assistant aux ventes

sales associate

consultant

store manager

senior warehouse worker

BC Liquor Distribution Branch

So I read a lot of positive and negative reviews on here but no one really added any details so i'm going to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about working at a BC Liquor Store retail location.  I've never worked at head office or the warehouse so I can't really comment on that.  

The Pro.
- Good hourly wage for a retail job.  2018 seasonal rates start at $17 hour, auxiliary starts close to $18 an hour,  regulars (guaranteed 35 hours a week) get top pay of around $22 hour with everyone  working afternoons/nights getting a $1 more.
- After you pass your 210 hours probation period (assuming you're not seasonal) you're in the union and you get all of those benefits.  
- Benefits - You get medical and dental assuming you work close to full time within the last 18 months, regular raises of about .50 a year, you get all your breaks and you're pretty much impossible to fire.  
- They will train you.  Something they do pretty well is they are willing to train their employees.  If you want to learn more about wine or learn management duties they do a good job here.  You might has to ask about these opportunities though.
- No stress job.  If you're a non management employee the job is stress free.  
- No education needed.  If you're a hard worker and willing to learn you can SLOWLY move up.
- You work close to home.  
- Flexible hours, if you're a auxiliary with seniority you basically control what days and hours you work.  
- Double time, The liquor store is open everyday except Christmas so if you work a holiday you get paid double plus a lieu day.  
- 35 hour work weeks but you probably lose about $5000 a year because of it
- Government Pension.  I think you can enroll in the Public Service Pension Plan once you work around 2000 hours.  You can search for more information online if you're interested.  

Cons
- Although you have a good hourly wage regular's TOP yearly salary is around $46,000 a year, Supervisors and Produce Consultants Top out around $48,000 a year, Assistant managements push a little over $52,000 a year and Store Manager is $58,000 a year based on 2018 rates.
- You do okay if you're in one of those top 2 positions but after taxes and paying into the pension fund you're the working poor.  I've worked in stores in and around Vancouver and I can tell you a high % of regulars work 2nd jobs.  It's impossible to live in Vancouver or the Fraser Valley on those wages and if you have a family or kids to support forget about it.  Even if you're single and not living at home I don't think you could save enough to even buy a apartment.  On the plus side though if you live in Port Hardy or 100 Mile House or one of these small communities you are likely a top earner.  
- Seniority is non transferable.  You CAN'T work in Vancouver to build seniority and then move away.  
- Outside of working in a Vancouver store (where you will probably get full time hours within 6 months) it can take years just to get 35 hours regularly.  Lots of hours available during Christmas and the Summer and then nothing during the slow periods.  You are always on call during the first few years.
- Advancing within the company is very difficult.  Outside of working in a Vancouver store it can take years just to become a regular.   Advancing to a supervisor or "PC" roll you're going to need to put in a few more year and jump through a lot of hoops.  I would be guessing their is a lot of competition for assistant manager or anything above that.  
- The higher you move up the more likely they are to move you from store to store.  You can be moved to any store within 30 km and managers get moved around every few years.  
- I've seen people who want to advance into a higher roll get stuck wherever their at for YEARS.  
- Once you take a mgnt position I think their is a lot of pressure to perform and hit sale targets.  A lot of mgnt work extra unpaid time. 
- It's a dull job.  It's mentally not stimulating.  
- Rotating hours.  Regulars could work morning one week and then nights the next.  
- Expect to work weekends.  
- Some employees are lazy and others have to pick up the slack.  It's hard to stay stimulated putting wine on the shelf while struggling month to month so I don't fault them but it does make it harder on everyone else. 
- Managers are 50% okay and 50% terrible.  Some are lazy and never leave customer service.  
- You will drink more.. 
- No staff discounts
- You work with the public. 
- There's no overtime. 

Advice to everyone
- I actually think this is a good part time job if you're going to school or need the extra income.  Saturdays are always needed and you can take time off whenever as long as you give them notice.  
- Besides that i'd highly recommend everyone else get another job.  Go out and get your class 1 driver license (probably takes about 3 months) and you'll be earning more then most people who work here.  Most trade jobs start you out at the same starting wage, will pay for your school if they like you and you'll end up earning 50% more then you would here within 2 years.  Even 100% depending on what trade you take.  
- If you're over the age of 45 then this is probably a good job to take and hack it out until.  
- This job is easier for younger and taller people   

Advice to head office
- They strongly need to find a way to get employees and mangers excited.  Spirits at the stores i've been too are extremely low.  Find a way to reward employees.  It'll pay off in getting more out of them.  
- Continually retrain your managers.
- They need to find a way to keep good auxiliaries and lose lazy employees.  Most people can't live working on call for the first few years and leave.   
- Since you're ultimately trying to increase sale you need to incentives your "sales associates" 
- It crazy to think it's 2018 and a company this big has NO social media presence.  They should be on instagram, facebook, youtube etc.  Their product consultant's are hugely knowledgeable and could easily give a lot of value.  They have the network to promote it, it would educate customers, promote produces and increase sales.  
I'm sure there's more but i'm ending this here.

