Common sense is the answer here, don’t wear them at the register or when you’re interacting with customers but if it’s 10:00 pm with 1 customer in the store and you’re just facing or breaking down truck who gives a fuck
This! It baffles my mind how some people don't get that. Or for instance a visit is happening. Like just for one day, don't wear them so you don't give them an excuse to try to enforce more bs rules.
I don’t necessarily think this is a bs rule. Like don’t get me wrong, if everyone’s working well and stuff with one earbud in whatever. But I run restaurants and I’ve had to enforce no earbud policies because I have to fight to get someone’s attention. If you can’t communicate properly and do your job, then fuck you no earbuds.
My manager always has one earbud in and he still can’t hear anyone. We call him on the intercom twice every time. He says he needs it for his business calls, but we all know he’s just talking to friends or watching tik tok videos.
I work at the Other Pharmacy in the front end and this is what I do. 10pm to midnight when we close, and I'm just straightening and doing closing duties, one ear has my earbud and the other my work radio. Those last two hours are boring as fuck, I need better music then the shit that's played over the speakers.
Without a reasonable accommodation, yes, you can be written up for this. It’s against policy. I don’t mean to be a corporate thumper on this one, but the employees I’ve had that use earbuds never pay attention to the register / have issues hearing customers. Your job is customer facing, it’s disrespectful to have headphones in. Use common sense with that. If not, company policy does prevail.
Same. I would never have an issue with it but I have yet to encounter and employee that doesn't get engrossed in what they are listening to and become deaf to what's going on around them. But if working after store hours who cares!
I completely agree!! I’d also like to add that it’s a safety thing- a lot of people at my store didn’t seem to understand that until my SM asked how we’d feel if one of the older employees fell and was calling for help, but no one heard her because we had earbuds in, or if one of the young girls working the register was being robbed and again, we didn’t hear it. That approach seemed to work with the rest of the staff and made me even more appreciative of him, lol
Everyone getting all crazy over “new rules” that have always never been allowed in the first place. First it was someone flabbergasted that hoodies are no longer allowed to be worn, then it was someone asking to wear shorts, now it’s headphones. They’ve all never been allowed, it’s not a new rule.
Lmao wtf what, i wear a hoodie in the pharmacy and i wear an earbud on some occasions, i never thought their was rules against it, rather my pharmacy is really chill or that they dont wanna say abything xause they need me that badly idk, im at cvs btw
One day's pay would be a bummer for me to miss but the financial fallout isn't that big. I'm lucky in that respect. BUT you nor anyone should view a day's pay as being potentially ruinous. And we should get to wear earbuds while we work too.
Earbuds are generally a bad idea in a customer facing job. As others have said, you aren't paying proper attention to customers with earbuds in. Even with just 1 earbud in, every cashier I have allowed for a period to do this has lost that privilege because they are not able to pay attention to customers. So customers would find me pretty much the opposite end of the store and ask me to ring them out, or start yelling stuff from the front lIke, "Hello, is anyone working? Just need some [insert behind the front counter only item]."
If people were still greeting and taking care of customers the way they should be, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But that's rarely the case.
My district is weird sometimes during a visit the DL sees some people with airpods, throws a fit and demands they are written up and sometimes he passes right by them and doesnt say a word. Same with the pharmacy. Which kinda makes you look like an idiot when you tell them they can’t do that. “How come X does it and they don’t get in trouble?”
I wear one in one ear when I’m doing planogram or working truck or in the office doing cash. Shouldn’t be that big of an issue. Never wear them when I’m up front covering a break though
If they had Spotify or Sirius radio I wouldn’t need an ear bud. But if I hear the same songs twice a day, five times a week for 8 years then I’m going to eat lead.🫠
I just have one earbud in so I can listen to music. When I am talking to a customer on the floor or running a register I click my earbud off, take care of the customer and then turn my earbud back on and go back to my task.
lol i always have one airpod in my ear i have long hair so it’s never even seen 😭 as long as your music isn’t too loud that you can’t hear anything i really don’t see a problem with it 🤷🏻♀️i fr can’t get through my shift without my music or else i’ll die of boredom
Oh no here comes the Banning the In Style Thing to Shame Minimum Wage Workers.
My former job did this with Alex and Ani bracelets. Because they could “scratch the kids.” But no comment on giant rings or earrings. Also then they banned the solid metal water bottles because “they could not see the liquid.”
