I know it matters little WHY she is doing it, what concerns me is HOW she is doing it. Well I am sure pushing every customer 3 times to take out a store card is against company policy. It goes against all the literature I have from the company. Offering a customer a discount if they take out a store card is also against the rules. That's the whole point, I do not think what is being asked of me is reasonable. I do not believe they are reasonable, if you think they are reasonable could you please explain why you think that? There is also one asst. manager, but he's only been here a couple of weeks and only seems to stand and watch what is going on. Which in my opinion is a good thing. That is the reason why I am here in the first place. If you are right and pushing customer 3 time and offering them discounts is reasonable, and I make a complaint I am wrong. If I am right and it is not reasonable, I have no proof it came from the manager. Well thats your opinion, and you are entitled to it. But I don't believe you have read and understood what is happening, otherwise you wouldn't be telling me the exact opposite to what everyone else is. Of course, everyone else could be wrong and you could be right! Now, please completely ignore all the above, it doesn't matter at all. All I want is two questions answered. Question 1 Is there any law/rule/guideline/code that says an employer can't penalize an employee if they don't offer store cards? Question 2 Is there any law/rule/guideline/code which says you can't offer a customer a discount on an item if they take out a store card there and then and use the card to pay for the item.

There's been a development. Last week, Friday, I got sick and when the team leader said she was going going to write another report because I had not "offered" a store card to a customer, I turned on her. I told her straight that I would not be pushing store cards onto anyone, and told her why. I said that she could sack me, or I would leave, but if it comes to pushing store cards or not working here I will chose not working here. Since then she has not, openly, done any reports on me and I have had no hassle at all. So either they have 1. Given up 2. Been to busy to bother with me this week 3. Or are lulling me into a false sense of security and are going to hit me with something else when I'm not expecting it. I have to admit that I spent the week expecting to be sacked at any moment, but nothing has been said at all. I think, possibly, all the reporting was just a bluff to frighten people into pushing store cards harder. A big stick to waive over people's heads, but when I called their bluff and told them to hit me with it, they couldn't. Well, either that or I'm going to get sacked!

Exactly, I don't think the company would want that. Only if I prove it was her.

Not that simple, she keeps a team leader between what she says to staff. She tells the team leader and the team leader tells the staff. Other people have asked her about things and she just tells them to see their team leader. So if you were to complain you couldn't say "The manager said........" You would have to say "The team leader told me that the manager said....." And I'm sure in such a case the manager would say "The team leader has misunderstood and passed on the wrong instruction". This leads me to believe she is wrong and knows she is wrong, so is making sure someone else gets the blame if there is a complaint. Not if she gets it wrong.

You are right, I don't know what knowledge she has, but I do know that this is her first managers role and I have seen the rookie mistakes she has made. Everyone I know in retail knows about targets too, so why would they deliberately try to achieve nearly double what is expected of them. Knowing that if they achieve that then the target will be set even higher! Yes I am unhappy at some of the changes she is making, but it's hard to complain to anyone higher up. If you ring HR at head office they just say "we don't get involved with that sort of thing, speak to your team leader". The area manager visits the store no and again, but he won't speak to the staff, just says "go through your manager". The whole system seems to be set up to stop staff complaining to anyone higher than there store manager.

Not assertions, facts. We have several targets and they are pinned onto the staff noticeboard every week, along with a chart showing all stores in our region, what there targets were, what they achieved and where they stand in the regional and national league table. It's there to encourage us to do better and get higher up the leagues. Not sexist, she hasn't been here long enough to see that when you reach targets they increase them. I said I know what the company don't want. I'm sure I said that I think she is making up her own rules. I didn't say the company have changed the rules because I don't know that. The old manager was a stickler for the rules, if the new managers rules were in force when he was there he would have had us working to them. He retired, and before he retired he was too close to his pension to risk being sacked for not following the rules. Yes but I think We are being told to do the wrong thing. I think it is the manager who is doing the thinking and making up new rules and that the company wouldn't like it if they knew. I am not just talking about till staff, it's everybody who works on the shop floor. If you are stacking shelves and a customer asks you where a particular product is, you have to try and get them to take out a store card. It's if you ever speak to a customer, for any reason and no matter what your job is, you have to try 3 times to get them to take out a store card. I can't do that yet, as I have no proof it is coming from her, other than a team leader saying it did.

I think you have completely missed the point. Under the old manager the "rules" were, if a customer is buying a high priced item and you think they might go for a store card, give it a try. The new manager has changed the rules to "offer every customer a store card, and offer another two times if they keep saying no, and offer them a 10% discount on what they are buying if they take out a store card". This applies to all staff, not just till operators. I do not believe the company wants every customer harassed 3 times by every member of staff the come across, even when they are only buying a £1.99 paint brush. I also don't think the company wants staff to offer a discount if they take out a store card because it is against some rule or other. I've already mentioned that we are achieving the targets. She just wants to prove she is better than the last manager by increasing the number of new cards we get. And as I said, she is new and doesn't know that all that will happen is the targets will be increased, then she will be under pressure to reach them. Sorry but I am not a coward, if a battle needs fighting I will fight it, regardless of my chances of winning. I know that, but I'm not fighting "them", I'm fighting the manager, and I believe that if I had any proof "they" would be on my side. The problem is getting proof, the manager doesn't tell the shop floor staff what to do, she tells the team leader and she tells the shop floor staff. So if she is doing wrong and there was an investigation I have no doubt she would say the team leader misunderstood what she said and told the shop floor staff the wrong thing. I need to get proof that what the team leader is saying comes from the manager, and actually is what she said, and that it is wrong.

