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How can I regain creibility with my boss?
I have recently been hired at a grocery deli, at first i fit in pretty good because of my extensive experience. Throughout the last 6 weeks I have been noticing disturbing food handling habbits of my coworkers. Neglecting to wash their hands after taking money,not cooking foods to propper doneness, not keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold. In fact whole refrigerator units were down and still shelved with perishables, some of which had been outdated for MONTHS!!!!!
i mentioned the things i noticed to my deli manager dicreatly and respectfully, reminding her of the dangers of food bourne illness. She blew me off repeatedly telling me our units were on defrost, that all stores have missed dates.
i wasnt sure what to do! Then one day I saw my boss herself and a coworker preparing catering trays. When thay were finished they stored these catering trays on top of juicy boxes of raw poultry items in our walk in cooler. shortly after this, I myself pulled a cart load of out dated food expired for 2 whole weeks and still on the sale floor. I made suggestions, only to be made fun of by my boss and others in the department. I was so upset about the food hanling issues in our department i expressed them to the department second who told me if I was that upset about it to talk to the store manager. I did just as she suggested. The store manager was irritated with my presence and didn't believe me. So I photgraphed what I could that day.Word got out I was keeping records of poor food handling habbits and customer complaints about expired food, and raw deli product that had left the store with our customers. The store manager took my camera and said he was going to have the photo's I took developed as a store expense. It has been two whole weeks, I have been made fun of, isolated and patronized as a result of my concern for the general publics health, and my Boss has yet to say a word about the evidence I compiled as proof of my testimony. Nothing is changing behind the scenes, In fact i just pulled another cart full of expired food from a coworkers assigned table, some of which was dated dated to be pulled in june of 2008, and this is the end of july 2008. My question here is, what can I do from here? I need this job, i cant quit and as a moral issue, I cant exacly allow it to continue.
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Obviously it's going to be difficult to regain credibility for one main reason: you're actually a decent person who cares about public health and the general well being. You sound like you're the most responsible person in that place and if anything you should be the manager. And because of your extensive background in the field you obviously know what you're talking about. If I were you I'd start looking for a new job now, just as a fallback option. By no means should you stop doing what you're doing, because it's the public's right to have their food handled properly. I honestly can't believe your manager is so stupid (to put it bluntly) as to not listen to you when what you're doing is, essentially, trying to save their asses. If word got out what was going on they could risk losing their jobs or getting fined. You're just trying to help them and you don't deserve to be treated that way. Keep watching what's happening and keeping track of it while searching for a new job. If they don't relent, then hopefully you can find a new place to work and leave them behind. Then, if you really want to go out with a bang, tell the Board of Health what goes on there. I'm sure they'd love to know, and then maybe your manager won't be so quick to blow off someone's concerns.
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You obviously don't 'fit in' at this store because you care about safety and quality while the rest of the staff, including the manager, does not. I'm sorry to say I don't think they are going to change anytime soon. But then again... I'm sure you all ready know that.
I know it's hard... But for the time being ignore your associates. It doesn't matter what they think of you, you're doing your job. I know you're work environment is less than pleasant... And I know how stressful and hurtful that can be. But if you need the job, keep a stiff upper lip.
Continue to document and photograph the bad practices you are observing. If the store manager won't do anything about it, go to the district manager. You also might want to call the human resources department. State the problem and ask if you could be transferred to another store. Because... Just because this store doesn't care about their customers, doesn't mean their isn't another one that does.
And in case that doesn't pan out... Start looking for another job.
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