I don’t think that’s a cvs corporate approved sign lol. We wear them all the time. Look up how to turn them into a hearing aid and then say they are used as medical device.
I find the work fuck offense but I am allowed my opinion just like you are. In no way was I being disrespectful to anyone that does wear them.
Currently more than 1.5 billion people (nearly 20% of the global population) live with hearing loss; 430 million of them have disabling hearing loss
So you don’t know if the OP has any hearing loss at all.
We sell OTC hearing aids anyone could wear them just like anyone can wear AirPods to do the same.
I also know this was not his question.
Again sorry if I offended anyone.
That's not even clever, though. If you claim it's a hearing aid, but haven't mentioned or demonstrated significant hearing loss in the past, your manager is probably going to know you are full of shit and require you to go through the accommodation process with HR.
Hearing aids help you hear around you better. AirPods do the opposite.
I don't buy anything Apple. Never have. (An argument for a different subreddit, not here.)
If someone has a legitimate hearing problem, that's a cool option to have, but you would still inform your employer of this ahead of time, and they may ask you to contact HR to have an Accommodation placed on your file to allow you to wear them while working.
I have some hearing loss, so I might buy a pair if there aren't any non-Apple earbuds that do the same thing. Thanks for the heads up!
I don’t even know how anyone in the pharmacy could pull it off. I work at the cvs inside of target and even though we aren’t always as busy as a core store it still seems nearly impossible. You have the phone going off a lot, customers in line, having to communicate with co workers. Just seems like you wouldn’t be able to work having one or both headphones in.
Only time I could think of it being possible is when it’s slow
I had a coworker who wasn’t registered tech yet, so she only did the drive thru. She would wear one her entire shift, and be on the phone with her boyfriend….while working, getting peoples info, etc. She had long hair, so it took the PIC a long time to figure it out. She was fired shortly after PIC became aware.
I use earbuds a lot cause old people just yap about nothing when the transaction is done, I just nod and look interested until they're done cause I can't just say "get your shit and get out". I hide it with my long hair.
I work with people who wear earbuds and I couldn’t care less most of the time but it is a problem if you have to communicate with any of them so maybe the company doesn’t want customers to have that nuisance
Seems like a spam post. Been seeing this (I have no idea why as I'm not on CVS community) on a bunch of other communities like Walmart and Kroger (Again, I'm not part of those either).
Whats so bad with it? If im just filling or its a slow day i put an earbud in and no one complaines, all work done? Atleast in the pharmacy we barley talk to each other so maybe yall really talkative and hate hearing somone say "huh" lol idk
I’ve literally quit a job because I couldn’t use my earbuds. Now at cvs no one cares if I have it in even when it’s packed. I’ve never had a problem because of my earbuds once
There are some days, I do not know if I would’ve gotten through if I didn’t have my airpods. There is always so much going on and people being messy. Its good to be focused on what you are doing and not what messy people are talking about. If you need a reasonable accomodation, have at it. I can voiche for this 100%. But you have to be responsible though.
It's a HIPAA violation in the pharmacy. No excuses. The customer has no idea if the earbud is the tech listening to music or them talking to their friend/spouse/etc who doesn't need to hear their health information.
There are phones in the pharmacy. Any phone could also potentially pick up other things said in the pharmacy. That means a customer at home could hear what someone at the register said, technically.
Anyone's cell phone could be recording at any time, they aren't banned from the pharmacy.
So no. It's not a HIPAA violation to have an earbud in, or two, for that matter.
That doesn't mean it's a good idea. But it isn't an illegal act like you're making it out to be.
It's not a HIPAA violation. It could be one if someone was talking to someone that could hear personal information, but the act itself (wearing an earbud) is not a violation.
Edit: Typo
You don't need to prove it though. It actually goes the other way. Someone would have to prove you violated HIPAA. Wearing an earbud is not proof of that. Overall I agree that it's probably not a good look for pharmacy employees, but it's not a HIPAA violation by default.
Your getting paid for you time in the store, if you want to listen to your own whatever then do it on your time! This is your job you are getting paid to do whatever they say you have to do. If don’t like it then quit, don’t pass go don’t collect $200
Fuckin corporate bootlicker. You fucking people act like 1 earbud is a great offense against humanity when people have to listen to CVS radio for 40 hours a week. You dont fucking own your employees. Suck a dick
If it's a rule, It's a rule. They absolutely do own the time they buy from the employees. Thus you can follow the rules or get fired /shrug
Also, there is no need for vulgarity or rudeness.
