[CopperStar]

I was recently hired as a cashier for a gas station. This is my first time ever being a cashier.

My training was almost non-existent. There were sheets my manager was supposed to go over with me but never did. It seems like every shift I learn new things by screwing up and then being told I should have done X, Y and Z. I have never had a job before where the training was so unorganized and poorly handled. But because of this, every time my drawer has come up short, the general consensus is that it must be my fault somehow. At first I just passively and gracefully accepted this, but by now I feel like this shouldn't be happening anymore as I know what I am doing now.

But the thing is that other employees hop on my register throughout the shift, usually while I am helping a customer elsewhere, tending to the coffee, changing trash bags, etc. Yet even though other people hop on my register throughout the shift, I am held responsible for all activity on the register until I clock out of it.

Well my register continues to come up short every shift, and I am getting increasingly very bad anxiety about it, like to the point that I am dreading work especially bad for fear of being fired or framed or something.

For those of you with cashiering experience, is this normal? Is it normal that other employees are allowed to get on my register throughout the shift, and that I am still held solely responsible for the money in the register? Is my anxiety unwarranted, like is this just a normal part of a typical cashiering job?

I am getting just increasingly anxious and flustered about it. It doesn't make sense to me that other workers should be allowed on my register if I am to be held responsible for the register. It is making me paranoid of coworkers, wondering if they are taking cash knowing that I will be blamed.

Is this normal procedure for cashiering??? Am I freaking out over something that is typical, or not?

[Cat_Lover_58]

Hey CopperStar

I'm sorry for the way things are going! I've got 3.5 years of cashiering where I am now. We log in/out of our drawers, but managers and others can swipe in as well. I get anxious when there's a shortage on my drawer. A message comes up on the time clock computer system that says, "There was a cash shortage..."

It could be anyone and I count back my change so I tend to think it's somebody else. I'm not saying I am never wrong, but that's why I count back.

I would talk to a manager if you're uneasy about it...couldn't hurt. I can relate to the lack of job training and how you're just thrown into it! I would just talk to the boss and express your concern because you want to do a good job. They can't fault you for that.

I am allowed to tell a manager or co-worker to not get on my register on my shift, but it's still done. Irritating for sure.

Keep me posted! Cat

[IceCreamKid]

The two times I worked at places where there were cash drawers, both places had thieves. Most likely because there were shoddy practices that basically allowed them to steal whenever they felt like it. In one place, it was the assistant manager who was the thief. I'd try to find a job with better management.

[notz]

I would log off the register whenever I left it. If someone wants to use it, let them log on with their own password.

[CopperStar]

Originally Posted by notz

I would log off the register whenever I left it. If someone wants to use it, let them log on with their own password.

The way the system works, though, is that even if they log on with their own password and take $40 out of my drawer, the report at the end of the shift will just state that I came up $40 short. It holds me responsible for all activity on the register throughout the shift, even if other people are using it (which is often the case). There is also no way to document when the $40 went missing in the system, since it would just be physical cash taken from the drawer.

My only self-defense is to try to count the money before having to step away to do something, and then counting when I get back, and then going through all the transactions in the then-now history to make sure it all adds up. But I never have time to do that throughout the shift.

I was stunned at first that this is how it works but was told "don't worry about it". Except I am worried about it, since my drawer keeps coming up short, and it keeps getting documented that it's my fault.

[notz]

Oh! That's awful. I'd be looking for a new job, sounds like a bad environment.

[CopperStar]

Originally Posted by notz

Oh! That's awful. I'd be looking for a new job, sounds like a bad environment.

Yes, I think it might be time. Hopefully a fast food joint can adopt me.

[hvert]

Yeah, that's not normal. If the company wants to hold you responsible for the drawer, you need to be the only person on it besides the supervisor who covers during your break. If the drawer is coming up short and the supervisor is doing nothing to control the situation and telling you not to worry about it, I'd guess that they were the ones taking the money.