Jo-Ann Stores
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As a former employee
As a former employee, let me tell you a little bit about what happened while I was there, and what I know is about to come, based upon inside hearings, and general knowledge. I got promoted to a full-time inventory coordinator (IC) back in August 2022. I was informed that I would always make more then a keyholder, because of the position I had, and the responsibilities I had. When one of the keyholders hit his next year status, his pay automatically went higher then mine. I asked the district manager if I would then get a raise because of what I signed the contract for. He said no, because that was a yearly raise, and it doesn't count. So I told him I was going to quit, and find somewhere else to go because it was against the contract. He said he would talk to his bosses about the raise, his mom conveniently died during this process, so he was gone for three months. My brother passed away, and I took two days off, the day before, and the day of his passing. My DM ripped my boss a new one because I took two days off, in a row, and how dare he allow the IC to take time off during the busy season, and put all our inventory behind. He simply explained that I had to take time off for the passing of a sibling, and that the store was aware of it, since my brother was on hospice and we knew the day would eventually come. He (The DM) never gave me his condolences when he saw me, he just told me I need to push my team harder in getting freight out in 24 hours (at the time I didn't have a team, I was the only one pushing freight). Right around this time, my boss was telling me that the company might be going under some major changes, so it might just be him and I running the whole store until they figure out the new program. He also said that he thinks his job, and many others, are at jeopardy. A few weeks later, they let my boss go (due to underperforming as a store) but they did that falsely. They never sent in extra help, never trained him, or the team properly, and they expected everything to get done in minutes, while having the store open, and needy customers around. I put in a three week notice shortly after that. I also got a week of PTO to use during those three weeks, which my manager, and our DM had no issues with me using them. While I was on my week of PTO, I was informed (by a former team member) that the company decided to let me go. So I called HR and the DM to clarify it and all I got was "return your keys, it's against policy to take PTO while on your notice, and don't return back to the store." They never paid me, and I fought the state on that for unemployment/lay off, and Jo-Ann simply stated that I "voluntarily left, and didn't follow policies." The state took their side, I still have my keys, and no money from them. I stated I will not be returning the keys until I get paid. This company is for sure money hungry, and they do not care about their employees, they also do not care that customers are leaving left and right either.