeing their doctor and threatening to sue their doctor because they told me that my injury isn't covered, that's when they told me I can keep the chair. I recently got a lawyer to handle their negligence and incompetence and they started cutting my hours directly after that. They also gave me a poor rating on my review because of that. They are insensitive, money-greedy people who need to go into a different profession, like construction. I would not recommend this company to anyone. Remember, Publix is just a regular company. It isn't special. This company is a joke, and meant only for pre-school mentalities. You only move up if you suck up to management.
Oh yeah, they have a policy that "restricts us" from talking to the press about anything. It says: "Associates are not permitted to talk to the press."
