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The reader Darius (real name and surname are known to the editorial board), a salesman who works in the Lidl store, which operates in one of the cities of Lithuania, applied to the portal tv3.lt.
He said he was pleasantly surprised when he visited the chain store for the first time. So you like the choice of products, their distribution, price, etc. This includes the awards given to the company as an employer and the incentive to get a job with it.
What weight can you lift
Darius recalled that Lidl publicly declares its responsibility for the impact on people and the environment, promotes human rights, does not tolerate discrimination against employees, ensures safety and health at work, etc. However, in the reader’s opinion, similar slogans have nothing to do with reality.
“Basically, the company has a violation of the leg of the law. They do it deliberately or not, but one thing is clear: ignorance does not exempt them from responsibility,” the reader considered in the letter.
What caught her attention the most were the requirements for employees to load products onto shelves in boxes. According to the regulations in force in Lithuania, the weight of the load lifted by hand at work cannot exceed 10 kg for women and 30 kg for men.
“There are dozens or even more than a hundred of those shipments or merchandise in the store. Only those who weighed all the boxes know the actual number of boxes with a total weight ranging from 10 to 20 kg,” said Darius.
According to him, there are many heavier boxes that women can carry: canned tuna (11.5 kg), beer (12 kg), pickles (15 kg), oranges (20 kg), bananas (18 kg), lemons (15 kg). kg), pasta (11.5 kg), cheese (more than 11 kg) or juice (more than 15 kg).
“In a word, there are endless places (vegetable department, grocery department, refrigerated product department) where an employee can injure his back or other parts of the body when lifting goods. After all, almost only women work there, or at least the majority ”, explained the reader.
Older and newer products are loaded differently
He noted that perishable items in grocery stores need to be rotated. In other stores, it is easier for employees to push a kilogram of milk package to the bottom of the shelf.
“However, when a female employee at a Lidl store rotates the milk, she must first remove the 12kg box from the shelf so that she can put another 12kg box with better shelf space behind it and lift that old shelf back up,” she explained. the seller. in nuances.
According to him, due to the boom in heavy goods, the store is designed to work more for men than women.
“Therefore, I applied to the personnel department with a request not to discriminate and not to harm our Lithuanian women. Because the complaint was discriminatory, the company responded as it should and sent managers to the store despite weighing as many items as possible.
A few days later, I met and spoke with a member of staff and he assured me that the company would take appropriate action, which is to start reducing the size of the packages. It was further noted that the box sizes had been approved from the start. In a word, something was missing a lot, Darius said, considering whether chain store employees in other countries were gaining that weight.
He said he was pleased that the complaint had been responded to and looked forward to further action. But nothing has changed.
Can’t replace new
“If the shift consisted exclusively of women and their unloaded goods, or would the company make money? A few months later, as far as I know, no store manager was informed that he would not be assigned tasks that could cause serious injury, that he was not told to change work hours so that men would change more uniform, etc. the interlocutor was disappointed with the employer.
He rhetorically asked why the total weight (with the exception of the fruit and vegetable section) had not been written in the stores since the opening of the stores and the approval of the box sizes.
“Was it deliberately done so that women wouldn’t see how much they posed? Didn’t anyone know anything about what was going on in the stores? Weren’t the managers so naive that they thought heavy boxes were carried only by men? And if so, Why didn’t this madness start to stop, at least immediately, when the complaint was received?
When I said that I could not get the juice, an employee replied: I am not going to give birth yet. And in other words, who picked up the bag of cabbage that he shot where did I get so much nonsense? Darius was surprised by his colleagues.
According to him, some employees have experienced hernias and are only happy to be able to work part-time.
“Within a few months of the problem I was discussing, more than one girl was injured, although it was certainly possible to prevent it. But there are no irreplaceable. When a girl is injured, it is only a healthy girl’s turn to come and it goes on and on.
After all, the Lidl network is expanding and will continue to expand. There will also be a large number of women who will suffer serious bodily and possibly psychological injuries. Is it worth working like this? “Lidl thinks so, because nothing has changed for months, although it has had to act since the opening,” the reader resented.
