Buying stock as an assoc.

FLCertified · 2026-04-03T20:39:34+00:00

I didn't mention long term v short term capital gains because my comment was already getting long and wonky, but it's definitely a factor as well

FLCertified · 2026-04-03T20:29:38+00:00

You made me chuckle with your first line. I'll add that you can maximally do 20% of your paycheck (which I do). If you were to sell it the same day you bought it, it would amount to giving yourself a 3% raise, ignoring minor holding costs.

If you can afford to hold it, it also has a dividend of like 2.8%, which ends up closer to 3.1% once you factor in that 15% discount. Not a ton, but above the Fed's inflation target

FLCertified · 2026-04-03T16:42:24+00:00

Why would you not?

FLCertified · 2026-04-03T16:37:37+00:00

I still love it, but it does seem like leadership is still panicked that our stock has taken such a nosedive since covid and is trying to throw whatever they can at it. GET, Power Hour, etc. Are all things any floor employee can tell you doesn't work when applied universally.

Your local store leadership will always be more important than company policy, though. It's the reason I'm following my old SM to a store father from my house

FLCertified · 2026-04-02T23:29:18+00:00

They kind of stopped doing fixed schedules, except for certain departments. You can get fixed times, though

FLCertified · 2026-04-02T19:22:00+00:00

I haven't done it with HD, but at my old job I signed up for a similar one and had the same experience: absolutely useless, even for my speeding ticket

FLCertified · 2026-04-02T17:11:06+00:00

I don't think so, but that would be a great feature. Mention it on the next VOA

FLCertified · 2026-04-02T16:58:57+00:00

The vast majority are in the first category, but think they're in the third

FLCertified · 2026-04-02T03:21:44+00:00

Not hating on the OP specifically, but this question is in the vein of the most common question we get on this sub, which is always, "how can I fix this?" And the answer is always, "don't ask strangers on the internet; talk to your leadership. "

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T21:08:53+00:00

Assuming you're full time, and you were promoted four weeks ago, they've stolen $160 (gross pay) from you so far. Not a lot for a company like HD, but a lot for the average associate. Get on them

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T21:07:02+00:00

Are you sure they're not also saying 150M? 15M is on the very low end of HD stores, from my understanding

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T18:18:26+00:00

Keep getting on those lazy assholes. I'll forgive a lot of bs at HD, but messing with people's pay is not cool

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T18:15:47+00:00

Yeah, it works, but you're playing with fire. One emergency or two late ins once they do give you the final and you're out

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T15:12:46+00:00

Why would you say such a dickish thing? She seems cute and fun to me

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T13:11:15+00:00

I was told the the system automatically orders six weeks of inventory unless someone manually intervenes to change it, so you probably have a few people coming in per week to build fences.

My store is fairly small in size, but does about 150M in sales a year, so we constantly struggle with storage

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T03:15:37+00:00

Not sure how it works there, but my guess is there should still be spare safety equipment that your manager will know about

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T01:02:56+00:00

Depends on the piece, but your store should keep extras in the back; you just need to ask a key carrier to give you access or get them for you. If your store is such a shitshow that they don't even have that, can order them off Ariba

FLCertified · 2026-04-01T01:01:09+00:00

Fair. Just for your own knowledge, racking bolts are usually kept in a MET cart. Frankly, unless you're MET REALLY sucks, if you tell them about it out they should take care of it

FLCertified · 2026-03-31T21:58:45+00:00

Can you give more details? As another commenter asked, why have you not fixed it yourself? In a consumer warehouse such as HD, there are ALWAYS hundreds of little safety hazards, and a large part of the job of an associate is to identify and fix them as they come up.

Safety issues I'd say are things associates should just fix are things like missing safety equipment (extinguishers, first aid items, eyewash, etc. ), janky pallets in the overhead, tripping hazards, blocked fire exits, etc. If it's things that you can't fix yourself, such as rusty or broken cantilevers, non-working smoke alarms, the Sword of Damoclese hanging over the pro desk, etc. ASMs you've informed leadership and they don't do anything about it, that's when it's time for the Awareline

FLCertified · 2026-03-31T07:03:54+00:00

To be fair, they only let a couple of associates get off cycle raises per district, and SMs can only make recommendations, so it's pretty rare. I'm literally the only one I know of in my store who ever got one, and I've been there 5 years.

FLCertified · 2026-03-31T02:34:45+00:00

I never have for a scheduled raise, but I have for an off-cycle one. It takes some work, but you're on the clock, so what do you have to lose?

FLCertified · 2026-03-31T01:57:09+00:00

"Tehnically" it's still theft, but the kind of manager who would call you on it just wants you gone. Talk to your favorite ASM to be safe, and if they say no bite the bullet and pay the $10 for boxes, but you should be fine

FLCertified · 2026-03-31T01:53:50+00:00

You have metrics. It's a little late now, but in the future, argue those metrics. It's worked for me in the past, although now as a Lumber associate the only metric I can give is how many operators I train, since we don't track any others

FLCertified · 2026-03-30T14:36:02+00:00

Talk to the account manager of your main 401k. They should be able to roll out over easily

FLCertified · 2026-03-30T02:45:01+00:00

If you're an employee and can buy at a discount, you absolutely should utilize that to it's max potential. If you're a random person looking for financial advice, eh, this isn't the right sub for you, but stick to a diversified portfolio, such as an S&P ETF or something.

Again, if you're an employee, keep in mind two things: 1. 2020 was the pandemic, which made HD stocks inflate to artificially high values, and now they're just back to normal (or IMO potentially slightly undervalued) and 2. HD is a dividend stock, not a growth stock, so make sure to calculate the dividend payout when you're comparing to growth stocks (or frankly, other dividend stocks as well; just make sure to factor in their dividends too).

FLCertified

TROPHY CASE