Gas Stations Gas and Dash Incident

[troutman]

Crazy - I hope she is ok. I think she served us ice cream on Saturday.

[skudr248]

From what I've seen most places in Calgary only have the pay before you pump in the farthest stalls, but the first 2 right close to the store for example you can fill first, so I am assuming this was the case here.

[Northendzone]

i worked at a gas station for a few weeks way back when - the gas and the register had to balance, or it came out of my cheque.

This was back before debit machines, so if someone pumped $20.02 and left you a $20 - you paid for the other $0.02.

I worked there a few weeks before deciding it was not the job for me.

[TSXCman]

Any more details about the truck? Hope they find the guy.

[RedMileDJ]

nm

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i worked at a gas station for a few weeks way back when - the gas and the register had to balance, or it came out of my cheque.

This was back before debit machines, so if someone pumped $20.02 and left you a $20 - you paid for the other $0.02.

I worked there a few weeks before deciding it was not the job for me.

How long ago was "way back when"?

Because Alberta employment standards prohibit employers from making up shortages from employee pay, with two exceptions that must be met at the same time.

To do so, you need written permission from the employee AND must show that the employee had exclusive access to the missing items/cash.

Originally Posted by RedMileDJ

Where was it reported that the employee has to pay for the gas? I keep on reading this, in both comments on CP and the Herald, but it hasn't actually been reported.

Chalk it up to people telling 6th hand rumors. None of the people claiming this have been able to provide proof.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

How long ago was "way back when"?

Because Alberta employment standards prohibit employers from making up shortages from employee pay, with two exceptions that must be met at the same time.

To do so, you need written permission from the employee AND must show that the employee had exclusive access to the missing items/cash.



Chalk it up to people telling 6th hand rumors. None of the people claiming this have been able to provide proof.

That rule was in effect when my wage was docked. More often than not though, the standards aren't followed, or the boss just uses it as a threat.

[llwhiteoutll]

Using it as a threat to encourage employee vigilance is fine. If people don't think there will be consequences, they won't care. One of the lumps at the place I worked at was clueless, multiple drive offs and no clue as to what happened. Even though his negligence was the direct cause of thousands in losses, couldn't do anything.

If standards are not being followed, it's up to the employee to address it with either their employer or the labor board. Was your experience at a smaller, independent outlet?

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Alberta is one of the last places (at least in my experience) that doesn't have mandatory pre-pay inside or pay at the pump. I thought it was weird years ago when everywhere I went in the USA had this, and in BC earlier this summer when I visited. Turns out I'm the alien.

No mandatory prepay in Montreal either, except at night.
There may be stations/companies that always do this, but it is not common practice

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

I had no idea you could still pump before you pay in Calgary; pretty stupid.
Hope this women pulls through and recovers, horrible situation.

I presume it was a full-serve station? Might be wrong, I don't think I have had the situation where you can pump your own gas without either going into the store, or tapping your credit card.

[PsYcNeT]

A lot of stations actually oppose pre-pay, because then they don't make those sweet sweet Point Of Sale purchases.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

A lot of stations actually oppose pre-pay, because then they don't make those sweet sweet Point Of Sale purchases.

Yeah stations want you to go inside because the margins on gasoline alone isn't that great when you are paying employees to attend. I know a couple of gas stations that rarely ever print receipts at the pump to get you to come in side and retrieve it and hopefully make a purchase of snack or lottery ticket.

[flamefan74]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

A lot of stations actually oppose pre-pay, because then they don't make those sweet sweet Point Of Sale purchases.

I would think this is a big reason. A family friend runs a gas station in BC. He said that convenience store sales dropped when they brought the law in, back in 2008. People would pay at the pump and then leave. For those running the gas station, the money is in the snacks in the store, not the gas in the pumps.

Another thing I wonder is if these companies are telling the staff that they are responsible for gas and dash as a deterrent to stop employees from letting their friends get away with it. How many of these stations hire teens to work at them? How many teens would allow their friend to steal gas the odd time? Not saying the companies actually make the employees pay for it, just use it as a threat.

[ZedMan]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

Using it as a threat to encourage employee vigilance is fine. If people don't think there will be consequences, they won't care. One of the lumps at the place I worked at was clueless, multiple drive offs and no clue as to what happened. Even though his negligence was the direct cause of thousands in losses, couldn't do anything.

If standards are not being followed, it's up to the employee to address it with either their employer or the labor board. Was your experience at a smaller, independent outlet?

Maybe I'm crazy but in my opinion, no, misleading employees about employment law as a deliberate intimidation tactic is not, in fact, fine.

[transplant99]

The president of Centex says (and I'm not making this up) that thisincident is the fault of the tories for not making prepay mandatory.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by transplant99

The president of Centex says (and I'm not making this up) that thisincident is the fault of the tories for not making prepay mandatory.

I read that too. If Centex is in favour of prepay, why didn't they use the system without government intervention?

[RedMileDJ]

nm

[polak]

Originally Posted by darklord700

I read that too. If Centex is in favour of prepay, why didn't they use the system without government intervention?

They probably don't own the station. Lots of gas stations are independently owned and just sell a certain brand of fuel.

The company I work for has every major brand of gas station in it's network so just cause you see "Shell" or "Esso" doesn't mean that IOL or Shell own those stations.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by darklord700

I read that too. If Centex is in favour of prepay, why didn't they use the system without government intervention?

If they do and the other brand down the street doesn't, guess where people will go? Yup, where there's less hassle. Making it a rule ensures they won't lose ground against a competitor.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

If they do and the other brand down the street doesn't, guess where people will go? Yup, where there's less hassle. Making it a rule ensures they won't lose ground against a competitor.

Whether its more or less hassel is up to the individual. It's not universal that pre-pay is a hassel, in fact, it's likely less of a hassel for most people.

Also, I'm not sure it sheds good light on the company to use the lack of government intervention as a reason that this happened, when they could introduce it themselves but won't because of a potential loss of revenue.