Sick WalMart employee with severely poor hygiene

One employe e doesnt reflect waalllmart s policy or represent every
employee. When you noticed she was sick you continued to enter her
line just to have something to blog about. I guarantee you are still
shopping at walmart. Btw did you even get sick? (god forbid ypu or
your kids have a headache and runny nose for a week when I was a kid
colds and flus came and went it's natural)

continued....
thinking its okay to spread the love.I dont think so if in my opinion
the employers should spray them fully with whole of bottle lysol last
them for weeks sanitize there ass! that teach them they will never
come back ha serves them right! tired of getting sick over you sick
fools STAY HOME WHEN YOUR FRICKEN SICK NO ONE WANTS YOUR CRAP
UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I worked at a Wal-mart and you cannot call in sick unless you come
back with a doctors note. They make it impossible for you to call in.
They fire people left and right and making only $9/hr with no
insurance, how can an employee afford to go to the doctors. The
employee was in a no-win situation. It sucks. But she should have
had a box of tissue and HAND SANITIZER. I constantly used it and was
considerate of the customers and treated them as I would want to be
treated.

reading all the letters of responders makes me realize how lucky i am
to work for a company that doesn't penalize it's employees for being
sick. i work at a home health care organization called oxford health
care. they encourage us to stay home if we are sick. we work with
the elderly and disabled and giving them the flu would be
catastrophic. if our clients are sick we are advised not to see them
till they are better.

but i do think there was something bigger going on with the cashier.
she was probably pretty much forced to work, either by company policy
or financial need and was pretty much asking you for help. as for
being surly, i can tell you that i tend to be in a bad mood when i am
sick and i bet most people are as well. cut her some slack and put
the blame where it belongs--her boss. he/she obviously knew this girl
was too sick to be working and chose to ignore it.

I know my response here is a day late and a dollar short; however I
did want to at least offer some support for the OP.

I'm completely on her side. First of all, I'm aware of Walmart's
policies regarding sick time, and I believe the OP is too (hence the
reason for the letter). And I 100% agree this is an issue. However, if
Walmart is going to have these Draconian policies regarding employees
taking sick time, then they need to do what they can to ensure that
employees are practicing good hygiene.

Second, I understand times are tough and many people may not be able
to choose between work and staying home (thus forgoing a day's pay).
However, if they absolutely can't stay home, then they too need to
make sure they are practicing relatively good hygiene by keeping a box
of tissue by their register and/or hand sanitizer. I 100% agree with
OP that was gross and unprofessional.

Third, berating the customer because the employee is sick is not the
answer. Again, I realize she's sick, and probably can't take the day
off, but if a clearly sick cashier was standing in front of me,
sneezing, coughing, and wiping her nose with her hand THEN touching my
purchases, you're damn right I'd have a problem with it. This is how
viruses get spread around in the first place.

By the way, I was in Target the other day and there, right in front
where you walk in, were several bottles of hand sanitizer and bleach
wipes. At least one company cares about hygiene.

I honestly see both sides of this quite clearly.
If she really was as sick as you make her sound, yeah she probably
should have been at home... but very often employees CAN'T miss work
with out a doctors note... and even then they can get in serious
trouble for it.

I know in my years of retail I have had to go to work sick many time
because I couldn't afford a doctors visit to get a note. But what
made me a bit miffed from the OCs post was

"What happens if I now get sick. I am a mother of two young children.
What if I miss work due to illness and don't get paid? What if my kids
get sick and can't attend school? These things need to be
considered."

Getting sick is no fun ever... but did you even stop for a second to
think that this girl might be in the EXACT same spot. She has bills
to pay too, she can't afford to miss work because she is sick either.
No being at work with the public when you are sick is NOT a good
idea... but when money is tight and there is no other option... people
are going to do what they have to.

My tip. Carry hand sanitizer in your purse if you are really so
worried. Cause right now... you can't go ANYWHERE where you aren't
going to come into contact with the SICK unless you wall yourself up
in your house.

She most likely would have lost her job if she would've called in
sick. You don't expect the Waltons, the greediest family in the
country, to let someone take a sick day for something as minor as the
flu do you? I suggest you watch "Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Price"
to see what Wal-mart employees have to deal with. I worked at Wal-mart
all through high school and on until I could no longer afford to work
there.

