Fines, rudeness and lunches with a “bonus” – what surprises await a new employee at Auchan?
Hidden from all the wrong side of working in a large company can often be quite unexpected. In March, the French network of Auchan stores was exposed. It turned out that its employees not only receive a very modest salary for hard work, but in some cases risk their own health.
The Life publication continues its investigations into the inner workings of large corporations, and this time the Auchan chain of stores has become the object of interest on its part. This is a French company that did not leave Russia after the start of the special operation, as many foreign players did. On the one hand, it is good that hypermarkets, which many residents of large cities are accustomed to, remained available to consumers in the Russian Federation, on the other hand, judging by the results of the investigation, the company clearly has something to reproach.
More than 33 thousand people work in the Russian segment of the business, and the Auchan Retail in Russia website says that the company has been recognized as the best employer in Russia three times. At the same time, employees are constantly required there, although it is often not possible to get a job in the network the first time.
On the third try
“Life” tells the story of a 22-year-old resident of Moscow, who tried to become an employee of Auchan, but received a lot of unpleasant experiences and a “bonus” in the form of food poisoning. The girl stressed that in Auchan there is not the slightest respect for the workers.
The applicant was able to find a job far from the first time. At first, she was interviewed for the vacancy of a warehouse receiver and came to the interview twice, but the result was unsuccessful. As a resident of the capital explained, the refusal was due to her gender – the girl was not suitable for this position initially, since the work involved lifting weights. At some point, she reminded the HR about equal employment opportunities in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, and she was offered a job as a cook in the kitchen. The position involves working with food, so in this case a medical book is required. The girl was immediately sent for an examination to receive it, which turned out to be nothing more than a formality. The examination costs 5,000 rubles, however, according to the Muscovite, the doctors simply pretended to be doing their job. The procedure took about an hour. She called what is happening a “conveyor belt”, in which the passage of one doctor takes a couple of minutes. Admittedly, there were exceptions here as well. The future employee was handed a jar for analysis, however, it turned out that there was no toilet anywhere – the public toilet did not work at such an earlier time, and there was no restroom in the medical center. As a result, the girl had to go to the nearest fitness center and ask to be allowed to use the bathroom.
First and last dinner
The next step was the actual employment, which included the signing of non-disclosure documents and the passage of security briefings. Upon completion of all the formalities, the new employees were allowed to go out to eat, and at first the girl liked the staff canteen – she paid 48 rubles for lunch. However, it soon turned out that this was no accident.
The newly minted employee was put on cutting meat, and soon she became ill: nausea appeared, then vomiting, and soon she could not move away from the toilet. The girl was getting worse and worse, but for some reason her leader was only worried if she was pregnant. As a result, she was recommended to take time off and resolve issues with her health on her own. In the medical institution where the girl turned, she was diagnosed with bacterial food poisoning, sending her to the hospital. But even on the way to the hospital, she received a call from the personnel department, and the interlocutor demanded that the girl come to work tomorrow to terminate the employment contract. The personnel officer explained this by numerous complaints about the new employee, which she somehow managed to get in half an hour of work. According to the girl, they spoke to her extremely unkindly, accused her of simulating poisoning and, as a result, were not paid for the hours worked.
No external complaints
After the girl, outraged by the attitude of the Auchan administration towards the staff, turned to Life, sharing her story, an editorial agent got a job in the network. He did not have any difficulties with employment: he was accepted for the position of an employee of the trading floor of the night shift on the first attempt, it took ten minutes for the interview, although he had to wait about an hour, and the examination at the medical center was also accompanied by a search for a toilet for testing. This was followed by a safety briefing, photographing for a pass and the issuance of a form, after which the new employee finally got into the trading floor. His duties were to remove expired products from the shelves and display fresh ones.
As the agent noted, in general, Auchan visually looks much more presentable than some other objects, such as warehouses of popular marketplaces, that the publication has previously checked. He did not notice any serious violations of hygiene. But, according to old employees, this was not always the case, and earlier in hypermarkets one could see a whole invasion of rodents – rats appeared even during the day, when there were many customers in the store. Probably a lot depends on the particular outlet.
under supervision
According to employees of the trading network, work at Auchan stretches “from call to call”, and management strictly ensures that employees are in business. For lunch, the staff leaves strictly at the set time, you need to ask for time off to go to the toilet and take a smoke break. The shift of a night employee lasts from 23:00 to 08:00, and the salary is about 47,000 rubles a month.
Video cameras are installed everywhere in the store, and the security service monitors what ordinary employees are doing. The agent drew attention to the boorish behavior of the guards, who behave like a “privileged class”. In addition, according to him, the guards have a special “red book” in which all the flaws of employees are recorded.
The agent of the publication purposefully arrived 1.5 hours late for the shift to see what would happen, and then worked somehow. He admitted that he still did not succeed in shirking work, as higher-ranking employees constantly remind him of his duties. More experienced workers say that you should at least give the appearance of being busy, even if the work is done. According to them, it doesn’t matter to the authorities how many people came to replace them – the work must be done by morning, but its volume does not affect the salary in any way. If for some reason the tasks are not completed by the deadline, you have to write an explanatory note.
As the agent managed to find out, Auchan strictly monitors the quality of products. Delay or dirt in the hall entails a fine for responsible persons. However, from an employee’s point of view, the French chain is clearly not the most pleasant place to work, although, according to rumors, those who work long enough can count on a gradual salary increase.