legal advice, aka corporate jerk at work

If it was me, I'd sign it and look for another job. You are of zero value there, it would seem, based on the contract.

 

Actually those two are illegal here in the US also (well in California they are.) Rule #5 there is a roundabout way of saying "we are not responsible for any lost or stolen items," this is to keep people from suing them if you bring your Ipod to work and someone snakes it. I doubt if you bring a backpack to store your clothes they would fire you.

Rule #13 there is also bullshit, you personally are not responsible for any losses the store incurs, even if it's your fault. Yeah this happened to me once when I worked at Starbucks back in the day, one of the other guys there ripped the store off for $150 and the manager made it sound like if I didn't cover it out of my own pocket that I'd get fired. Of course back then I didn't know it was a law that they can't do that.

You can, of course, get fired anyway in that situation, but not becasue you refuse to pay from your own pocket. They way that is worded makes it sound like they'll sue you for damanges, which is bullshit. This is true even if its damages incurred to a customer account - Since you work for a corporation, the corporation is the one responsible.

 

Holy crap, I can't believe that anybody would be expected to sign such a thing!

It sounds like something you'd expect Congolese diamond miners to sign with an AK-47 next to their head.

 

I think this is for mixed reasons. One yes being the store is not responcible for your stuff but also I think it's to reduce theft from employies (I heard a EB Games manager explaining it to a new employee when I was in the store, they are highly asked not to bring bags in the store but if they do, a manager must check the bag before they are allowed to leave).

 

I guess people aren't very tech-savy, but if your going to take something from a game store, you don't really need to physically "take" anything for most items. A Laptop, cartridge reader/flash card/dumper, CD/DVD-ROM burner, HD, is all you really need.

 

That's the standard bs contract they put up so they aren't liable (ie in case you try to sue them they got their ass covered).

Try working for corporate union grocery stores like i did, they do a lot of sneaky shit that isn't even technically legal. And trust me getting fired from a video game store is not the end of the world, its not like getting fired from a high paying gig.

Since it's a customer service sales position you have a good chance of getting a sales job or manager position somewhere else easily.

Word of advice though, if you do get fired, look for work asap, the longer the gap the worse are your chances of gtting a new job.

 

Well it looks like we avoided disaster. While I was working today the corporate dick called and was freaking out asking what he can do to fix things because the county BBB said we should sign it under duress and write our complaints. He did say the 30 day probation period would only apply to new hires, and offered some explanation on things so I think things are going to be good. He's one of those weird people who when backed into a corner will start begging for mercy I guess. Before he was the type that just fired people if he didn't like something.

 

Well a double post, but oh well I know I'm fucked probably now. When Ryan called yesterday apologizing for the contract he asked if the problems were the opinion of just Isaac my manager or of everyone. Well I told him we were all upset which was true. Today I saw my manager's job posted on the website and he hasn't been told yet.
http://www.gogamers.com/gogamerscom/index.php?id=jobs
It's the Ames, IA area listing.

According to the guy who got fired in Ankeny, IA (his job just below the others) Ryan is firing every store manager in Iowa. I do not understand how putting unexperienced managers in half of your stores is a good business decision.

I have a feeling everyone at my store is fucked royally now. Well I suppose I should look into filing for unemployment and filing out applications. One thing to look at though is I haven't done my taxes yet so I should get some good money from that get me by at least a month, not to mention my parents said they could help me out.

By the way if you didn't see above on the shitty website the company I've been talking about is called Gamers. They have an amazing website as you can tell and so many fans on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gamers/131310932383

 

So I take it they are getting business ideas from Circuit City...

 

I don't see how it really helps them that much either considering they only give a 2% annual raise for cost of living increases. In the employee manual though it does say that 2% can be lowered for any reason. What happened to raises being given to reward employees for their hard work and loyalty to the company.

 

Why does their logo remind me of a low quality Mexican restaurant?
Throw some maracas and a sombrero on the 'G' and I'd expect you to be selling burritos..

 

I guess it really depends on the company you work for. Some places reward good work, others not. I guess it really depends on how high the attrition rate is.

 

I highly doubt the district manager is going to fire everyone in the store, at the same time. Back when I worked at Starbucks we had to periodically do stupid shit like this, I wouldn't worry too much. Just like any job, you just need to make yourself valuble.

 

Well so far nobody has been fired yet, but now my manager's job is on craigslist haha. The district manager (aka the vice president of the company) now really pissed at me and another asst. manager because the computer supposedly reported ~$927 for a daily bank deposit and only ~$714 was deposited. Thing is I have no clue where the idiot gets this $927 because we have the papers the program prints out (on our okidata printers!) and it says the accurate $714 on there for deposit. I'm thinking the asshole is just looking for more reasons to get rid of people.

Another reason I don't believe he plans on opening another store here in town like he says is because he hasn't finished opening the store in a town near by he started back in November. It's still full of totes full of games sitting on foldout tables, and they just use hand made barcodes and excel spreadsheets to do receipts.

 

seems like that company should try to pull something similar here in down under and feel the full force of the union/feds/etc. [<- put your fav. org here] ;p

 

Well my store manager got fired on Wednesday and today I got a voicemail from the district manager that everyone at our store was terminated due to disagreements with the new gamers policies. One of the guys actually was able to answer when Ryan called and he asked for the reason we were being fired and Ryan just hung up. Honestly if the fucking asshole had done it face to face it would have been better, but to get fired via a fucking voicemail is the lowest of low.

 

Was your company having money trouble? seems they were firing people so as not to have to give bonuses in the event they had to make you redundant

 

Hey man I feel bad for you, now is not a good time to be out of work. But seriously ask yourself, would you want to work for a company like that in the first place?

I hope you're able to find something else without too much trouble. Good luck!

 

I don't know what the legal situation is regarding employment in the USA, but if someone pulled this list of shit off in the UK the whole lot of those made redundant could take your former employer to court for a whole host of reasons, one of them being unfair dismissal. Seriously, what a crock of shit.

If I were you I'd turn it into a local news story and shame the bastards. :thumbsup:

 

We actually are going to the local newspaper to try and get them to run an article. Unfortunately here in the US it's state by state on employment laws, and Iowa happens to be an Employment at will state where a reason is not needed to fire.

On the plus side I may already have a temporary job lined up. My girlfriend talked to her boss at the Subway restaurant she works at and since they own like 6 stores in town they can probably find me a place. This definitely isn't the ideal job for me, but my friend is opening his game store here in town this summer and me and another guy are going to go work for him. Considering my friend is actually smart when it comes to business compared to the corporate jerks at Gamers I would love it if we ran Gamers out of town. We're basically going to be taking away their core source of business so we may actually succeed rather quickly. This town has a huge university with 20-25,000 students and our store is going to be right across the street from the dorms. Gamers is about a mile and a half off campus with no nearby bus stop to it and they don't do advertising so I think we stand a fair chance.