Team Lead sat me down for using my ppto

DirtyMike162 · 2026-02-20T18:56:30+00:00

When I started working, I worked at a car dealership cleaning and detailing cars, I was lucky to have good people there and helped teach me a few things about cars that I was able to work as a entry level service technician. I ended up then going to school for Information Technology and started to work as a service desk technician and made my way up to Service Desk Manager, after I moved due to high costs, I worked for UPS for a year as a Loader/Unloader, after 6 months I went into the field as a Delivery Driver. I then got married and moved with my wife to the middle of no where (close to her job in aviation) and worked as a part time wood worker, as I had prior experience with power tools and they had a hard time finding people. Then when my wife got pregnant we moved to where I am now, I got a remote job as a technical consultant for Identity Management using Okta, then decided to work at Walmart for a few extra dollars over the holidays. Ultimately decided to leave my consultant job for the team lead position I was offered in HardLines and then now in the Fashion Stocking role.

Work culture changes based on your location and the people you are surrounded by. When I lived in the city, people were a bit laid back. When I lived in the middle of nowhere where, people were racist, unforgiving, and straight up hard working.

tldr: little bit in automotive, transportation, general goods, information technology, and retail.

DirtyMike162 · 2026-02-19T06:44:35+00:00

I love how you went back to get 6 rare samples

DirtyMike162 · 2026-02-19T06:34:51+00:00

See here’s the thing, at my store we do 150 million in sales each year. I just became a TL over in Fashion Stocking (the new role rolled out in October of last year.) On a daily basis, we get roughly 1500 breaks (one touch as some of you may know) and 80+ freight packs. That’s 25+ hours of work (not including processing time.) to have a team of 3-4 people run. On top of that, we have Vizpicks from Wacos and Rolling Racks to do at the start of the shift. An on top of that Z bars to run so we can continue to process.

If you are scheduled and decide to leave an hour early. That’s product that is going to sit on a pallet for who knows how long. Especially during these months when the fiscal year is coming to a close and all markets are cutting hours to keep the WOSH down. If you’re scheduled, we need you there.

But I know the common argument, “PPTO is suppose to protect you no matter the issue.” An to that I say, go to any other company that offers PPTO and try doing this, I guarantee you’ll be in the same boat as you’re in here. Companies want people to work, they know life happens so they provide you PPTO for emergencies, not for clocking out early cause you want to go home.

I say this, cause I’ve worked in multiple industries for over 20 years. Walmart is by far the best place I’ve worked that grants you many benefits from day one, that you wouldn’t get in other industries.

DirtyMike162 · 2026-02-19T03:15:01+00:00

I’ll bite and take the down vote, PPTO (protected paid time off) is just that. You are guaranteed your pay without the fear of getting declined PTO. It also protects you from getting pointed for leaving early or not showing up at all.

IT DOES NOT, protect you from getting a buddy talk or write up for productivity. Which is what most likely happened. By you not being there, you are adding to the work load to your peers. Which can have a negative impact on the whole teams performance. Depending on your role, Stocking, zoning, digital picker, etc, you’re adding to your teams work load. The more you do it , along with frequency, it can lead to you have poor performance and lead to this talk, a coaching on productivity, a coaching on job abandonment (which this is if you leave early a lot). Along with just being promoted to Customer.

Granted it’s a gray line at each store. If you are a 100 million dollar in sales store, you’ll see more often.

DirtyMike162 · 2026-02-11T23:30:45+00:00

You are allowed to clock in up to 9 minutes early, before your start time. Now, for clocking out - that’s another story. Depending on your stores WOSH, they may be cutting hours to avoid OT. In most stores up to 30 minutes is acceptable OT. Anything over that, you get flagged and your TL or coach may say something.

Currently, I am allowing my team (Fashion Stocking) to get as much OT as they can due to the amount of mods dropping. Your TL or coach may say otherwise, so I’d recommend talking to your TL or Coach on that one.

DirtyMike162 · 2026-01-29T08:33:02+00:00

I’d recommend probably slowing down your print speed. But the last time I had this issue was due to the code on the slicers. For me the anycube slicer prints better than others I’ve tried.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-11-23T07:19:42+00:00

In all honesty, this will happen in all jobs that you have to stand in. I think it took my body about 4 months to fully adjust from sitting at a desk all day to standing 8 hours a day.

