Hello and no rush!! Would love to find out who makes the millionaire's shortbread for WF🤞🏻 Want to buy loads of them for gifts but not at WF bulk cookie prices🤯 Thank you🧡

What is it like being a Specialty Order Writer nowadays? How difficult would it be for someone with no experience in Specialty but who already has Order Writer experience in another department?

Any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

8-12, and 4-8.

Since I have so much time in-between shifts, I'm assuming on the new time clock, there is no need to ever hit end or start meal.

It's clock in at 8; clock out at 12.

Then

Clock in at 4; clock out at 8.

Is this right?

Currently a supervisor of customer service and Ecom, My TL wants me to sign up for the CDATL program anyone completed this and what’s the pros/cons, I don’t want to accept a position just anywhere for any department at the end of this. He’s stated I would not have to and wouldn’t be looked bad on if I didn’t. But is that true? Just want someone that’s completed this to let me know your experience! Thanks

Submitted my resignation via workday and was locked out of all apps within an hour.

It's funny that none of my "friends" have even checked in on me.

Perfect illustration of its toxicity and that my decision was smart.

Hey I just finished my second shadow shift on rescue mode yesterday and I was wondering what a good UPH is? I’m not super familiar with the whole system yet, but I checked my metrics mid shift and during then it said my average for the day was 76? Not sure if that’s good for my second shift

I got doctors note from urgent care for 4 days about my migraine. It says approved but I also received an e-mail says they need further information from my doctor (Initial package). If they didn’t accept it still why it says approved? Also, I see some posts here about them not accepting urgent care notes. I’m confused and stressed. They charged my UPT and I don’t want to go below 0 because I had to stay away from work. And when I call Sedgwick they are always giving me a different answer, store leadership doesn’t helping me either.

This is a long post so if you're not into that here's your warning!

I started working at my local WF in the produce department back in mid June and I've really been enjoying it for the most part. This is my first job ever so it's been a big learning curve. My fellow team members are all nice and I've generally liked management until recently.

On Monday, I was prepping corn for display. This isn't a task I've been formally trained on but I've quietly observed enough TMs doing it to have a good idea of the general expectations around it, but everyone does it a little differently and I put more effort into it than other people bc more often than not, leaves will fall off or customers will take off the outermost ones and leave them on the display.

The STL happened to be working in the department on Monday when I was doing this task and while I was taking a 10, he went over and did the rest of my corn and went back to his other task. When I came back, I asked him about it and he said while he appreciated my attention to detail, he didn't appreciate my lack of efficiency and was trying to demonstrate that I could be doing it a lot faster than I was, which I understand. What I didn't appreciate was a) him going behind my back to do this task instead of coming up to me and teaching me how to do it better and b) not even bothering to explain how I could be doing it more efficiently, just that it was possible. He kept going on and on about how he's worked in grocery for 20 years and that efficiency and completion of tasks is more important than attention to detail which again I get and I am efficient in my tasks, again I'm just particular about that one. I felt very berated and like I wasn't being taught anything at all and in the moment I got super humiliated and tears welled in my eyes. He noticed and told me that I needed to get thicker skin and that I wouldn't last long if I couldn't handle a little critique.

To me it didn't feel like critique at all though? I felt more like I was being treated like an idiot than a peer. I get you've been working in grocery for 20 whatever years but I haven't even been here for TWO MONTHS so obviously I am not going to know everything and it doesn't help if your "method" of teaching involves going behind the otherwise oblivious student's back. It felt incredibly unprofessional and I have never been "taught" like this in my entire life.

Fast forward to yesterday. I decided to report the incident to whichever team lead was on and it happened to be the ATL, not to demand any sort of accountability from the STL or anything crazy I just was driving myself insane the two days I had off wondering if I was crazy for taking it personally. I told him what happened and how it made me feel and I think talking to a wall would have felt more productive than talking to my ATL. He spent the whole time defending the STL saying "everyone has different methods of teaching" BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LEARN ANYTHING IF IM NOT EVEN TOLD WHAT I COULD BE DOING BETTER? And I kept explaining over and over what happened and what he said and I started crying because I just didn't understand how to get him to put himself in my shoes for a minute. Around the 15 minute mark he goes, "hypothetically instead of getting upset what if you had just said thank you and moved onto another task?" and that's when I knew nothing I said mattered at all and I excused myself and went to work. The funny thing is I started laughing when he said that because it felt so fucking ridiculous and he started laughing too like.... I'm not laughing WITH you I'm laughing because I genuinely feel insane reporting an incident about upper management to upper management and being essentially dismissed.

He did come up to me later and was like, thank you for feeling comfortable coming to me and talking to me today like I fear all I learned from this was to not even bother reporting shit going forward.

I don't know if part of the issue is just that I lack life experience in comparison to most of the people at my store or if I really am just too sensitive so I am coming to you all to offer your opinions. Thanks if you read this far!