He assured that he did not seek to harm the company in any way:
“I do not seek to belittle or degrade you in any other way. I only care about the justice that Lidl advertises so positively for women’s health, so if your friend, sister, cousin, mom, aunt, wife, neighbor, acquaintance works in a store or tempted to get a job reading how Lidl takes care of its employees, read this article because health is the most important asset. “
Aims to make it easier and teaches charging
Lidl Lietuva, a public relations representative for Lidl Lietuva, did not respond to how much or what part of the packaging contains packages weighing more than 10 kg, how often women have to lift them, or how often the company receives complaints about it.
“We strive to make packaging as light as possible and employees can carry out loading work conveniently by placing products on the shelves. In our sales network, there is the practice of leaving heavier boxes with goods on pallets, from which buyers can comfortably pick up the goods.
The pallets are delivered to the trading room with special elevators. If you have to lift heavier packages, it is recommended not to do it for one, but for several employees together ”, commented L. Skersytė.
He assured that the distribution of the kitchen is usually planned in such a way that workers have to load and lift heavy boxes as little as possible.
“All store employees are regularly invited to occupational safety training, during which material is presented on how to properly lift and perform loading work. Also, if necessary, we compensate employees for specifications. protective equipment such as orthopedic shoes, back belts.
We constantly improve the job security process and invest in it. We have implemented the project “120 min. occupational safety “, during which we remember about occupational safety during daily store meetings,” explained the company representative.
According to her, the issue of occupational safety and strengthening the health of the company’s employees are priority areas.
“For the third year in a row, we have insured all company employees with private health insurance and this year, depending on the wishes of the employees, we have offered more additional services.
Also, as the cold season approached, we provided all employees with vitamin kits to boost immunity. For all company employees and their children up to 14 years of age. we offer free flu vaccination, “said L. Skersytė.
According to her, employees are constantly encouraged to take care of their health every day. They are invited to various lectures on healthy eating, the effects of stress on the body, and stress prevention.
“Employees always have the opportunity to communicate with their line manager or employee representative regarding working conditions. We also talk with each employee who returns after illness and select the workload accordingly, we make an individual plan so that the return is gradual and smooth, taking into account the employee’s health status, ”said a Lidl representative.
Administrative liability threatened
Rita Zubkevičiūtė, chief labor inspector of the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the State Labor Inspectorate (VDI), admitted that employees of other commercial chains apply to the Inspectorate for similar complaints. And what are they advised to do?
“It just came to our attention then. First of all, the employees who have already been hired become familiar with the duties, the job safety instructions and what they will have to do in the store, what the jobs will be like.
So in general, workers already know that, say, women cannot lift more than 10 kg and men cannot lift more than 30 kg.
At the same time, they should be aware of how the problem is handled if the merchandise or its packaging is heavier. These could be some kind of wheelchair, recharging tools, you may need to call a colleague. Then it is necessary to indicate from which department when, what to call or the manager organizes it ”, explained R. Zubkevičiūtė.
According to her, each company, store or each supermarket has its own order and presents it to employees.
“If a situation arises during work, when the employee is required to lift more weight, the employee refuses to do such work. He informs his superior that the load is too heavy and that he does not have to lift it. Therefore, it does not perform this function.
If the manager still forces you to do that work and doesn’t arrange any relief, then the employee reports to top management, such as a director or other senior manager, or files a complaint with the SLI. Then, the labor inspector explains to the company management why the problem has arisen and how it should be solved ”, commented the specialist.
He did not hide the fact that more than one employee shows up for inspection for similar problems.
As in the case of the retail network mentioned in this case, but also in other major or minor networks. Such situations arise: someone is sick, there is no guy who has to carry products that day, many customers, sellers do not manage. Such situations arise, we receive complaints, the inspectors go to those stores and explain the situation.
First of all, there is a mandatory requirement for the employer to resolve the situation: there is a time frame within which the problem must be resolved. The employer draws up a plan of measures to deal with these issues and informs them of its compliance. If the employer refuses to comply with the requirement or does not do so for reasons known only to him, then administrative responsibility is exercised ”, warned R. Zubkevičiūtė.
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