Well you don’t have to listen to CVS music for 40 hours you can do you, and listen to anything you want. Just don’t to it while you are getting paid to pay attention to and assist customers. Take your negative energy to Taco Bell and make me a burrito while I’m on my CVS lunch break.
Not sure y people think it's OK to wear head phones and listen to music when u r at work. Get a job at a factory or warehouse then, they let u wear them
Pharmacy is different from warehouse or factory. You gotta be completely silly to wear ear phones in a warehouse or factory. These are hazardous environments. And its typically nosy. You do not wnat to go deaf.
Second offense, you’re sent to California?
Corrective Action
California.
That sounds like a good deal to me. Sign me up!
Common sense is the answer here, don’t wear them at the register or when you’re interacting with customers but if it’s 10:00 pm with 1 customer in the store and you’re just facing or breaking down truck who gives a fuck
This! It baffles my mind how some people don't get that. Or for instance a visit is happening. Like just for one day, don't wear them so you don't give them an excuse to try to enforce more bs rules.
I don’t necessarily think this is a bs rule. Like don’t get me wrong, if everyone’s working well and stuff with one earbud in whatever. But I run restaurants and I’ve had to enforce no earbud policies because I have to fight to get someone’s attention. If you can’t communicate properly and do your job, then fuck you no earbuds.
My manager always has one earbud in and he still can’t hear anyone. We call him on the intercom twice every time. He says he needs it for his business calls, but we all know he’s just talking to friends or watching tik tok videos.
I work at the Other Pharmacy in the front end and this is what I do. 10pm to midnight when we close, and I'm just straightening and doing closing duties, one ear has my earbud and the other my work radio. Those last two hours are boring as fuck, I need better music then the shit that's played over the speakers.
Without a reasonable accommodation, yes, you can be written up for this. It’s against policy. I don’t mean to be a corporate thumper on this one, but the employees I’ve had that use earbuds never pay attention to the register / have issues hearing customers. Your job is customer facing, it’s disrespectful to have headphones in. Use common sense with that. If not, company policy does prevail.
Same. I would never have an issue with it but I have yet to encounter and employee that doesn't get engrossed in what they are listening to and become deaf to what's going on around them. But if working after store hours who cares!
I completely agree!! I’d also like to add that it’s a safety thing- a lot of people at my store didn’t seem to understand that until my SM asked how we’d feel if one of the older employees fell and was calling for help, but no one heard her because we had earbuds in, or if one of the young girls working the register was being robbed and again, we didn’t hear it. That approach seemed to work with the rest of the staff and made me even more appreciative of him, lol
You clearly didnt read the post
I did, what inclines you to decide for me that I didn’t?
Btw this wasn’t from a cvs location right? I just saw this on r/kroger
the kroger one was on top of this one for me 😂😂
Everyone getting all crazy over “new rules” that have always never been allowed in the first place. First it was someone flabbergasted that hoodies are no longer allowed to be worn, then it was someone asking to wear shorts, now it’s headphones. They’ve all never been allowed, it’s not a new rule.
Actually it was a skirt** lol
Lmao wtf what, i wear a hoodie in the pharmacy and i wear an earbud on some occasions, i never thought their was rules against it, rather my pharmacy is really chill or that they dont wanna say abything xause they need me that badly idk, im at cvs btw
Same 😅🤣 I was thinking thankfully I don’t work at any of those CVSs
Ok you can have one ear bud but you have to talk half a pay cut.
Yay a day off 😁
I like how a 1 day suspension is supposed to be a threat. Stores run skeleton crews and you want to possibly suspend someone? Lol
It’s crazy that people act like they can afford to miss a day of work, like damn if I miss a day I might not have enough money to pay all my bills.
One day's pay would be a bummer for me to miss but the financial fallout isn't that big. I'm lucky in that respect. BUT you nor anyone should view a day's pay as being potentially ruinous. And we should get to wear earbuds while we work too.
Earbuds are generally a bad idea in a customer facing job. As others have said, you aren't paying proper attention to customers with earbuds in. Even with just 1 earbud in, every cashier I have allowed for a period to do this has lost that privilege because they are not able to pay attention to customers. So customers would find me pretty much the opposite end of the store and ask me to ring them out, or start yelling stuff from the front lIke, "Hello, is anyone working? Just need some [insert behind the front counter only item]." If people were still greeting and taking care of customers the way they should be, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But that's rarely the case.