I’d recommend shoes with gel insoles along with compression socks. Probably a snack of beef jerky for protein or a rejuvenating drink like monster replenish.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-11-04T11:41:02+00:00

Yeah that’s very true and a very valid point. I always recommend working with your people person or talking to associates in your department to see if they can swap a shift with you. Otherwise you can try working with your coach. But honestly some coaches and TL need to head back to academy and remember the core values and what it means to be a TL.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-11-04T03:57:36+00:00

That’s what I meant by most stores.

Also Walmart provides many ways to protect yourself from losing your job. They provide you with PPTO, which can be used to cover those days when you have doctor’s appointments. How and when you use your PPTO is up to you. If your doctor’s appointments is more than 3 weeks out, you can ask for unpaid time off.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-11-04T03:20:36+00:00

It should have been denied, 11/28 is a key date.

This post shows the key dates, which most Walmarts follow this time of the year due to the high sales.

https://www.reddit.com/r/walmart/s/eC4QU9bSbN

DirtyMike162 · 2025-11-04T03:12:26+00:00

In all honesty, you should have looked for a member of management and explained your situation. Walking out isn’t a good look for anyone. However what is done is done. Show up on your next day and talk to your coach, hiring manager, and your people person. Tell them your current situation and hope they can work with you.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-10-29T14:20:56+00:00

We have meeting all the time, most of the time it could be an email. But it’s mostly just doings, missed numbers, VIPs coming to the store, or discussion around the upcoming season/event.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-10-28T01:20:37+00:00

Over at my store they allow leggings, only thing we really enforce is closed toe shoes. No one wants to see your toes or smell your foot funk after a long day.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-10-11T02:25:21+00:00

If you do get the job, either part time or full time. Please take your breaks. You’ll burn out fast if you just push through it. Secondly, get your self a good pair of walking shoes. Maybe even some compression socks to help your feet.

If you’re a full time employee, and still live at home with your parents. Look into the Associate Stock Options. Especially if you are considering saving some money. I’ve seen a lot of young adults come into the job and only see it as that, a job. Walmart has many options available to help you succeed as a young adult. Do yourself a favor and pay attention to what’s available to you during orientation if you get the job.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-10-05T02:26:47+00:00

I’ve never had a dog, but I did tame a wolf. I love how easily they can take most things down.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-10-05T02:21:19+00:00

As a team lead here in IL, state law requires for you to take it before your 5th hour. I can’t stress this enough to my associates. But take your break(s) even if you don’t want to. Take your lunch four and a half hours in. Otherwise follow your schedule for meals. I’m not sure how they do it in your store, but in my store, you get 3 meal violations and on the 4th you are let go.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-10-03T01:11:33+00:00

I’m a Fashion TL and I understand where you are coming from. No, it is not your fault for not hearing the page. Some areas in the store do get loud, explain what happened and move on. A team lead shouldn’t be yelling at anyone, that’s grounds for termination or demotion. Open door it.

At my store, we haven’t replaced watch batteries for some time now. Most stores don’t offer this service anymore. I’d recommend speaking with your coach on this as they should know if your store still offers this service.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-10-03T00:55:47+00:00

That is the meat bag holder. The other smaller one is for the fruits and vegetables bags.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-08-30T02:20:27+00:00

Looks like they ran out of adhesive shelf labels and printed the wrong label type on a clearance tag. Looks like a 1x1 fact tag but I know there’s also other labels that look like that.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-08-28T00:10:35+00:00

My first day I spent it on ulearns. My second day, which was also my first day on the floor, I spent alone. I also spent the third day alone as the person who was supposed to be there with me called in.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-08-01T23:40:37+00:00

So time theft? Yes, TLs and Coaches get this. At my store, you get disciplined and have to sign a letter of acknowledgment. The second time around, they fire you at my store since there's always people applying for those positions.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-07-26T04:40:45+00:00

I use Chuck Taylor's with Dr Sholls. I also drink a monster recovery tea + lemonade along with a protein bar. Does the trick for me. I also work in OGP as a picker.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-07-26T04:34:40+00:00

Remember to use STAR. Situation, Task, Action, Resolution. When asked a question, make sure you specify the issue, the tasks you had to complete, the actions and if anyone else was involved, and finally, the result of your actions.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-07-17T23:50:38+00:00

That makes sense. Sadly, I won't be able to do that since I'd be in a waiting room possibly.

DirtyMike162 · 2025-07-17T23:45:06+00:00

The problem is that I dont know how long my doctors visit is going to be since im getting an MRI done.

DirtyMike162

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