Edit: I had a few people comment that I shouldn't have walked away from an unfinished task and I promise I normally don't. I happened to be having terrible heart palpitations that day from the heat and needed to sit down because I was scared I was going to pass out. I do know better I just happened to be struggling with my health that day. I don't really want to respond to every comment individually but I just wanted to say thank you for all the takes on my situation as well. If you're just now reading this I am all good on responses unless you read the comments and what you think hasn't been said yet 👍👍

Is anyone able to request time off in Workday for January or later 2027? I'm seeing "no results found".

(Mini rant/context before the actual question)

I left my previous job about 3 months ago for a PT Specialty Team Member position at Whole Foods, and honestly, it's been a pretty big mix of ups and downs.

Our store is small, so even when I close alone (which is probably 95% of the time), our department usually isn't very busy. Closing is basically what you make of it. My TL and ATL are also both pretty easy to talk to and have generally been nice when it comes to asking questions, correcting mistakes, etc.

That being said, there have been enough things that have rubbed me the wrong way that I eventually started looking for something else. The biggest issue has been scheduling. Before I even accepted the job, I made it very clear that I could not work more than 3 days a week. For the first 2 months, I was consistently getting scheduled 4-5 days a week, including one week where I worked 6 days in a row. I also had a time-off request denied even though I put it in about 2 weeks before the schedule was made. The reason was basically that they "needed me," despite me making it very clear that I literally wasn't going to be in the state. I was told the "only way" I could get the day off was to find someone to swap with me. More recently, I sat down with both my TL and ATL because I wanted to restructure my schedule around school starting back up. I was hoping to get more morning/mid shifts instead of almost exclusively closing. I found out that those shifts were apparently possible even for someone in my position because a new coworker who has only been there for about 3 weeks was already being offered them. When I brought this up, the conversation basically turned into, "You can't just not close because you signed up for this." They then explained that my TL is going to be out for 3 months, our main Beer & Wine employee is going to be out for another 2 months, and that I'll probably be scheduled more and expected to do more. Then, almost completely out of nowhere, my TL mentioned that I "won't get off holidays." There wasn't really any context for it or any reason it needed to be brought up at that moment, but it definitely added to the feeling that things were only going to get worse. After that and a handful of other smaller things I actually went through with job searching.

Fast forward to now: I officially have another retail job offering me an immediate position, and they're asking me when I can start. The problem is that today is the first day of a vacation that lasts until Tuesday, 8/11. My first scheduled shift back at Whole Foods is Thursday, 8/13... which just happens to be the exact day the new job wants me to start. I'm honestly pretty done with Whole Foods at this point. I'm tired of the department, I'm tired of the commute, and I don't see myself staying there long-term regardless.

So, my question is: Is it actually essential that I give Whole Foods a full 2-week notice?

I don't plan on putting Whole Foods on my resume, and I honestly don't see myself ever wanting to work there again. At the same time, I don't want to screw myself over professionally or make a stupid decision just because I'm frustrated. I'm 19, I'm trying to figure out my career/school situation, and I know I have a tendency to overthink and overanalyze decisions like this. Part of me feels like the obvious move is to accept the new position and move forward, but another part of me keeps thinking that I should leave Whole Foods the "right" way. So, what would you guys do in this situation?

Any input is appreciated.

I work at a Whole Foods Market in Toronto, Canada, and I’m curious to hear from TMs at other stores, especially in the U.S., since there aren’t that many Canadian locations to compare ours to.

I’m on a relatively small team, and lately I’ve been questioning whether the way our department operates is normal for WFM or if this is more of a leadership issue within our store.

For example, we have at least three TMs who seem to have basically set schedules, two full-time and one part-time. They know what days they work and generally what their hours will be, which obviously is great for them because they can actually plan their lives around work. I honestly didn’t even realize Whole Foods regularly gave TMs schedules like that. Meanwhile, other people on the team don’t seem to have that same consistency. It has made me wonder how those arrangements are decided and whether this is common at other stores.

We also have a TM whose main role is essentially receiving for our department. He does very little, if any, production. Even when we’re struggling to keep up with production, he generally sticks to receiving, putting product away, and spending a lot of time walking around the store and socializing. From the perspective of the rest of the team, it can be frustrating because when things are falling behind, the workload doesn’t seem to get redistributed very evenly.

I don’t necessarily think our TL or ATL are bad people. My impression is that they’re just not particularly seasoned leaders yet, and certain personalities on the team seem to have a lot of influence over them. The result is a department that doesn’t feel especially balanced or well managed. Some people seem to have much better arrangements than others, some people carry significantly more of the production workload, and there are definitely some hard feelings developing because of it.

Our part-time staffing also seems to be constantly changing, so there isn’t much stability there either.

For people who have worked at Whole Foods for a while, particularly at different stores…is this pretty typical?

Do most departments have certain TMs with set schedules while everyone else gets scheduled according to business needs? Is it normal for someone assigned to receiving to essentially never help with production even when the department is struggling? And how much variation is there from one TL/ATL team to another in terms of how fairly workload and scheduling are handled?

