September 5, 2009

September 5, 2009
　
Well, here I sit, perturbed yet relieved that I am once again unemployed after a week of full time work. The work at Mariposa Orchards was hard, leaving me with a sore back, knees, and feet every day. Here's a synopsis of my week of work :
　
Day 1 ; My first day of work started at 11:00 A.M.. The first question I asked Edith, my employer, was what time my first shift was to end as she had not advised me of that when she phoned with the job offer. When she advised me that my first shift was to end at 6:00 P.M. I advised her that I would have to take a ten minute break at 4:00 P.M. to pick up Joanne at work, and that would be the case every day that I was scheduled to work beyond 4:00 P.M.. Joanne and I have only one vehicle, and we have to share transportation to work. She didn't have a problem with that. Darn ... I was going to miss the Riverside RV Park Resort "Bring Your Own Meat" potluck barbecue starting at 5:00 P.M..
　
At 4:00 P.M. I went to pick up Joanne. I was back at work at 4:10 P.M. and Joanne went home with the truck. At 4:30 P.M. the flow of customers abruptly ended. Edith walked around the fruit stand, pointing at employees, saying "you, you, and you ... you're finished for the day ... sign out and go home". I was miffed, and told Edith so. Joanne had left with the truck only 20 minutes earlier, and would have just arrived home. I told Edith that her opportunity to end my shift early ended each day at 4:00 P.M.. If she did not make a decision that I wasn't needed for the balance of my shift by 4:00 P.M. each day when I went to pick up Joanne, then I was going to work and be paid for the balance of my scheduled shift.
　
Edith was at a loss as to what to do with me for the next hour and a half. And she was unwilling or incapable of providing me with my schedule for the next week, telling me only what my start time the next day was going to be. Brilliant staff training and development plan you've got going there, Edith ! At 4:45 I phoned Joanne, and asked her to come pick me up. She drove back into town ( 15 km. / 9 mi. ) to pick me up, and we arrived at the potluck barbecue about 20 minutes late. My back and knees ached from a day of packing 20 pound boxes of peaches.
　
Day 2 ; At the start of my shift Edith came over to praise me for how productive I had been on my first shift. I told her we needed to sit down and figure out my shift for the next week. I was not prepared to accept "day to day" scheduling. And I told her that yesterday's " go home now" stunt was unacceptable. I reiterated that her opportunity to end my shift early on any given day expired at 4:00 P.M. each day when I left to pick up Joanne, and Joanne took the truck home. We sat down and figured out my shift schedule for the next week. I was more than a bit stunned at Edith's apparent inability to figure out her staff requirements up to a week in advance, after she had been operating this business for something like 30 years ! My shifts were all scheduled from 11:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. or noon to 8:00 P.M.. I ended my shift with a sore back, sore knees, sore feet, and sore ankles, after having spent the day packing 10 and 20 pound boxes of fruits, mostly 20 pound boxes of peaches.
　
Day 3 ; In the midst of a brief conversation with Edith, I commented sarcastically that Joanne's employer, one of Edith's competitors, paid better. Joanne's hourly wage was greater than mine. Edith was indignant ! She immediately gave me a raise to match Joanne's hourly wage. Well, that worked out pretty well, didn't it ? ! It was another long day of packing mostly 20 pound boxes of peaches. Another day ended with sore back, knees, feet, and ankles.
　
Day 4 ; This was a long, hard, uneventful shift of packing 10 and 20 pound boxes of fruits, mostly 20 pound boxes of peaches, as usual. It ended again with sore back, knees, ankles, and feet.
　
Day 5 ; After two days off, I returned for the shift that would end my first week of work. Over the course of my first week I had noticed some startling facts. The only other male employee, who had worked for Edith for the last 22 years, since he was 15 years old, was working 16 hours a day, 31 days a month ! He was obviously the most senior employee, and seemed to be the fruit stand's "manager", more or less ! Some of the other employees were working 8 hour shifts, 31 days a month ! Most of the employees worked 6 days a week. Two of the employees were full time RV'ing friends of Edith's, foreigners working illegally in Canada. She had met them in Mexico, and had invited them to work ( illegally ) for her for the summer, providing them a spot behind the fruit stand to park their old RV. She is paying them "under the table", in violation of federal and provincial immigration laws, employment laws, and taxation laws. One of the employees is a 14 year old girl. Is it legal to employee 14 year olds in B.C.?
　
When I walked through a "back" room with a desk, an area open and accessible from both the front of the fruit stand and the back loading area, I was stunned to see a stack of twenty dollar bills that I know from my days as a retailer was at least $2000 worth of twenties, sitting unattended on the desk ! ! ! I walked back and forth through that area from the front of the fruit stand to the back loading area a few times over the next ten minutes or so while the money remained unattended on the desk. Sheesh ! ! !
　
It was a less busy day than usual. I was able to build up a sizeable inventory of 10 and 20 pound boxes of fruits. As 4:00 P.M. approached, I suspected that Edith may want to end my shift early. I prompted her to make that decision, reminding her that it had to be made by 4:00 P.M. or I would work the balance of my scheduled shift. She assessed the slow customer flow, the inventory of packed boxes that I had built up, and decided that it was a good idea for me to end my shift at 4:00 P.M.. I pointed out to her that it was the end of my first week of employment, and reminded her that when she made the job offer to me, she said she wanted to have a discussion after a week to ascertain whether we were each satisfied.
　
We went to her office. She said she was pleased with my productivity. She was displeased with my "lack of flexibility" regarding early ending of shifts. She didn't like my condition of requiring her to make a decision by 4:00 P.M. each day whether or not she wanted me to remain for the balance of my scheduled shift. She wanted to be able to make that decision at any time ; 4:30, 5:00, 5:30 ... whenever she wanted. In her own words, she found my condition "reasonable", but it "denied her the staffing flexibility she desired". Gee ... and I thought I was a control freak ! Apparently, after about 30 years in this business, she is incapable of projecting her staff requirements three or four hours into the future ! ! ! ! !
　
She fired me !
　
Good luck finding somebody to buy your "Mom & Pop" fruit stand for three and a half million dollars, Edith ! It's been for sale for over two years already.
　
DSK