       The typical day is usually fairly relaxed in terms of mood. They seem to hire people with good attitudes and people who are kind. The managers at the store level were always very helpful in the recall zone I worked in (which means group of store locations). They stand up for you, they take over if you're not comfortable, but they can't change policy for you.

       The managers also do not benefit from any policies at this company. Like I said you will certainly like your coworkers, but the company itself is run by Pirates or something. You won't receive benefits until 1827 hours, which is truly just some arbitrary number. There is absolutely no guaranteed time frame of when you will hit that amount of hours, this is for a number of reasons. The first of which is they schedule you on a week to week basis with no minimum amount of hours (which you will have to go to the store to check as if computers don't exist) . Secondly the union prevents anyone from working more than 35 hours a week. This last stipulation is an attempt to reduce burnout from being over-worked. However contrary to this seemingly philanthropic good deed, they will also force you work 9 hour shifts that will not have an hour of overtime payed. There is a deducted half hour for each shift you work so you will be there for 7.5 hours and receive time for 7. So theoretically(also practically) you can work at this company for a year and still not receive benefits. If you gain benefits and transfer to another recall zone your wage will be returned to the base amount and you will begin your hours over again. This also affects managers and those becoming managers as they typically will have to move to another recall zone. This company/union does not recognize nor respect peoples time, commitment, or work ethic. But then again with record profits how could they afford to? This company takes every opportunity to strip you of your standing and leave you in the howling dark with no light at the end of the tunnel.
       
        To summarize my thesis this company deserves no loyalty from anyone because it gives no loyalty, however actually working there is fairly enjoyable. Your coworkers will absolutely be lovely people who bring you joy. That being said I cannot recommend it unless you are planning to move on fairly quickly or just don't need guaranteed income because you are a glorified temp to them and rather hilariously the customers will behave as if you are somehow comfortable and over-payed. Oh also don't work here if you have a drinking problem.

Cons: 
- Sometimes worked 0 hours a week, but cannot plan to do anything else as call-outs occur every morning with no planning ahead. Camping trip with friends? No. Sister’s wedding weekend? No. 

- Impossible to plan any sort of life around work. You are expected to earmark all your time for them. Perfect for retiree maybe, but don’t expect to make much money here. The hourly rate is tempting but the hours just aren’t there, I was misled about how much I could expect to be working. In retrospect, I should have taken a lesser rate of pay at another job with guaranteed hours. 

- Dealing with alcoholics is emotionally draining especially when they come in to grind you down daily.

- Astonishingly disorganized inventory and stocking system. Back rooms can be a nightmare and overstocking of product is a huge ergonomic health risk. Expect to injure your back. Stores I worked at ordered so much product it was impossible to do proper lifting in coolers and back room. Stock overflowed on to floor and often got buried. Extremely irritating especially when asked to look for something that inventory said we had. Needle in a haystack type situation.

- Most coworkers were pleasant, but due to union environment, some really nasty pieces of work were allowed to keep their jobs, and working alongside these unpleasant individuals made work a real displeasure. 

- Some pressure to up-sell, internal company magazine constantly pressuring employees to push their peak performance higher aka selling more of a known carcinogen to the public. It’s booze, it sells itself, it’s toxic. This wore on my conscience. 


Pros:
- Managers were friendly, maybe a bit fake. 

- Store is air conditioned. 

- fair and balanced in its division of duties, everyone did a little bit of everything. 

- Most coworkers were kind, happy people. Lifers could be super sour/abrasive. 

- If you can handle working a what is essentially a part time job for 4-5 years to rack up the hours (some 1800 hours) to become a full-time employee, it may be a good job with good benefits. Expect to set aside all of your time for them with little in return other than a slightly higher than average hourly rate of pay, and extremely spotty shifts for many years.

Take away: Working your way up is not worth it, I would not recommend this job to a friend. Find a job at a normal liquor store that isn’t government, you get treated pretty terribly here as an employee. Scheduling benefits employer only, no benefits but paying into union from day 1.

Pros
- Benefits
- Roles are delegated
- Good wage

Cons 
- Advancement based on an interview. They use the STAR example for all of their questions. They interview as if they have never met you to "keep it fair" but it's a flawed system if you're actually a good employee and have a poor short-term memory, nervous or humble. They recently promoted 2 external employees to a temporary supervisor position. They made rookie mistakes (ie. losing temper / incompetent computer skills or doing all of the work). Then when their 3 months as a temporary supervisor is up,  they show their true colours and slack off. And you work as a supervisor without the supervisor position and pray for karma.  
- Biased leadership. You could be yelled at by a different employee. Report to supervisor and be asked to engage and have 1 to 1 with idiotic employee. At the same time, you could be given a 1 to 1 by supervisor about raising your voice to someone who generally raises his voice to prove a point that he is constantly raising his voice. Then this experience is used against you for advancement and you have to prove yourself a second time, and you do so while keeping a cool and calm demeanor. Really idiotic experiences with management.
- Employees with tone issues can get away with a lot.
- First aid attendants get paid a little bit extra and do nothing + a week of class room work. I asked for a bandaid, didn't get one because he was "busy." I reported it to the manager. Manager asked me to report to my supervisor. Supervisor goes to the first aid attendant and asks why. Then there is zero follow-up. And you wonder why do they get paid extra? 
- Management will blame you for a problem. Yell at you. Then you find out management is wrong. Then you ask them to confirm. Then they ask you to resume as normal as there is "conflicting information" and you wonder if you get an apology. 
- If you bring up an issue, you're called sensitive by management. But if you fight back and do the same, you get a conversation about becoming a "better human being." Idiotic leadership to be honest. I'm about 2 experiences away from doing something about this. 


