clerk

grocery associate

order picker

truck driver

bakery clerk

Fareway-Stores,-Inc

As an employee, the Meat Market within Fareway is so functionally disconnected from the rest of the store, that it may as well be separated entirely. With a different line of management and all aspects of the job being in it’s own area with a smaller roster of employees, the meat department has a way of feeling independent from the rest of the store or typical retail in general. This is where problems arise, however, as management has seemingly gone unchecked as a result.

For starters, the equipment provided for tasks - if any at all - is outdated and usually broken, as management is unwilling to pay for proper replacements. The supplies afforded to employees, from paper towels to latex gloves are strangely policed and at times are withheld even for tasks that should call for a sanitary layer, with management openly declaring that this is an effort to cut costs.

Time is a recurring issue with this job. On closing shift, employees are scheduled through 10PM (exceptions being Wednesdays, at 11PM) though this is rarely ever the case. Typically, all employees are clocked out by 9:15 - 9:30PM. This is seemingly on request of management, leading shift leads to push employees to complete their tasks earlier than necessary or possible in order to save 45 minutes everyday on payroll.

Sanitation at this location is an afterthought at most. The meat department is tasked by the store with cleaning both the male and female public bathrooms (a total of 4 stalls, 3 sinks, 1 urinal and both floors) each night, though management will expect both to be handled in 15 minutes or under, incentivizing employees to rush and underperform on the task, as well as penalizing employees that fulfill their position correctly and thoroughly.

Continuing the topic of sanitation is the nightmarish dish-pit at this location. Employees with the task of washing dishes for the day are expected to do so at an unreasonable pace, completely sacrificing cleanliness along the way. With 3 basins, one for soap and sanitizer, another either left empty or filled with water as a “rinse”, intended for a buffer between soap and sanitize. Rinsing dishes before putting them in the soap water is effectively forbidden. Instead, an employee is supposed to wash them entirely in the same basin before sanitizing them. 

Water is only changed 2 to 3 times on a typical day, so the food buildup occurs rather quickly and after washing enough dishes from deli salads, the basin is filled with more ham salad than soap, and any further dishes are basically no longer being washed. None of this is by choice, but by necessity. 

There simply isn’t enough time provided to complete this task correctly. Trying to will likely get you scolded.

Though the Meat Market is listed as hiring for full-time positions, they exclusively hire part time employees then eventually move them up to full-time when they’re needed. The exception to this would be rehiring former employees, which is a tremendous issue with the company in and of itself. 

When I was first hired by the department, I was told they were short staffed. Towards the end of my employment, I was struggling for hours, averaging 5/week, because several former employees had returned and there was no longer a need for me.

This is only a good job if you have no responsibilities. It is not dependable. It is not reliable. It is a gamble, and an unenjoyable one at that.

This review is specifically about the downtown Ames store. I have heard the north store is worse, but cannot confirm.
Also please know I don't mean for this to reflect negatively on the company. From what I have gathered from other transfers, their old store was a lot like mine was. Friendly, orderly, fair, and just generally made sense. That seems to be the standard for this company.
Let me tell you, this store is none of those things.
Let me start off by saying the management here comes in three flavors: indifferent, follower, and downright antagonistic. You cannot expect any of them to stick their necks out for you, the best ones are the ones that literally care what you're doing.
The followers are okay as long as there are no antagonistic ones around, but when there is, you can bet they won't be on your side.
And they'll never be on your side, because no matter how you're doing something, it isn't fast enough, it isn't thorough enough, or it's "wasted effort" and you should be somewhere else. They will constantly try to make you feel that the meager $10/hr they're paying you is more than you deserve. That's bad for anyone and straight up devastating to someone with poor self esteem.
I think the reason for this is that none of them really know what they're doing. They manage to keep up, but I get the sense that they're always in this confused panic and lash out at their part timers as a result. This is reflected in how little sense the store makes. School schedules are worked around, but no scheduling promises are kept beyond that. They promise 20 hours? You'll get 15. They promise no back-to-back Saturday closes? You'll get 3 of them. They take three entire days to write the schedule. Nobody is fixed in a department, so those who specialize will find themselves repeatedly thrown into something they already have proven to be bad at instead.
Their coronavirus response is ludicrous. They do not allow you to bring your own food or drink. You have to buy your own, and of course there's no employee discount. Yet, they still don't require customers to wear masks.
In short, the pay blows, the management blows even harder, and I don't recommend either Ames store to anyone, not even those with a history with the company. Your experience means nothing to them.
Working here has been one of the worst experiences of my life which is sad considering that, despite the low pay, I really enjoyed working at my previous Fareway.

