It sounds ot me like a process I have seen other retailers use to get employees to quit. Not because of anything the employee has done, just to get rid of the higher income earners to keep their labour costs down. If they can continue to cycle out the higher income earners and continue to keep lower income earners on most of the payrool, it keeps labour costs down. If they have no valid reason to lay off or dismiss an employee, they begin to make it miserable so the employee will leave on their own. This is simply a possibility.