Ultimately, people were born to lead and people were born to follow. It's just the way it is.

Don't even waste your time. the most depressing job ever.
First thing the customers are not nice as their are so many shipping orders mistakes  (don't blame them for being angry) then while taking call after call from angry customers , you have to finish orders and they only time you get a talking to is when you make a mistake.
 No recognition for good work done. 
Employees are CONSISTENTLY COMPLAINING making working there very very uncomfortable,  but because they have been there the longest,  nobody says anything.
Oh and that's all while you get"trained". Management is not very good as they play favoritism.   Don't even try asking for help as you will just be met by the same exact question you are trying to get helped with ... after getting herded back to your desk feeling more confused than before. 
All while not getting benifits until a YEAR OF EMPLOYMENT which is 1865 hours  .  as most "normal" non government jobs get benifits after 300 hours or after probation. 
 Sure pay is good but say good bye to your happy  life , Happy people & nice co-workers .
DONT EVEN BOTHER    WASTE OF TIME

This was the first time I had a government job, I loved the actual job it was like getting paid to workout and the people are awesome. But being a people pleaser I had a hard time with my coworkers that didn’t feel like they needed to pull their weight,  because there are no consequences for employees who don’t ( I worked with one guy that only took the job because he knew he could do nothing and never get fired. And unfortunately we were always scheduled together and well things had to get done, and they did but never with his help) which makes it way harder for the people who do feel like they need to earn their pay. It would have also been nice if they told me that I could collect EI when I wasn’t working, that would have made it way easier to work on call. That info alone would have prevented me from having two jobs and always disappointing someone and suffering from anxiety from disappointing people. Would I take the job again knowing what I know now?  Yes! Hope this helps. 

The LDB is a wonderful place to work. It deals with people from all ranges, and everyone works together as a TEAM PLAYER, and this is an important aspect with any company. We strive in excellent customer service, and keep the staff up-to date on all courses needed for this position.ie:WHMIS, and Mobile Equipment training,Bailer training, Customer Service courses and Product Knowledge on the wines and Spirits.This job is great for someone who loves working with people, as I do!!!Your co-workers are there to support you and that helps get you through our busy peek times. The hardest part of this job is the physical labour. Braking down of 12 to 22 skids per day, everyday, between stocking and cashier, and customer service is very hard. The work load is very heavy, with only 2 male co-workers and the rest being female in the store I work for.

The most enjoyable part of the job was counting lots of money & meeting many,  many  people.  The work is all very easy and you get two 15 minute breaks and a half an hour for lunch. Dental is 100%. Medical is covered and an extended health plan for glasses etc. The pension is A1! If you are sick you get 75% of your pay! If you are sick more than 3 days you just have to bring in a medical note. The co-workers are just as good and bad as any other place of work. The management is heartless.  They gave me trouble when I had emergency calls to meet my injured mother at the hospital!  I worked with a girl who had a 5 and a half hour cancer operation...she didn't even get a card from them! I brought her flowers a few times and she died a year later.

Great job but fired me without hearing me out. I had a phone plan with freedom at the moment when they hired me on call basis, I wouldn’t get their calls in my bed room for some reason and therefore after the third time I missed their call due to that they fired me without even letting me know. I gave them my boyfriend’s number to call too if they can’t reach me on mine the first time I missed their call and heard the voicemail that they left for me but they kept calling me on mine and never called me on my boyfriend’s number which I told them to do. It was such a frustrating job experience I have ever had to go through. They failed to follow a simple request or the instruction given by me for future to avoid the inconvenience for both the parties and yet again they ended up firing me when it wasn’t even my fault but they failed to follow their part.

management are so two faced and do not listen to any suggestions from any staff when they look elsewhere which always fails. They blow money on stupid systems and people to fix the system that is clearly not working when if they had listened to even the senior staff maybe things would improve for both the staff and management. The union politics will drain you and you get nothing out of it aside ungrateful staff who backstab and lie in your face to get themselves up the ladder that means nothing there. Watched a lot of staff leave because that place stressed them out so deeply they quit or went on long term leave for as long as possible and find ways to get back onto it cause they hated being there so much.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Assistant aux ventes 32 salaries reported	$29.94 per hour
Sales associate 10 salaries reported	$26.07 per hour
Consultant 3 salaries reported	$20.02 per hour
Store manager 6 salaries reported	$74,500 per year
Senior warehouse worker 1 salary reported	$28.17 per hour

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