Check out Operators & Coronavirus?

[lucgeo]

Re: Pauline Foulkes reply email..

Questions for clarification...

1. Peak times? Has the "one in one out " policy ceased?
2. Barriers have been approved. By whom?
3. Spacing between would fall within H&S requirements? As these are unprecedented times, to what H&S section is she referring?
4. Any staff for whom the barriers would create a particular difficulty or hazard...I think a contagious life threatening virus could be classed as that!
5. The use of barriers should not increase or change in any way the number of people that are allowed in the store at any one point...
Your store should still be following all of the social distancing measures that have been put in place in recent weeks, and the fact that we are coming into Easter weekend does not change any of the measures that are in place....kind of contradicts her opening sentence " Tesco have introduced barriers to be used between checkouts at peak times"

This woman is being paid a fortune, by you and others, to sit in her secluded office in the clouds, spouting a load of c**p! 

[Englandace]

Some of it is bit contradicting.  Dont know who authorised I so concerned sent email to them not best response but does say keep social distance. Customers cant with all tills open and those screens are not suitable. Just get all checkout staff refuse to go back to back and if needed complaint against store bosses

[Nomad]

This woman is being paid a fortune, by you and others, to sit in her secluded office in the clouds, spouting a load of c**p! 

lucgeo, you certainly have a way with words  which I agree with more than ever on this occasion 

Somebody please ask her how the tills become overly busy when the numbers in the store are supposedly controlled.

[Dougall]

She’s probably working from home 

[King1999]

Goodbye statement from a useless union......the rules aren't there to be changed what so ever just greed and agreement ....... true to form from union and Lewis and his crew.

[trolleyboy96]

The bigger issue that I can see is the capacity guidelines, our store has a capacity guideline of 200 which is madness....so with all things in place including back to back checkouts some managers feel that the store can go to this. You see this in our competitors as well.

Luckily we have a couple of managers who (don’t laugh) have taken this virus seriously and are doing everything possible they restrict the store to 60 when on duty.

Yes you still get queues at checkouts this just humans shopping erratically, Tesco expects people to walk up and down every aisle. Will be interesting to see if new measures come out this week.

[lucgeo]

In the local small store last week, they had displays of Easter eggs, blocking half aisles gaps, to keep people going up and down each aisle on the one way system. They had staff members monitoring end of aisles to keep people going one way, and staff members front end of aisles, directing to empty checkouts. However they weren't challenging more than one shopper to one trolley.

A relative works in a big ASDA in the next town, they have tightened their procedures, the queues are longer, but the store is maintaining the 2m spacing. They are also challenging more than one shopper per trolley, insisting the able people remain outside, and only one of them shop. If the monitoring is slackened on my weekly trip tomorrow to my local Tesco, I will go to the next town's ASDA instead.

I would never let a manager dictate their unprofessional reasoning as to why I can risk my and my family's health based on their interpretation of reasonable requests.

[madness]

Carers are becoming a big problem in our store, they for some insane reason keep bringing their patients to the shops and then get arsey with us saying one per household.

[BinnieBob]

Usdaw partnership agreement doesn't contain a no strike clause, not even sure that would be legal as the right to withdraw labour is a pretty fundamental one.
Nothing to stop anyone joining another union, you're still entitled to representation etc.
Don't know about anyone else but worst people in my store for not keeping distance are staff members.
Madness, you do realise that 'carers' who take their clients out are there to assist them, not because they are incapable of shopping for themselves. People needing assistance is specifically stated as an exception in the policy as far as I'm aware. Not surprised they're getting started with you. What's your attitude to single parents who have to bring children with them? Do you discriminate against them too?

[madness]

No carers should be doing the shopping for those at risk people not dragging the injured/ frail or those with low immune systems round the hell hole of a supermarket at these times.

Single parenta totally fine they have no other chioce.

[Redshoes]

The guide is that we ask people to shop alone when possible but we don't police it. We should not challenge as we are not aware of the reasons behind why some people are not shopping alone.  You are wrong to challenge them.  It's much like the hidden disability and sunflower lanyards.
It's a guide, it should not be enforced.
Single parents can't leave children with other people. It's not ideal having children in store but they do still need to eat.
In my store most people do shop alone, but not all.  It's calm, even friendly. Another colleague from a store close to us has complained that we do not enforce one way on all aisles, we are only doing so at beginning and end of shop. We are not preventing people from missing aisles they never go down. We allow them to go back fir something they have forgotten. It is not causing issues. People cross keeping distance. We get lots of happy people thanking us and saying the atmosphere in the store is good.
Many customers wear masks and gloves but not all.  Some colleagues do too, but not all.  We are not regimented but it works.  There was an official brief handed out to the "here to help" colleagues saying not to enforce or judge.  Just encourage and support.