I'm afraid no matter where you shop, you'll find a similar story.
Just today I was at Sam's Club, and a customer made his deposit into
the First Bank of Defication and walked on out, without washing his
hands.
I saw the same at the grocery store; except he was a bagger. I
politely asked him to not touch my groceries. The cashier asked why I
didn't want him to bag my groceries, so I explained. I reported him to
the store manager, but, nothing was said or done. And, sadly, I saw
him working there as recently as a year ago; despite this having
happened over 10 years ago.
Needless to say, I'm glad he doesn't work produce. But, I still wash
my foods and yes cans before opening. (Hey, you never know what rats
and critters have been doing on your canned foods. Leraned this years
and years ago; so, I follow that ritual on everything I consume).

I think that the employee was very frustated and upset because maybe
she was not allowed to go home. She indirectly ask you (HELP HER) to
talk with her supervisor to sent her home but you did not got the
message.

On the other hand, I understand that you are angry because nowadays
there are a lot of strange illnesses and flu (viruses)and maybe you
could also been infected.

Next time you should go to the supervisor directly, file your
complaints. On this side you have also help a sick employee

you were giving her disgusted looks and wonder why she took offense to
you? how would you like that if someone did that to you?

I think the fact that she blatently told you to bring it up with her
manager to send her home, reinforces the idea she wasn't at work
"willingly"
yes, that's disgusting, yes you don't want to get sick, but maybe you
can have a little compassion for someone that's in a tough
situation...

ICK. This was probably not the first thing I should have read this
morning.

I would have either just walked away, or I would have taken all the
items to customer service and asked for a refund and to speak to the
manager. ICK is all I can say.

I don't care how many sick days you do or don't have. I don't care if
you felt like a million bucks when you started your shift. When
you're sick, you go home. Also, when the manager sees someone is
sick, they have a duty to send them home. This girl's illness could
have spread to many other people. It is better to send one staff
person home than infect an entire store's worth.

that's because many working people don't have the luxury of taking
time off to be sick

sure it might feel nice to put someone down for working when they're
sick but...

it's more sad that they HAVE to work when they're sick.


I mean if she was doing something icky on purpose that'd be one
thing... but no one - at least no one who's mentally healthy - gets
sick on purpose.

is a union electrician and he does not get paid sick days. He can
call in sick but he loses the day's pay which is a significant amount.
Needless to say many of the electricians go to work ill.

She could have been like me today: I started out the day feeling
great. Had errands to run. As the day progressed, I started feeling
"Achy" By the time I got home, I know I am coming down with something.
I spent all day out today. I have had days where cold have come up
THAT fast on me. I can be fine and three hours latter I can be
feeling like crap.

Also I will NOT use hand sanitizers. Most have alcohol in them. I
will NOT let my son go anywhere NEAR the stuff. Kids his age are
getting alcohol poising from the stuff (the get on the hands then the
kids eat something and ingest the alcohol)

A place where I used to work (and my mom still does) has a policy that
when your 40 hours of sick time are up for the year, they are up. If
you call in sick again, it is an UNEXCUSED absent. If you had 2
unexcused you get written up and put on probation. Get 2 more and you
are GONE, fired. (this is a manufacturing plant) we joked (and it WAS
a joke) that if she can down with H1N1 she would go to work, cough,
lick her fingers and touch EVERYTHING, sneeze on everything and such.
(like I said, we were JOKING. We would NEVER really do that) then
when the manager asks why she came in she would say that she was out
of sick time. If the manager said to go home, she would make them
send an e-mail to her and the next level manager that it was OK to go
home and would NOT be help against her. Sad thing is it would NEVER
happen. You call in for ANY REASON (even if you were in a car wreck)
(only the first day counts, all other days don't) after your 40 hours
are up, you are written up.

I am a former nurse and I went in sick several times.
At the first place I worked, we were on "probationary status" the
first 90 days we worked and could not miss work. Then we accumumated
sick leave at 4 hours per month. so it was 5 months before we could
even think of calling in sick.
If we did call in sick, our jobs were often threatend.

with my husband about our daughter. She has had perfect attendance at
school up until this past week when she got the FLU.

The school has sent home letters begging us to keep our children at
home if they are sick. My daughter got to go to the principal's office
and get a free kid's meal coupon along with a pencil for perfect
attendance for the first six weeks.

Well, she got the FLU last week. She had a doctor's excuse to miss
school. Of course she missed school. She's five years old, she had the
flu, and the school wouldn't want her there anyway!