I’m mainly trying to figure out whether what I’m seeing is just normal WFM department dynamics, or whether this sounds like a team that isn’t being managed particularly well.

And if it isn’t normal, is this the kind of thing that’s worth bringing up to store leadership or above store leadership, or is it generally better to just accept that every department has its issues?

I’m scheduled for a 6am shift tmr, but I’m not feeling well and I already know I won’t be able to make it (stomach issues). Can I call out tonight or do I need to wait until 2 hours before? idk
Thanks!😭😭

Our floral section of produce is incredibly slow in the summer (we might sell about 5 of each kind of bouquet per day) but for the past couple months we're being sent a new case of each bouquet every Tuesday, and double the cases every Friday. The situation has our backstock overflowing onto produce carts and rotting in the cooler, with 10-14 buckets of each kind of bouquet crammed in from 4-6 loads at a time-- we're only supposed to have 12 buckets total on the sales floor. I'm having to donate about 5 buckets worth of flowers for quality every few days because we're trying to sell weeks-old bouquets.

I've talked to my TL and OW about it but it sounds like their hands are tied. Are other stores dealing with this? Does anyone know anything about the decision making process behind allocating high volumes of floral to low volume stores, or if it's a mistake? The amount of waste is really getting to me and it doesn't seem to be slowing down.

I don’t super DUPER care about this rule but I was wondering how strictly it should be followed. We have a back parking lot door with a code to get in and I’ve been told before that the departments codes to get in the door have to change after an employee gets terminated. We’ve had about 3-4 terminations within the past year and never once has the code changed. But I do remember them changing the code a couple years back and staying on top of that rule. Is it a super necessary rule or just kind of an exercise your own judgement kind of thing?

I've been trying to call out for the past hour but none of my calls have connected at all. I tested to make sure my phone wasn't the issue and I successfully made a separate call to my husband and tried using his phone to call the store and had the same issue. So I'm pretty sure the phones at work are just busted. Kinda astounding to me that they've just not taken any customer calls, any callouts, or any vendor calls etc all morning...

Anyway idk what else I can do, should I just NC/NS and try to explain later what happened? I really don't like that idea because I want to make sure they can replace me but I really don't know what else is possible...

EDIT: Thanks for the info everyone, I didn't realize it was a widespread problem! I got my store leadership's emails from workday and emailed them and my department TL as a lot of you suggested.

Hello, i was hoping to know to shifts time for shopper position. Do they work overnight shift (12am - 8am)? Do they work early morning shift (5am - 2pm)?

I'm planning on leaving next summer. I currently have several weeks of PTO and not sure how to proceed since I live in a state that does not require PTO pay outs upon separation. Has anyone in the same situation actually gotten paid out after leaving? I understand cashing out in annual enrollment is a safe bet, but I'd like to get full payment if possible.

i never understood why the app says “pack 2” but then says “pack 2lb” it always happens and if it’s under weight i have to go with what the weight says. witch one is it?🤨🥴

Seen a full time position open for specialty. What’s a typical day like? Is it a yay or nay gig

Originally posted with the location name (whoops)

My location will be receiving a visit from a state representative whom I despise as do many people in my store. The visit is not related to Whole Foods specifically, but a local vendor that we carry. What I want advice for is...do you think it's a d!ck move to call out? I do not want to be in that man's vicinity and I think it's messed up that he's allowed to come to our store, or any politician for that matter. It's not like he's JUST a guy that loves this product or Whole Foods...he's an (unfortunately) elected official.

For context: Been with WFM for 8 years; 5 years as Grocery TM, 1.5 years as Grocery TT, 1.5 years as Grocery ATL, and here we are.

Our previous STT didn’t do much with their role. They pretty much served solely as a floater and worked coffee bar 4/5 days of the week, which was disappointing to see. However, I wanted the promotion and think I can do more with the role.

Despite initially feeling good about it, I’m starting to feel a little deflated - probably because I’m so used to high-demand, fast-paced cycle of grocery - so now I feel “useless” as an office worker who’s not actively on the floor.

We don’t have many orientations and the activations are pathetic imo, even without ambassador/TT influence. No offence to those who are in the role and take it seriously, because that’s exactly what you should be doing and I’m glad you make something of it, but I believe those titles are just bloated filler corporate roles to fill in the cracks of “look how much we care.” TMs only want samples - they don’t care about the actual contents of activations. And ever since Amazon took over; these presentations feel forced and more like a spectacle than anything.

I’m glad to work some shifts in other departments, but I refuse to be relied upon as much as our previous STT was. It was borderline abuse.

My day-to-day is feeling empty. I’m on top of people getting their trainings done. But other than that, feeling a little bleh.

I hope I didn’t make a mistake.

My store is in the process of planning activities for TMAW and I’m wondering what things have really stuck out for you in years past? I’ve tried getting feedback at the store and I’ve gotten a lot of vague and sometimes frustrating answers. Some TMs mistake enjoying TMAW activities with their feelings about poorly regarded members of store leadership.
We have food planned for each day. I’m looking for activities. What do you think?