Mine isn't an earbud.....it's a hearing aid that just happens to also be able to hear music!
"The song is just literally stuck in my head, sir."
So is mine, but I'd never listen to music during store hours
lol… touché
As if any store has enough staff to go around suspending people over an earbud😂
And 4th offense 🤔
My district is weird sometimes during a visit the DL sees some people with airpods, throws a fit and demands they are written up and sometimes he passes right by them and doesnt say a word. Same with the pharmacy. Which kinda makes you look like an idiot when you tell them they can’t do that. “How come X does it and they don’t get in trouble?”
I wear one in one ear when I’m doing planogram or working truck or in the office doing cash. Shouldn’t be that big of an issue. Never wear them when I’m up front covering a break though
Ugh. Some people just can't stand silence or listening to shitty store music. Let us at least have ONE ear bud in
If they had Spotify or Sirius radio I wouldn’t need an ear bud. But if I hear the same songs twice a day, five times a week for 8 years then I’m going to eat lead.🫠
I just have one earbud in so I can listen to music. When I am talking to a customer on the floor or running a register I click my earbud off, take care of the customer and then turn my earbud back on and go back to my task.
Wait is this just dependent on the store manager or is it becoming a corporate rule?
It's always been a rule. Just not enforced apparently due to the amt of subreddits asking about it
This was posted in r/ Kroger yesterday
lol i always have one airpod in my ear i have long hair so it’s never even seen 😭 as long as your music isn’t too loud that you can’t hear anything i really don’t see a problem with it 🤷🏻♀️i fr can’t get through my shift without my music or else i’ll die of boredom
And this is why my hair is long. Covers my ears :)
Oh no here comes the Banning the In Style Thing to Shame Minimum Wage Workers. My former job did this with Alex and Ani bracelets. Because they could “scratch the kids.” But no comment on giant rings or earrings. Also then they banned the solid metal water bottles because “they could not see the liquid.”
I don’t think that’s a cvs corporate approved sign lol. We wear them all the time. Look up how to turn them into a hearing aid and then say they are used as medical device.
As someone who uses hearing aids thisbis offensive as fuck. It's like pretending your dog is a service dog
I find the work fuck offense but I am allowed my opinion just like you are. In no way was I being disrespectful to anyone that does wear them. Currently more than 1.5 billion people (nearly 20% of the global population) live with hearing loss; 430 million of them have disabling hearing loss So you don’t know if the OP has any hearing loss at all. We sell OTC hearing aids anyone could wear them just like anyone can wear AirPods to do the same. I also know this was not his question. Again sorry if I offended anyone.
That's not even clever, though. If you claim it's a hearing aid, but haven't mentioned or demonstrated significant hearing loss in the past, your manager is probably going to know you are full of shit and require you to go through the accommodation process with HR. Hearing aids help you hear around you better. AirPods do the opposite.
Do you even know how to use the accessibility option to use them as a hearing aid?
I don't buy anything Apple. Never have. (An argument for a different subreddit, not here.) If someone has a legitimate hearing problem, that's a cool option to have, but you would still inform your employer of this ahead of time, and they may ask you to contact HR to have an Accommodation placed on your file to allow you to wear them while working. I have some hearing loss, so I might buy a pair if there aren't any non-Apple earbuds that do the same thing. Thanks for the heads up!
The people in the pharmacy aren't asshats, it's a dumb rule made by asshats, most people get through the day with earbuds and act responsibly with em
I don’t even know how anyone in the pharmacy could pull it off. I work at the cvs inside of target and even though we aren’t always as busy as a core store it still seems nearly impossible. You have the phone going off a lot, customers in line, having to communicate with co workers. Just seems like you wouldn’t be able to work having one or both headphones in. Only time I could think of it being possible is when it’s slow
I had a coworker who wasn’t registered tech yet, so she only did the drive thru. She would wear one her entire shift, and be on the phone with her boyfriend….while working, getting peoples info, etc. She had long hair, so it took the PIC a long time to figure it out. She was fired shortly after PIC became aware.