The education level required to move up is very low; store managers and above make a very comfortable living, but getting to that point takes over 10 years in most cases. Meat is where the money is, grocery is less lucrative.
At that point, you're working 5AM~PM everyday, and coming in on the occasional Sunday.
Those below are generally working around 40-50 hour weeks, and Full-time grocery starts at $14, with Meat starting at $15.
Unrewarded promotions are common: E.g. moving from a Courtesy (bag-boy) to working in produce means far more responsibility but likely no raise.
Pay is far from competitive, among many other things left to be desired.
In short, it can have the plights of a small town store with the bureaucracy of a corporation.
The Covid response was poor. No raises were given:  20hrs PA given to part time, 40hrs PA to full time. Many begrudgingly followed new sanitation/mask policies at the store level, and that extrapolates to new policies in general
Fareway is, however, despite all of that, a good place to work. 
•Most every employee is friendly. Even in store to store interactions, you will be treated like family by your peers. (This was largely the hardest thing about leaving)
•The work's never really that hard (save for contending with the odd customer, but welcome to customer service)
•Leaving for school/ life for long periods of time isn't ever a problem (e.g. not working throughout a sports season, or going off to college and only working Summers)
•Flexibility with hours, especially for family emergencies and when life gets in the way is bar none the best you will find
•Large range of grocery experience to be gained, a  manager at Walmart, for example, would have a lot to learn in order to perform the job of a Fareway Manager due to the span of responsibilities.

Fareway is one of the more interesting jobs I've worked at solely because of the attitudes I faced every day working there from both staff and customers. Since I was part time I mainly worked weekends and they were flexible when it came to my pre-stated events where I would be unavailable for a weekend. I could walk in on a Friday night and work until closing time, cutting meat and serving it to people, and see people of all walks of life, and someone in the back would almost immediately comment on someone's appearance or ethnicity. Despite working in a town which was over half-populated by a community of immigrants from all over the globe, the store I worked at hired mostly white people and all management positions were held by old white men. Near the time I was getting ready to quit I saw more latino men and latina women, but the same old men were running the store. I was working in a show where I needed to bleach my hair for a role and, despite being a great worker for them and someone who actually wanted to continue working there, the fact that I was going to bleach my hair gave my manager enough pause to tell me I may lose my job if I don't immediately dye it back to brown upon finishing my play. The coworkers I had were funny, albeit a little racist at times, but most notably all older men who had been working there since the late 70s. They wanted to retire, be with their families, and they commended me for staying in school to get a higher degree because they couldn't do it themselves. I honestly think that if Fareway's policies don't change for the modern world, it may die out. Oh yeah, and my typical day at work involved me slicing meats up with sharp knives and getting my nice white shirt stained with blood or various sauces. I often showered immediately after getting home to find chunks of ham in my shower drain and somehow find barbecue sauce on my elbows.

I’ll start with the pros of working in the warehouse. It’s an all around pretty simple job involving grabbing different food/grocery products and placing it on either a conveyor belt or on a pallet. The pay is decent and it’s pretty simple to get your raises along with getting 3 paid breaks (two 20 minute breaks and a 45 minute lunch break) but you will more than likely be working very long hours.. perfect if you love overtime I guess. Here are some of the cons I noticed. There a very few employees in certain sections of the warehouse, so many employees are stressed out and tired. It can be near impossible to get days off or request an early release from work along with personal days not being permitted and needing a mental health day is disregarded as a joke. Very often it can be a very depressing environment, and you’ll probably be working after your scheduled shift plenty of times, because you can’t leave until you’re done with the work. It can really take away your sense of a personal life, especially during any sort of holiday or a big store deal. Upper management is quite uninspiring due to a lack of presence as well. Roughly every year Fareway adds more stores to its rosters, therefore creating a larger workload for the employees. Here’s the big issue, over the years as they have created more stores, the amount of employees in certain sections have not increased whatsoever, creating an unfriendly environment between employees and a feeling of under appreciation from upper management. 

