HR Stories Podcast - A Lesson in Every Story!

Grandma Got Fired, Not Retired - How Trader Joe's learned that Niceness can Backfire

John Thalheimer, MS Org Leadership and Chuck Simikian, SPHR, SHRM-SCP Episode 103

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Gloria worked for Trader Joe's for over 15 years and it was a family affair - with her grandson working at the same store. When a situation arose with her underage grandson and the sale of alcoholic beverages, Trader Joe's offered her the opportunity to retire but then had to terminate her when an email arrived in their inbox with some troubling details. 

Join Chuck and John in this tale of the importance of consistent policies and documentation. 

In the HR News segment, the team touches on the following topics and more:

  • Big Update on our book!
  • Upcoming peak of Baby Boomer retirement brings about anticipated worker shortage. What impacts to expect, especially around our employees who are immigrants.
  • GenZ workers are getting terminated at record speed due to poor preparation for workforce.
  • Gender discrimination causing an uptick in lawsuits.
  • NYC trying to introduce a bill that would include taking care of sick pets in company sick time leave.

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The viewpoints expressed by the characters in the stories are not necessarily that of The Team at HR Stories. The stories are shared to present various, real-world scenarios and share how they were handled by policy and, at times, law. Chuck and John are not lawyers and always recommend working with an employment lawyer to address concerns.

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