[lucgeo]

Can I ask the size of your store ? In the smaller stores, as my local one, the customer volume is not great, and the system does work well. However this is not always the case in the bigger stores, such as my old store which was an extra and another local superstore.
In bigger stores, the need for enforcement of social distancing should be more vigorously enforced.
I don't agree with allowing people to miss aisles, the system is in place to protect all customers, not for some to disregard it as they don't want anything in that aisle. If they have forgotten something, they should be asking at the checkout or on the shopfloor if a member of staff could get it, but even then, I personally would be reluctant to expect a staff member to go fetch it!
I think the atmosphere of the store, depends on the size. You can't compare the smaller stores with the big extra's whose colleagues are under greater pressure due to the higher footfall.

[Redshoes]

I work in a SS but have an extra closer to home. I did go into the extra last week and all was fine, no queues at door or tills but was late morning mid week. The SS I work in tends to be busy up until about 1400 but less so after this time. We tend to have a queue when we open, never used to have this. It builds and at its busiest from about 9-12. Customers are informed of one way as they enter store etc. However, evenings are very quiet but a little rush again at about 1800.
When busy the one way is not enforced but it naturally slips into just being. Customers directed to aisle 1 as they enter and clear signage as they go round the store. During quieter times there are empty aisles. There should be a two way flow at the back of the store anyway for customers to go back for forgotten lines. As we are a SS our aisles are wide enough for people to cross or for customers to go round others. They just need to be on the sides and not stood in middle of aisle.
The office is restricted to two people. The canteen has tables separated and chairs at either end.  The desk is not using middle till. The checkouts are only opening half the tills. We have the dividers in but they put the customers back to back and have only worked on the self service tills but makes things harder for colleagues when it's busy but the self service on the whole are very quiet just now, for us anyway.

[almostlost]

Regarding express ...

We have 4 tills, only 2 open.  How are we supposed to adhere to social distancing when lottery/paypoint/cigarettes are all behind the tills and were climbing round each other to get to them ?

[Redshoes]

The stores are all set up differently.  What works in one won't work in another. More screens are on the way, for CSD and PFS anyway. It is to widen the screens already in place. From the brief it looks like there will just be a slot at the bottom for passing money through, similar to at a post office. When the original screens came in there was a brief about how to fit all the different types.

[lucgeo]

Regarding express ...

We have 4 tills, only 2 open.  How are we supposed to adhere to social distancing when lottery/paypoint/cigarettes are all behind the tills and were climbing round each other to get to them ?

Unsure how the arrival of screens would alleviate your concerns? Perhaps a suggestion from the colleagues of a better way of implementing the different purchases without invading each other's space? You are not there just to be told "this is how it is" if it isn't working, and it's causing anxiety.

Perhaps having one runner behind the tills, to fetch the required item for them when needed,  being the only one in the area at any one time?

[King1999]

Tesco are in no position to tell people to risk their lives.......it’s basically down to the fact they just see you as hours and not people they are only interested in profit nothing else.These clever sods in their ivory towers need to put themselves in the firing line,bet they’re all working from home.Playing with lives,ignoring mental health the company is full of s*** now your just a number folks.

[Nomad]

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/18696341.southend-tesco-branches-criticised-coronavirus-guidelines/

TWO Tesco branches have come under fire over alleged failures in following Covid-19 safety guidance, as well as refusing to co-operate with council bosses.

Independent councillor Martin Terry, who oversees public safety in Southend, was left furious after visiting the Tesco petrol station on Prince Avenue in Westcliff and discovering apparent failures in following crucial safety measures.

He said problems included no limit on the number of customers in the kiosk at once, no requirement to wear masks and no hand sanitiser available for customers.

[NightAndDay]

The problem (as it always is) is Mickey Mouse managers who are too big for their boots, you don't see this happening outside of Retail because the managers there actually possess reading comprehension.

[Nomad]

Not wanting to divert this topic, but.  I will always believe that 'manager' is a big stretch of the meaning of the word especially in a large company retail environment.  They are instructed by HO in
(A) what to sell.
(B) How much to sell it for.
(C) Where & when to display it in the store.
(D) How much to hold in stock.
(E) What times to open/close the store.
(F) What course of action (or not) to take with customers who commit a legal transgression.
(G) What procedure(s) to follow with any employee that strays from the correct path.

[NightAndDay]

Exactly, Retail Managers only have limited creative license (if you want to call it that) in what they can do, and most of that is in promotion and merchandising activities, for everything else there's either a policy to adhere to or a process to follow, 90% of the issues on this forum stems from these managers making up policy, shoehorning/bullying employees into doing things they don't want to or simply not following policy or process.

[lordadmiral]

  and when you follow all the rules/orders etc from head office you are being told you are not good enough beacuse you are not creative enogh to make some changes.

[miriam]

It would help that people employed are will to do a days work for a days pay
I find most I work with just walking around chatting like its a  holiday. Also even when you have been in a post for 9 yrs they still have no idea of their job and how to do it
I get so fed up with lazy people and get away with it
Me I'm always in the office cause liars have said things
Liars are believed lazy get away with it