Guess what? My five year old will have to sit there in the classroom
wondering why she doesn't get a pencil and a kid's meal when all her
friends get one next six weeks. Not only that, but they have drawings
where kids when a BICYCLE if they have no absences for the whole
semester. That just seems so unfair to me...five year old don't
understand that.

They say, STAY HOME if you're sick! BUT if you don't miss any days
then you might win a free bike! It should be, if you don't have any
UNEXCUSED absences!

Bottom line: it's all about numbers. Schools have incentives for
having high attendance rates.....companies have incentives for having
high profits. Regardless of how it affects me, you, or our
children....it's all about the benjamins.

i worked at a very famous fast food restaurant that serves chicken for
several years when i was young. i never called into work mostly
because of my work ethic. however, there was one time when i was
extremely ill with the flu and i showed up to work. i figured it was
better to show up (obviously sick) than to call in and have people
gossip and wonder if i was lying. i told them when i showed up that i
wasn't feeling well, and if they needed to send someone home...then
i'd like to go. they usually did send people home at some point to
save labor costs.

i was made to stay at work for hours when i should've been sent home
immediately. it was only when customers started asking what in the
world i was doing at work did i get sent home. i wasn't coughing in
people's faces or anything...but i had the flu! my eyes were
watering...my face was pale...and i wasn't smiling...that's for sure!


companies like that are all about one thing...PROFIT! it doesn't
matter the cost. miserable employees? infected customers? who cares!
if you can give money and take money...that's all that matters!

it used to disgust me. employees would call in and make up stories
about why they couldn't be at work...car broke down...babysitter
didn't show up...blah blah blah. employees who never called in would
come down with a serious illness and come in anyway...and still be
forced to work. that's the way it is. just be glad it was as wal mart
and not a place that was handling your FOOD! it happens all the
time....every day.

I guess you can either be checked out by a sick employee, or wait in
longer lines. Either way you'd complain.

It seems alot of people find this disgusting, rightly so.

But how many people eat in restaurants where the same thing is going
on in the kitchen.

I wonder how many people that are grossed out always wash their hands
after they use the restroom, even if they are just home.

Germs are everywhere, and yes the visible ones are gross, but so many
are not seen.

What about the sample lady at the warehouse store that hands you a
sample, do you eat those? Stand around for a few minutes and watch
them. They will pull out their hanky and wipe their nose and never
wash their hands and change their gloves. People would rather fill
their stomach full of some treat then err on the side of good
judgment.

I rarely eat out for this reason. And I never ever eat homemade foods
from others, like thanksgiving dinners etc.

Just because they appear clean does not mean they cooked the turkey to
the proper temp, didnt let it thaw too long and reach room
temperature, and clean looking people dont always wash their hands
after using the restroom.


There is so much stuff you dont see, that is much much worse.


Good Day

Yes what was exhibited was disgusting, but many many people do the
same.

And you stayed in the checkout lane with this ill store clerk
why?????? I do not care if it was the pope himself with a cold, I
would have changed lanes even if another lane was a bit longer. You
have no one to blame but your self if you get sick. I had a person
tell me in my face, because I sneezed, he did not want me to check him
in for his flight.

This makes me really glad I got a flu shot.

I shop at W-M because the prices on what I need are the lowest. I also
shop at Aldi's for the same reason. Aldi's employees are treated well,
but they don't have everything I need. Even though I am employed f/t
at the same job for many years, I am not wealthy. Next time I go to
W-M and see an employee who displays obvious signs of illness, I will
take some sort of action with the mamger or with corporate.

For those who'd like a penetrating look at how WalMart really
symbolizes unethical business practices, check out the documentary
DVD:

"WalMart: The High Cost of Low Price".

It's a good doc and an enjoyable, albeit disturbing, flick.

And by shopping at Walmart and giving them your money, you are, in
essence, approving of their policies.

"What if I miss work due to illness and don't get paid?"

So I guess it only matters if YOU don't get paid if you miss work
being sick, and not if someone ELSE doesn't get paid? Have a little
compassion for others. Oh, but that's right, the world revolves
around you. As long as it's not YOU getting inconvenienced, who cares
about anyone else???

This is CLEARLY WalMart's fault just so you know. Hence, why Kat asked
you to tell her manager to send her home.

WalMart does NOT give sick days to its employees - paid or otherwise -
I know this to be true.

