Exploitative, controlling, and abusive work environment - Store Associate Uniqlo Employee Review

Working at Uniqlo feels like working in a militarized environment. You are not allowed to sit down, even to tie your shoes. You cannot get a drink of water without notifying a superior and arranging someone to cover your “post,” which is basically just standing around obsessively aligning shirts in one section of the store. There is no predictability in meal breaks; you might arrive and only get a break five hours later, meaning five straight hours without food. Clocking in and out is also unnecessarily strict: you must remove all snow clothes, backpack, and badge before punching in, and at the end of your shift, you cannot leave the floor until your exact clock-out time, otherwise you are reprimanded. On top of that, your personal bag is searched before leaving the store—employees included. Job responsibilities are completely unrealistic and full of role creep. Although hired as a sales associate, you are expected to clean the store with an industrial mop, unload boxes weighing 45 kg (especially brutal if you are 1.55m tall), and even act as “security,” monitoring customers for theft and running after them if necessary. They also do not pay holiday overtime, claiming that as a new employee you have not yet “earned” this so-called privilege—despite it being legally required. Overall, this is an abusive, exploitative, and inflexible workplace. I would strongly advise anyone to avoid working here.