Say "no" to retail

In an effort to dissuade people from getting sucked into the life that I did, I'm dedicating my writing today toward informing you all of the disadvantages of the retail industry, and why you should never apply to a retail chain.

"But why?", you ask. "Why would you dissuade me from getting a job? Jobs are so scarce as it is, shouldn't I be thankful for any kind of work?"

That kind of talk may have flown one or two years ago, but there is absolutely no excuse to find better work right now. Unemployment is high in our country, yes, but it's not due to low job availability. There are plenty of jobs out there and very few of them, believe it or not, are related to the retail field. Go look on Craigslist or any job-finder website, and make sure not to limit yourself to retail.

Before you do that, however, let me give you some motivation to go outside of your bubble, as it were. I don't want you to just think that I'm some anti-establishment rebel who has it out for retail companies, so hear me out. There are many reasons to seek work elsewhere, and I'm going to expound upon three of them. So, take off your name badge and get out of those uncomfortable khakis. Just relax, and read on.

1. Employment relationship

Most retail companies these days are "At-Will" employers that don't have unions, which means that both the employee and employer hold the legal right to end the employment at any given time. In other words:

" ...any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the employer is free to discharge individuals "for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work."

Don't misunderstand me, they can't fire you for anything involving discrimination that is defined by the EEOC, but they can terminate you for broadly-encompassing reasons such as "performance", which is defined in the company's handbook or whatever compliance material they provide their employees with.

There are a lot of ways this employment relationship could be abused, but that's not to say that this is the case for the majority of retail terminations. However, say that you're a supervisor at a small retail store, and due to a combination of increased customer traffic and changes in your store's administration (managers, assistant managers), you've had a difficult time finishing some of your weekly tasks. This happens often enough and, depending on your company's termination procedures, they could fire you for "bad performance".

Keep in mind, this doesn't always involve a phone call before your shift. You could very well show up to work, be there for an hour, and then get called into a meeting. Alternatively, you could work the whole day, and then be approached at the end of your shift. This varies between companies, but all At-Will employers can do this, so keep it in mind. You could be the hardest worker at your store, but if it isn't properly staffed, your "performance" can very easily slip out of your own control.

2. Wage

The federal hourly minimum wage is currently at $7.25. Unless you've already had retail experience, or you're great at argument, this is what you will be getting paid. Let's put this into a larger perspective for you. Though it's very unlikely, say that you work 40 hours a week. If you get paid weekly, and don't count income tax, you'll be making $290 a week. Four weeks is a month, and that's $1,160. Twelve months is a year, and that's $13,920.

The 2011 Poverty Line, as defined by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), lists this year's threshold at $13,600 for Alaska, $12,540 for Hawaii, and $10,890 for the rest of us. This means that although you're just above the poverty line, if you're living on your own and working at $7.25 an hour, you're going to be doing without a lot of conveniences other job fields will be able to afford.

There is somewhat of a luster to the lining, if you want to be positive. Most retail companies will offer an employee review with a wage increase, though this differs vastly between companies. The review could occur every 6 months, or it could be once a year. The wage increase could be a possibility, and not a requirement. It all depends on the company's policies.

"But Keith, you could say that about any field. All companies are going to have different policies."

Oh, certainly, I don't deny that a lot of companies in unrelated fields have this same outlook on promotion and wage increase for hourly positions. In fact, I'd agree that most of them have the same approach. However, there are other fields that involve things like gratuity, and commission. Being a waitress or waiter at a restaurant could turn out to be highly lucrative, depending on the hours the employee works, and how good they are at their job. A salesperson at a car dealership could be outstanding at reading their customers, and make a great amount of money based off of their commission pay.

What I'm trying to say, is that with retail, your wage is your wage. It is a constant. Though in some circumstances this could be a good thing, a good bartender could work a busy Saturday night and make more in that night than your wage offers you in a 40-hour week.

3. Benefits

This is the worst part of the retail business. For the sake of argument, let's say that you haven't yet received any management training, and you're either entry level, or you've even been with the company over 90 days (the usual probational period). Most companies only offer benefits to employees who have met the 90-day probation period, were hired on as a full-time employee, and are currently working 40 hours a week.

Meaning, that if you're a part-time employee who's working 40 hours or more a week, you won't get benefits. Combined with the rampant discouraging of overtime by your administration (and yes, they will highly discourage it, but I'll get into that in a second), there is literally no incentive to working part-time in retail. You will get no overtime, you are getting paid a flat rate, and you will get no benefits. At least in fields that offer gratuity or commission, you can still make more money doing part-time work.

As I said earlier, your administration will discourage any overtime that you accrue. They are required by the US Department of Labor to pay you 150% of your regular wage for anything exceeding 40 hours of work per week, and if they can do anything to prevent that from happening, it will improve their budget and make the company look better on paper. I would like to note here that companies are not required to change your status from part-time to full-time if you are working 40-hour weeks. That is a very common misconception, and most companies have a very defined process for making an employee eligible for full-time benefits such as health insurance.

In conclusion, when you're going on the job hunt, you now have 3 reasons to search elsewhere of the retail field. If you want to look at it logically, think about it like this: if, for now, you are going to be a part of the bottom 90%, you might as well be the slice in the pie chart that's getting the most out of their job. Look for something that offers commission, or gratuity. Even if it's less hours, you have a better chance at making more money in less time, and who doesn't want that? Just get good at your job, smile more often, and talk to your customers. As much as people like to complain, none of those things are difficult if you put forth the effort. So get out of retail, and start enjoying your job!

[Currently listening to: City And Colour - In The Water I Am Beautiful]