Wal-Mart says store manager's worker scheduling policy was wrong
NITRO, W.Va. (AP) -- A Wal-Mart store manager wrongly told workers that they would be fired if they could not be available to work any shift at any time, a spokesman for the retailer said Wednesday.
Workers at the company's store in Nitro said they were told that they would be fired by the end of this week if they could not commit to being available for any shift between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week.
"It is unfortunate that our store manager incorrectly communicated a message that was not only inaccurate, but also disruptive to our associates and the store,'' Wal-Mart corporate spokesman Dan Fogleman said Wednesday.
"Wal-Mart has not implemented a new availability policy, nor do we have an 'open availability' policy.''
Fogleman said workers are asked to consider increasing their availability to work when "a significant mismatch develops between our customer needs and associate availability ...''
"But we do not have any policy that mandates termination if an associate does not comply,'' he said.
He said company officials understand that each worker may have unique needs and try to schedule them to meet those needs.
He said a Wal-Mart local district manager was at the store on Wednesday to talk to workers and answer their questions.
"We will also appropriately deal with the poor decision that our store manager made,'' he said.
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Information from: The Charleston Gazette,
http://www.wvgazette.com
AP-ES-06-15-05 1643EDT
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