Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sign and date here please

Someone emailed me on Tuesday and wrote
"Honestly, after reading your blog (which my fiance linked me to) i am
AMAZED that sears portrait studio hasn't had their asses sued up the wazoo
from their employees! How in the hell do they get away with it? That's
INSANE!"

And in a this-is-really-wrong kind of way, they're actually very smart about it.
1) On your application they have you sign that they have the right to terminate you for any reason or for no reason. This is called being an at will employer.
2) To further protect themselves, everything is documented. Had too many coupons get used against you? That's a write up. If it happens next week, that's another write up that can lead to your termination for not fixing what you said you would fix and having fewer people bring in coupons.
3) Thanks to all the documentation, you feel like your job is always in jeopardy. I always felt like if I said "Hey, state law says my lunch is supposed to be uninterrupted and therefore I cannot take passports, deliver packets, or answer phones" that I would be seen as someone who wasn't a team player and then they would use all the documentation that they had stored up to give me the boot. Also, in terms of getting lunches, they have it documented that the DMs are yelling at you about making sure you get lunches, but in practice, it's just set up where it can't happen. As I've probably already written, my SM laughed at the fact that people expected to get lunches during their busy season shifts.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

CPI can document all they want, but there are laws in place to protect employees- even in "at will" states. I won my unemployment claim with 3 write ups and a final written warning on file. It became obvious my DM was trying to "build a case" when all the documentation took place in a less than 3 moth span. This after over 14 yrs of a spotless record. The fact that I was fired only 6 weeks from retirement has also interested the feds- something about CPI's retirement plan being privately funded and their history of terming people just before they can retire so they don't have to pay. Yikes!

Anonymous said...

Wow, this company just keeps getting better and better and better! Its Sickening. And im still there, Ugh.

Anonymous said...

Yet more proof that this company is run by a bunch of ruthless bums. They always take things to the edge of the law and never do anything in the spirit of it. I'd always chuckle to myself when there would be a mandate from the DM stating that everyone had to take their lunch breaks. Of course, none of us had taken one in months; the staffing levels would never have allowed it. But, we'd do it for a few days, suffer some delays, and within a week be back to no lunch breaks for another six months. You just knew someone had filed suit for this and CPI went through all the motions to cover their backside. Of course, should one have wanted to file a similar suit, the memos would be produced and we, the associates, would be blamed for not following directives.

I know many of us bash lawyers, but just think what this company would be like if the threat of litigation wasn't there to keep it nominally within the law. We'd probably have to pay them for the privilege of working.

Anonymous said...

Our DM would tell us we'd get written up for not taking our breaks. I never saw that happen though.

Anonymous said...

In my years with the company I have even seen people forced into retirement with a clause stating they will not work in the portrait industry for 5 years in trade for their benifits. Poor bastard came to me after his exile was up looking for part time... talk about the job being in your blood aftr awhile.

Anonymous said...

Anybody remember Rich Balzaretti? He was an EVP and was terminated for poor performance. He couldn't work in the industry for at least a year! I never met a man with more integrity; he totally understood the business and was with CPI for something like 35 yrs. Bet they're missin' him now.

Anonymous said...

Thank God the company has replaced the board of directors with financial wizards and brought in flunkies from radio shack to lead us in the photography buisness. I feel so comforted knowing that the top people in the company have so much understanding of the services we provide...electronics and stocks...

Anonymous said...

I remember Rich! I have his e-mail address and had lunch with him a few years ago when I was in St. Louis. Now THAT was a leader! I respected his business ethics and have spent many a night in tents (seperate of course) with him at cancer society relays for life all over Cali. He never minced words. If you messed up, he told you, and you felt like you had disappointed your father. He had a "non-compete" like everyone else, but went to England and worked for a photography company over there.
~M~

Liz said...

I would LOVE to have his address! Beleive me he was respected and he helped me many times in regards to makig me a better studio manager. Now i am of course talking about when i worked at the studio in 1982-83! We used to send xmas cards! LOL. Yes i worked for CPI for 26 years! I left the studio in 2006 due to health reasons and i guess in some ways it was a blessing! If you are working for the company still may i suggest you focus on your customers and that is what you should be doing. I believe the suits have their JOBS to do and you guys are the CORE of the business! Refocus your energy!

Anonymous said...

So, Liz, are you saying that we shouldn't pay attention to the way we are running our business? We have to have customers to concentrate on. I say you have been out for 3 years and have no idea about how the business has changed.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Liz has been out of the loop. I worked the Easter season last year and nearly lost my mind, it was so busy. I no longer work at SPS, but I do work in the same mall. I've seen 2 customers at the most in the studio on at least 10 different occasions-one of those being the Sunday after Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

I remember Rich as well.. I really liked him. He was very nice and had a wonderful since of humor. I am still in the trenches but I don't know for how much longer .. I have been with the company for over 10 years now and I can tell that they are trying to push me out. The only thing that has saved me so far is the fact that most of the customers who come into the studio won't let anyone else take their pictures. Most of them have told my store manager that if I leave they leave.. that is the only reason I am still there.

Rich Balzaretti said...

Hi, This is Rich and I wannted to wish all of youn a Merry Christmas. My phone number is 713-775-4570. I would love to speak with any of you. I miss you all.

Rich