I often get complimented by my manager that I do an amazing job for our store. When I am in charge of closing, everything gets done, and it gets done correctly. I am led to believe that I'm an exceptional employee, but I am NOT. I come in to work, and I do everything that is required to do the job correctly. In my mind I don't go above and beyond, but from Fareway's perspective, I am a well-above-average employee. 

This, however, is not the case. The standards for what makes a good employee have dropped significantly in this company. Doing the bare minimum and slacking off most of the day has become the new norm. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this, because it makes me look better. But I do have a problem with it, because it is counter-productive for the company as a whole. Now, if I ever "slack off" (talk to a customer or employee too long, check my phone in the back room, or accidentally take a break that is 1-2 minutes longer than the allocated break time), I get reprimanded. But if the people who do the bare minimum or less slack off, it goes unnoticed because that is what is expected of them.

If you are a lazy wastoid, and have no aspirations whatsoever, this is the company for you. You can do the bare minimum or less, and still make a halfway decent living.

Fareway was an excellent experience for me. It was during my several years at this job that I learned how to maintain a professional appearance, how to interact with customers, how to work in an efficient and organized manner, and how to prevent work from becoming dry and monotonous.

A typical day of work involved my coming into work to unload inventory from trucks around 6am. My fellow workers and I would stock the store from 6am to 11am, at which point I would take a lunch break. I would then come back and work 12pm to 5pm helping customers carry out their groceries and re-stocking shelves.

The workplace culture at Fareway is top-of-the-line. Though some might buck at the employee code of conduct, I find these guidelines to keep the company as a whole looking very professional and running very smoothly.

My favorite part of the job was the relationships I built, whether working with fellow employees stocking shelves or carrying out groceries for regular customers.

It’s a great job if you like talking to people and getting to know about others day.
Management was iffy, I was interviewed by one manager, was hired under a different manager, and also had an assistant manager quit halfway through my time working there so they could move to a different job with better pay. 
Had coworkers bring personal issues into the workplace which ultimately brought cooperation down. 
Had management question amount of Saturdays taken off while I was actively working part-time. Quote “It’s unfair to other part-timers because then they can’t take it off.”
Terrible pay. Had a co-worker inquire about a raise but was told that it depended on the amount of hours they worked in a week, instead of their performance. Outdated paper scheduling with comments from management saying that online scheduling would cost too much to implement. Outdated computer software at checkouts, had checkouts constantly shut down and restart while checking out a customers groceries.

Working at Faraway during high school was one of the best learning experiences for me. It taught me a lot about what it means to work hard and stay consistent. Balancing my school schedule with shifts wasn’t always easy, but I quickly learned how to manage my time and stay on top of everything. Showing up on time, staying focused on tasks, and putting in the effort every day became habits that stuck with me.

It also helped me improve my social skills. Whether I was talking to customers, coworkers, or my manager, I had to learn how to communicate clearly and work as part of a team. I even got better at handling tough situations, like when customers were unhappy or something went wrong.

One of the biggest benefits was learning how to manage money. Earning my own paycheck gave me a sense of responsibility—I had to think about budgeting, saving, and making smarter decisions with how I spent my money.

On top of that, the job pushed me to become a better problem solver. There were always unexpected challenges that came up, and I had to think quickly to find solutions. Overall, working at Faraway gave me skills I still use every day.

A typical day at work would include standing at a register for several hours and checking out customers, while at night if you were one of the older employees you would be able to leave your checkstand to stock and face the store daily, newer employees would stay up front and be responsible for cleaning the checkstands, vacuuming, and cleaning bathrooms. Unfortunately your job will be very dependent on management because there will be a lot of picking up slack for others as there is no punishments incurred when others will not do their job and no one can leave to go home before everything is finished. Workplace culture was unfortunately very male-oriented and a lot of men were paid more than the women and women were only allowed to work checkstands and not bag while men were not allowed to cashier. Most enjoyable part of the job was facing the store as it was relatively easy and quiet and the hardest part of the job would be learning store layout as a newbie.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Clerk 87 salaries reported	$17.28 per hour
Grocery associate 50 salaries reported	$15.29 per hour
Order picker 49 salaries reported	$24.88 per hour
Truck driver 12 salaries reported	$25.95 per hour
Bakery clerk 16 salaries reported	$16.31 per hour

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