ALDI reviews

This is a very demanding job, 100% of the time. The store seems understaffed to casual observers and customers because there are very rarely more than two to three employees running the entire store. One dedicated to the register, one to the floor and one manager. Or a manager and a cashier only. Cashiers and managers fulfill all needs, from stocking to cleaning to checking out customers. If a cashier assigned to the register has a single moment free from customers, that individual has to jump up immediately and stock until the next customer has unloaded their grocery cart. If the cashier is assigned to stocking, he or she must leave her pallet of stocking and assist the dedicated cashier when a long line forms and then return to stocking. If the stocking is not completed during the shift due to time spent as a back up cashier or cleaning, the employee may not leave until is finished. If you are unable to complete your job in the time allowed, the hours you require to complete your job will become a problem for the manager on duty, possibly requiring him or her to send another employee home early that night. It is incredibly stressful. Additionally, lifting 40 pounds is a requirement. Understand it is not unusual that you will have to lift 40 pounds over your head, with your arms fully extended forward while balancing unwieldy and poorly constructed trays of goods... in a very quick, efficient manner... for long shifts. If you are not physically fit when you start working for ALDI, you lose ten to twenty pounds your first month. It IS that demanding. Also, understand that you will NOT get your breaks. Yes, you could sue. But the job market is not positive and it costs ALDI less to pay legal fees and damages than it does to hire enough employees to have staff on hand to give the one to three breaks required by law per shift. You will, however, be paid the additional 15, 20 or 30 minutes wage or the portion you do not take if you do not get your paid break. The people you work with will be a team and you will feel incredible pressure to not let them down by calling in sick or requesting days off for family obligations.

The company largely disregards labor laws with regard to breaks. The few employees who have pushed to receive their lawful breaks have been given them and then terminated for some unrelated reason a few months later. This wouldn't be so bad if we were working at a normal grocery store, but when you're running a store with no more than 2 or 3 people on staff at any given time it starts to get to you, especially when you're working a longer shift. Theo Albrecht is the 10th richest person in the world, and it's no secret that pinching pennies is how he got there, but when you're working in a store that's pushing $30,000 in product through the doors each and every day, it stings a bit when you're told that an extra $120 in labor costs would throw the budget off. Another big downside, (also related to our small staff), is that there is very little sympathy for out of work obligations. Aldi offers no support for their employees who need days off for college, children, 2nd jobs, etc. We are told that we need to make ourselves available from 5am to 11pm without exception.