B&Q reviews

You will be squeezed for every ounce of work the management feel they can get out of you until you submit to working for free in your own time after your shifts have ended, just so that you don't go home feeling deflated and worthless and that you have not accomplished every task that has been pushed your way to be completed in an unrealistic time frame. Over the years the staff level has depleted by half but the workload and dedication to giving excellent customer service has increased.

Traffic light absence sytem - As others have said if you have 3 absences in a 12 month period you can be sacked. I was off sick for 1 week due to tonsillitis , when I came back I was made to feel guilty that I took time off work. The second time I had a work place injury which my manager witnessed ( wasn't my fault by the way) and was told on my return to work interview that I took time off work because it was a bank holiday, madness. The 3rd time I was on my way to work and my son was hit by a car and I had to take him to hospital when I contacted HR I was told I needed to be in work ASAP as I was on a "Red light" I informed them that this should surely be an exception as this was an emergency but they had none of it. When I returned the next day for work I was handed a letter saying I had to attend a meeting with my manager and HR regarding my attendance. During this meeting I was asked to explain my absences. Why on earth should I be put in the same boat as someone who takes a day off because they can't be arsed coming into work with a hangover? Company uses bullying tactics to try and motivate sales - Everyone in the store was required to convince customers to join the B&Q clubcard and the Tradepoint and if you aren't doing well you are belittled and made to feel like you are worthless. I was also given an award for performance in my department and given a voucher which I very much appreciated. A few weeks later the whole store was told that everyone would be put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and if you didn't agree with it then "there's the door". This PIP consisted of being told what you needed to improve on and if you had a set time otherwise you would be given a written warning and so on. When I explained that I had been given an award for performance recently and I thought that it was unfair that I was then being threatened with the sack my manager told me that "Trust me no one will loose their job but it's something the big bosses wants us to do to try and get a few deadwood out the store and try and motivate staff". Seriously B&Q? I was promoted to a like manager shortly before I left and in a meeting I was told that they wanted to try and ease a few full time staff out of the workplace to make room for more flexible zero hour contracts. Compulsory weekend/ bank holiday shifts - I tried to book a bank holiday off so I could take my family on a break only for it to be rejected because it was a busy time for the store. I understand that it's a store but how on earth can you dictate when I can and can not take my holidays? Extremely short staffed - Trying to serve 5 customers at a time only to look up and see the whole management team in the office having a break during the peak hours.