No worries, you actually did me a favour. The guidance is on a training video, well more of a PowerPoint presentation with a "quiz" at the end. You watch it and do the quiz, if you get all the questions right you never see the presentation again. If I "let it be known" that I am not sure of the procedures for store cards they might just take the easy way out and make me watch the presentation again. If I get one question wrong on the quiz I will be forced to watch the presentation again, and redo the quiz until I score 100%. ericsbrother, there are targets. If the store doesn't meet the targets the manager has to explain why, and if you do meet the targets a certain number of times in a row they increase the target. I'm sure the new manager is just trying to beat the targets just to "make a good impression". However, I think the way she is going about it is all wrong. And, as she is new, she hasn't learned that if you hit the targets they just increase them, and hit you harder to make you reach the new target.

The only guidance I can remember seeing only told you what to say when you talk about the store card. I don't remember seeing anything about when you should talk about it. The previous manager used to say "if the customer is buying a high priced item use your own judgement, if you think it is worth trying, try offering a card". I have no problem taking things in, it's just this manager has changed the way we do things and I don't think it is the way the company wants it to be. I am not talking about offering a card when they are paying at a till, I am talking about all shop floor staff offering a card to every customer who passes them. Even if you are stacking shelves and a customer walks past you are supposed to ask them if the need help and make 3 attempts to get them to take out a store card. I don't think this can be right, if there are 10 colleagues on the shop floor a customer could have each one trying 3 times to get them to take out a store card. I too would like to know if I could be dismissed instantly for not offering cards to everyone, or even for not offering them to anyone. As I said earlier, the previous manager left it up to the staff member and he never asked anyone if they offered a card. But now it seems every time you speak to a customer a team leader sneaks up behind you and listens in, then makes a written report. I really don't think this is company policy, just the new manager trying to bully staff into offering more store cards. I know the stores are set targets for how many new cards they should get each month, as he used to tell us how we were doing. As we were usually around the target, sometimes a little above and sometimes a little below, he didn't put pressure on anyone to do better. Although he did encourage the team as a whole to try harder sometimes at team meetings.

I completely agree with you ericsbrother. Having been in debt in the past, with debt collectors chasing me, and gotten out of it with the help of people in here, I am not about to try and push or persuade others to get into debt.

Hi, it's not a loyalty card where you get points for shopping there. It's a credit card where you get a credit limit and can purchase anything in the store up to that amount without paying for it at the time. You get a monthly statement and if you pay off the balance you don't pay any interest, but if you don't pay it all off you pay interest. The wording is always "offer the card", but tell them about the money off vouchers and if that doesn't persuade them to take the card offer them a 10% discount. But make it plain that they can only get the 10% discount if they take out the card there and then and use it to pay for the item. If they pay for the item by any other means they can not get the 10% discount. Unfortunately there is no evidence of regarding offering the 10% discount, except team leaders tell people that that is what the manager said they should do. The discount vouchers are mentioned in the training video, you are told to tell the customer about them and at the end of the video you are given a test to prove you have read/heard and understood about the vouchers. However, you are also told to tell the customers that they can use the card immediately, but the actual card will be sent to the by post in 7 to 10 days and the discount vouchers will be in with the card. I guess the vouchers not arriving for 7 to 10 days gets round the rules about them. I have no doubt that if someone from say Trading Standards went into the store and took and interest in a high price item they would be offered the store card, vouchers and if they hesitated they would be offered the 10% discount. However, I like all my colleagues, except this one, so would not want any of them to get into trouble. Joe

Hi, Sorry, I didn't make that clear. The store cards are not loyalty cards, they are "store credit cards". You know the type, they work like credit cards but you can only use them in this chain of stores.

I have worked there 3 years and 3 or 4 months. I know I need to get it in writing, and will try. It appears she is in her first managers job, and is trying to increase takings by being very tough on the employees. She has also told staff to tell customers that they will receive £60 worth on money off vouchers, in with the card, if they take one out. And if they are still hesitating after that to offer them a 10% discount on whatever it is they are buying if the take out the card. I have actually witnessed team leaders doing this several times. And when I asked if offering a 10% discount was Ok, they replied that the manager had told them to do it. Joe

The penalty is "I will go". The manner in which it was said led me to believe I would be dismissed if I did not offer store cards to every customer. Also, I can't think of any other reason to gather written evidence that I did not offer store cards, other than to use it against me in some way. After both events I freely admitted to not offering the cards as I did not feel it was appropriate. So it can't be just in case I try to deny it. Joe

Thanks dx100uk I work in a diy store and we have a new manager. The previous manager encouraged us to offer store cards if the situation warranted it. i.e. the customer was buying a £400 lawn mower, but not if they were just buying a couple of tins of paint. The new manager now wants all employees to offer all customers a store card. She has not said anything to me, yet, but other have said her new orders are offer a store card, if the customer says no, make two more attempts to persuade them. She also has team leaders watching staff and making reports on them, I have had two today for not offering a store card to customers. And have been told it is my job to offer store cards, and if I didn't I will go. Joe