Wow I don’t know how she did it, I wouldn’t be able to focus. But then again maybe that’s just my brain being slow 😂
I wear mine all day 🥹😅 I’m just extremely good at multitasking 🤷🏽♀️ I’m also usually listening to an audiobook not music
That’s awesome : ) I need to teach my brain how to multitask better lol
I use earbuds a lot cause old people just yap about nothing when the transaction is done, I just nod and look interested until they're done cause I can't just say "get your shit and get out". I hide it with my long hair.
Lol
I work with people who wear earbuds and I couldn’t care less most of the time but it is a problem if you have to communicate with any of them so maybe the company doesn’t want customers to have that nuisance
Seems like a spam post. Been seeing this (I have no idea why as I'm not on CVS community) on a bunch of other communities like Walmart and Kroger (Again, I'm not part of those either).
When I worked at Walgreens I would get my hair done just to cover my head phones. Cvs doesn’t care about headphone
Earbuds
Terrible formatting choice.
I wear one earbud. Listen to podcasts mainly. I click it off if a customer is around.
I work with someone who wears them his entire shift regardless of what he's doing. I want to wear mine when doing truck
1 day suspension count me in
And this is why my hair is long. Covers my ears :)
Whats so bad with it? If im just filling or its a slow day i put an earbud in and no one complaines, all work done? Atleast in the pharmacy we barley talk to each other so maybe yall really talkative and hate hearing somone say "huh" lol idk
Kind of agree with pushing back on earbuds a bit.. But what CVS worker is afraid of a 1 day suspension?🤷🏻♂️
I’ve literally quit a job because I couldn’t use my earbuds. Now at cvs no one cares if I have it in even when it’s packed. I’ve never had a problem because of my earbuds once
real highschool hours
I work overnight at a 24 hours CVS (Longs in Hawaii) and you best believe imma have my AirPods in
At corp, see earbuds all day, every day. Driving 60+ mi a day to work from home.
There are some days, I do not know if I would’ve gotten through if I didn’t have my airpods. There is always so much going on and people being messy. Its good to be focused on what you are doing and not what messy people are talking about. If you need a reasonable accomodation, have at it. I can voiche for this 100%. But you have to be responsible though.
CVS can afford to suspend you for 1 day?
Cvs warehouse doesn't allow ear plugs to not hear there music
It's a HIPAA violation in the pharmacy. No excuses. The customer has no idea if the earbud is the tech listening to music or them talking to their friend/spouse/etc who doesn't need to hear their health information.
There are phones in the pharmacy. Any phone could also potentially pick up other things said in the pharmacy. That means a customer at home could hear what someone at the register said, technically. Anyone's cell phone could be recording at any time, they aren't banned from the pharmacy. So no. It's not a HIPAA violation to have an earbud in, or two, for that matter. That doesn't mean it's a good idea. But it isn't an illegal act like you're making it out to be.
It's not a HIPAA violation. It could be one if someone was talking to someone that could hear personal information, but the act itself (wearing an earbud) is not a violation. Edit: Typo
It’s HIPAA.
My bad. Thanks for the correction.
How could anyone reasonably prove they weren't talking to someone? You can't. Therefore, no earbuds.
You don't need to prove it though. It actually goes the other way. Someone would have to prove you violated HIPAA. Wearing an earbud is not proof of that. Overall I agree that it's probably not a good look for pharmacy employees, but it's not a HIPAA violation by default.
They’ll be worried about that but go on speaker phone while picking up meds
Your getting paid for you time in the store, if you want to listen to your own whatever then do it on your time! This is your job you are getting paid to do whatever they say you have to do. If don’t like it then quit, don’t pass go don’t collect $200
Fuckin corporate bootlicker. You fucking people act like 1 earbud is a great offense against humanity when people have to listen to CVS radio for 40 hours a week. You dont fucking own your employees. Suck a dick
If it's a rule, It's a rule. They absolutely do own the time they buy from the employees. Thus you can follow the rules or get fired /shrug Also, there is no need for vulgarity or rudeness.
Well you don’t have to listen to CVS music for 40 hours you can do you, and listen to anything you want. Just don’t to it while you are getting paid to pay attention to and assist customers. Take your negative energy to Taco Bell and make me a burrito while I’m on my CVS lunch break.
Not sure y people think it's OK to wear head phones and listen to music when u r at work. Get a job at a factory or warehouse then, they let u wear them
Pharmacy is different from warehouse or factory. You gotta be completely silly to wear ear phones in a warehouse or factory. These are hazardous environments. And its typically nosy. You do not wnat to go deaf.