They may have to soon though...as there is strong support (and I'm
fighting tooth and nail for it) to get a Federal law passed mandating
that ALL employers give their workers paid sick days.

Not surprising WalMart doesn't - considering how cheap they are with
their staff. Here are some examples:

- In many stores, overtime hasn't/isn't been/being paid..and staff are
threatened with dismissal when they ask for it.
- Women are promoted less than men on average at most WalMarts and are
paid less on average. There is a CLEAR glass ceiling at many of the
stores.
- Healthcare wasn't provided to most Full-time employees (until
recently). WalMart management told employees to go to Social Services
and get on Medicaid, which of course, costs ALL of the rest of us
money via taxes!
- Even mentioning the name of a Union can get you fired at WalMart.
- In a recent year, WalMart staff gave over 3.2 million dollars to a
fund that assists other WalMart workers when a natural disaster
strikes (like Katrina). In this same year, the kids of Sam Walton -
who are all rich as all get out - gave a combined total of $11,000 to
this same fund. Talk about cheap and greedy!!!! The minimum wage paid
staff open their wallets and hearts...and the rich, spoiled brats of
the company founder gave a pittance (to them and their bulging
wallets, this $11 K - coming from about 8 kids and descendants - IS a
pittance)

I just feel bad for the employee. I am sure she did not want to be
there anymore then the OP wanted her there. WalMart could and will
fire her for not showing up. Should she lose her job because she is
ill? We all have to make choices and sacrifices and some are not
easy. IF I had to chose between having my job and going to work sick
and staying home and losing my job...well I can assure you that I will
be at work. Of couse I would present the most pitiful example of a
human who is sick and should be home in bed to the point that I woujld
be sent home.

Wal-Mart just does not care. I was shopping there this past Sunday and
I noticed a cashier who looked pretty "pale" and was coughing. W-M
just wants bodies at the cash registers. I went to another line to
check-out. If is funny, they advertise seasonal flu shots, but what
about the health of their own employees? I can understand the cashier
maybe living check to check and probably in dire financial shape, it
is W-M after all. But what about the general public?

I called the county health department, but there is really nothing
they can do.

When I can't wash my hands with soap and water, I use Purrell.

Pretty soon, everyone will be ill and W-M will close!

That poor cashier...I really feel for her. It's obvious that she
wasn't feeling well at all and maybe she had a fever which was making
her act irrationally.

An old manager of mine once threatened me with a write up when I
called in sick. I couldn't get a doctor's note because I don't have
health insurance. Thankfully, my company now seems to support the fact
that if you are sick, you STAY HOME. They all supported me a couple of
weeks ago when I stayed home because of the swine flu.

I wish walmart was the same. They shouldn't punish workers for being
sick. They should support the fact that their workers want to stay
home in order to get better (because you need rest to do that) and
also to protect other employees and customers.

Personally, this time of year, when I'm in Upstate NY I pick up a wet
cough from the damp air. Combined with allergies, it can really suck.
So far I've been pretty lucky that it hasn't hit me as hard as it did
when I last lived her (about 14-15 years ago).


But that cough isn't a sick cough, it's just a "my lungs hate this
damp air" kind of cough.


And sneezing... well that's ... that's a bit weird for me.
You see, I sneeze my face off daily. At least once a day I have a
sneezing session where it's usually 3 or more in a row.

Hell that's been going on for years for me.
I remember one of my co-workers in 2004 use to tease me... He refused
to say "Bless you" until I was finished sneezing. That way he didn't
have to say it multiple times.


And in 2005, 2006 or so, one of my co-workers was CONVINCED I was
sick... because of that sneeze. He refused to believe it was
allergies.


Hell just today I did about oh 7 in a row in my computer class.

But no I'm not sick. That's normal for me.



so my point is... that person might not be sick, she might just have
really bad allergies or she could be having a bad reaction to the
weather.

hell it could be just a cold.

As a customer you personally cannot verify that it's the flu and not a
cold since ... well I doubt you took her temperature.


And then there's the whole concept of time off for being sick.
There's a lot of places that require you to get a doctor's note for
it. That's nice. Can you afford to see a doctor every time you get a
cold or a flu? Would you bother?

And some jobs don't let you take time off either.
Granted, now I'm talking the military but... believe me, I never got
to be SIQ (sick in quarters - aka "time off for being sick") for a
cold or a flu. It had to be something really bad.

