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Ocean State Job Lot

Engaged Employer

Ocean State Job Lot reviews

2.9

38% would recommend to a friend

(932 total reviews)
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Marc Perlman

34% approve of CEO

35% positive business outlook

Ocean State Job Lot has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 932 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Ocean State Job Lot employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.4 stars).

Reviews by job title

932 reviews
1.0
Aug 7, 2018

Overnight Stocking

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Full-time, overnight hours worked for me so I didn’t have to pay for child care during the day while my bf is home at night anyway. This is the only reason I took this job, to secure myself with a job while my son was out of school for the summer. Was also nice to have the weekend off, had to do a double shift on mondays but was willing to kill myself every Monday to finally enjoy the weekends with my family for the first time in years since working retail.

Cons

Everything! No one should ever work at OSJL unless they have NO other options. I secured a job with OSJL Before the Toys R Us I was working at closed for good so I wouldn’t be without a job. A month after I started, I was falsely accused by corporate for taking someone’s sweater from the break room and ultimately fired because they couldn’t find the ACTUAL person who did it. They assumed I took the stupid thing simply because they saw me hang up the sweater that was left lying around (I’m OCD and always cleaned the break room before I could relax) I explained myself however it wasn’t enough. I never had any issues with anyone prior to them speaking to me and was constantly getting praised from management about the great job I was doing thus far. I lost my job for absolutely no reason and was emotionally & financially broken for a month until I found another job. Besides the fact that they screwed me, it was a very unpleasant place to work. We worked overnight and the air cut off after the store closed, therefore it was super hot with no air flow while working. And don’t get me started on the MICE problem, they were everywhere! The mice were so bad there that while I was sitting in the break room waiting to be interviewed, a worker said “hope you don’t mind little critters!” I couldn’t believe it but I needed a job and this place is close to my house as I don’t have a vehicle. They had some glue traps down but I couldn’t believe how many mice I’d see running around everywhere, especially in the food aisle. And no one is ever trained to check expiration dates on anything, so if you plan to buy any food there, check for mice holes and that it’s not expired, or moldy.... found plenty of moldy items left on shelves while working. I was way too OCD to work in a place that messy & dirty, I felt like I constantly needed to clean the area I was working, probably why management thought I did a good job, I can’t work in a disgusting environment so I always took pride in any task given to me and made it look much better than when I started.

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Ocean State Job Lot Response
7y
We are sorry that your experience at our company was not positive. While we employ more than 5,000 associates and have been voted by associates as a Forbes Best Employer for two years in a row, we understand that not every associate has a positive experience with our company. If you’d like to have a conversation about your unique situation, we’d be happy to discuss it further with you. You can call Regional HR Manager Ron Overko at 401-862-6719.
1.0
Sep 15, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Health Insurance is the only pro.

Cons

Too many to list. Dirty/Unsanitary. Cheap China Merchandise. Unethical. Company raises money through their customers, and donates expiring, dirty warehouse food and takes it as their "claim to fame." Would rather pay people to watch cameras all day long (on their employees!) instead of spending that payroll in the stores to keep them clean/organized and presentable. "Employee Relations Managers," are more like traveling rodeo circus clowns than HR professionals. (actually there is nothing professional about OSJL.) This company truly only cares about their bottom dollar. Employees are not treated with respect or valued in the least. This is one of the worst companies you could ever imagine and that wasn't clear to me until I left to join a Fortune 500 company which understands the value of high morale and trust, understands that better results are obtained by avoiding a micro-management style, avoiding paranoia, and understands that a few, simple policies are better than a gazillion small, reactant policies can ever be.

3.0
Jun 29, 2024

Why I left

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The variety of customers, from all different walks of life. The discount

Cons

Clueless upper management. Those bimonthly walk throughs, the stupid ratings, Insider cards, the "good old boys" club

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Ocean State Job Lot Response
1y
Please reach out to Senior HR Business Partner Ed Kruger at e.kruger@osjl.com as we are not aware of your concerns and would like to address this ASAP.
Viewing 43 - 45 of 932 Reviews

Glassdoor has 960 Ocean State Job Lot reviews submitted anonymously by Ocean State Job Lot employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Ocean State Job Lot is right for you.