Downsides include (but are not limited to) a severe lack of coverage on the floor. Often one associate will be covering up to four or five departments all by themselves because either no one was scheduled in a particular department or because multiple people went to lunch at the same time. Going to lunch at the same time would not be such a problem if there were more than one person scheduled to a department at a time. Associates are supposed to find someone to cover their department when they go to breaks or lunch, but most times they do not. Management does not enforce this policy. Management also rarely make an appearance to help out on the floor when there is no other help. We who call management as a final attempt to find help for a customer often have our concerns brushed off, and are told to keep calling around to try and find someone else to help.
It takes, at bare minimum, eight cashiers (aside from their immediate supervisors) working a full shift each to smoothly run the registers, and cover eachother's breaks. Many times there will be scheduled only five or six cashiers and two or three of them will only be for a half shift. Management does not open a register when there are lines, but they are quick to call the cashier supervisor and complain.
There is a deplorable lack of communication. Rarely do any two people in a given department have the same set of instructions as to what needs to be done for the day. However management is ready to chastise when things are not done according to "specifications." Specifications that are at times not given at all.
Each manager has their own set of rules. In order to get along for the day, associates need to know which manager(s) are present, and which rules apply to which manager. Managers chastise associates for not following their rules even if the associate was following a different manager's rules. Following the rules of the store manager does not exempt one from trouble.
Associates who seem to spend all their time in the break room or simply are rude and/or uncooperative can escape diciplinary actions if they are "buddies" with management.
Management has instituted a program where one associate is chosen daily to clean up everyone's mess in the break room (including whatever mess management has left) instead of requiring the adults to clean for themselves.