In fact, while on board ship (approx 8 or 9 years of my 13+ years of
service) I've only been given SIQ about 2 times.

The first time was way back in the late 90s... and I'm pretty sure it
was only because I threw up while I was at medical. The second time
was in 2008 when I went in with a stomach bug.


But for a flu or a cold?
Pretty much unheard of... The most they'd do would be to toss some
pills at us and say "get back to work".


And ... I use to think it was jsut us, that when I became a civilian
I'd be able to take sick days when I had bad colds or etc....

but from what I've read online about the medical policies of many
companies... I think it's about the same...

A doctor's note required, and more often than not, you may be punished
for using a sick day, or may lose out on a much needed paycheck (AND
be punished too).



So personally... I can't scoff at an employee for working while
they're sick. If anything I'd feel bad that they have to.

And of course I'd make a point of using my hand sanitizer.
Which reminds me I need to put it back in my coat pocket for just
those times.

As a FORMER walmart employee, i can tell you that the cards were
stacked against this woman. Walmarts policies on calling in are
medieval. Even if one has personal time saved up, it is at the
managers discretion to let an employee use it. In fact a few weeks
ago, i called in for the first time, only to find out later that sick
time has to be requested beforehand. i was not paid for that day, even
though i had the time available. after a certain number of people call
out, they begin counting all other callins "unexcused".

She DEFINITELY should have stayed home, but perhaps the manager was
making disciplinary threats if she chose to stay home. I feel it is
wrong of some of you to gang up on the employee for coming in, there
was likely little she could do about it.

As an aside, walmart deters call outs by making you place THREE phone
calls to effectively call in.

Call 1) call your home store to tell mgmt, that you will be calling
out for the day.

Call 2) call the automated walmart associate hotline (1800 number)
enter SSN, birthdate, shift, reason, and store number, wait for
confirmation code.

Call 3) call home store again, give them this info, pray they approve
it.

Missing ANY of these steps results in an AUTOMATIC unexcused absence,
and depending on the manger, a "no call no show" which is an automatic
"coaching" and refusal of next wage increase.

You could get sick because another shopper sneezed on one of the items
you purchased - but you wouldn't know because they were there the
night before.

Sometimes employees do call in but because others called in ahead of
them they were perhaps told they can't call in.

Carry a purse sized hand sanitizer with you to eliminate any causes
for concern you might have. Back when I was growing up in the 70's we
didn't have it and here I am to live and tell about it.

If this woman was so obviously sick she should have been sent home!
It seems to me that this person was being outwardly obnoxious because
she didn't want to be there(presumably being forced to stay by her
employer). Whether or not she "needed the money" or not, there is no
excuse for this type of behavior or for Walmart allowing her to
remain.

Someone brought up the single mother scenario down below. Everyone
has their issues...car breaks down, child becomes ill, spouse is
injured, one income family etc. etc. etc. This does not give anyone
the right to infect an unknown amount of people with their germs. If
everyone would just learn to stay home when they are sick we would be
sick less. Instead, we choose to force ourselves or are forced into
coming to work when we are obviously contagious.

I sympathize with both sides here. This employee may also be a young
mother, living from paycheck to paycheck and missing work may put her
out on the streets. Or, it is possible that her boss made her come to
work, hence her telling you to complain to the boss so she could get
sent home. You should have complained to management. Its not fair for
anyone, her, you, other customers, employees, etc for her to be at
work in her condition.

Problem isn't just employees being afraid that their job won't be
there when they get back, employees also have to decide between
getting paid and staying home when sick.

It's tough for someone to give up their pay.

What Wal-Mart can do is pay people who don't work due to a
demonstrated illness (in this case, it was obvious). The extra cost,
at least temporarily, could be passed along to the consumer in the
form of a "pandemic surcharge."

Erica, would that work for you?

It sounds like Kat was trying to get even with Dion for not sending
her home, which could explain the careless and excessive display of
symptoms and rant about her life. Or maybe she had a fever and was
delirious.

Going out in public when there's a possible epidemic is a risk
everyone takes regardless of the repercussions. It's up to you to
take as many precautions as possible. However, I agree that if an
employee is obviously too sick to work and does nothing to prevent
spreading germs, the employee should not be there and should be sent
home.

Under the conditions described in your letter, I actually think I
would have left the store empty-handed.