15 companies You Don’t Want to Work For

Walmart has earned itself quite a reputation for paying poorly. In fact, according to figures released by the National Law Project, it is the worst organization out there when it comes to employee compensation. Employees of Walmart frequently complain about poor wages and terrible working conditions. Given the number of lawsuits that have been filed against Walmart by disgruntled employees, it simply had to feature at the top of this list.

While McDonald’s may be one of the most profitable fast-food chains in the United States, the high revenue is not translated into high wages. According to reviewers, employees of McDonald’s spend over eight hours per working shift on their feet, are paid poorly and do not have access to fair benefits. Furthermore, according to the crowdsourcing website Ranker, McDonald’s is the second-worst retailer to work for in the US.

Based on employee reviews alone, The Fresh Market is the least desirable company in the United States to work for. Employees of The Fresh Market appear to be particularly disgruntled with the senior leadership of this grocery brand. Employees who were asked to review the organization as an employer highlighted how there was “zero consistency” between upper management, and typically attributed this to the high turnover rate. Furthermore, only 27% of those surveyed would recommend a job at The Fresh Market to a friend.

Bagging a job at a cinema must be like a dream come true, right? Free movies and copious amounts of popcorn… who could ask for more? Well, according to employees of Regal Cinemas working for this brand is not all it’s cracked up to be. Many of the chain’s staff members complain about understaffing, low wages, and adverse working conditions, which have apparently deteriorated even more after the company was purchased by the UK-based Cineworld Group.

According to many employees of Belk, the company is nothing more than mediocre. While the employees surveyed revealed that they appreciated the discount they received, the majority of them also felt that they were significantly underpaid. A further problem that was frequently emphasized was that employees felt there was a degree of disconnect between retail employees and the senior management team.

In terms of employee ranking, Steak n Shake scored a shocking 2.6 out of five. Of the employees surveyed, only 29% would recommend a job at the company to a friend. Furthermore, many of them felt that the company cared more about customer satisfaction than they cared about the well-being of their employees. Unsurprisingly, therefore, employee morale was at rock bottom. Only 22% of those surveyed viewed CEO Sardar Bigari in a positive light.

In recent years, this clothing brand has been on the receiving end of multiple lawsuits, including some filed by its own employees. For example, in 2012, the company was subject to a class-action lawsuit that was filed by five of its employees, who accused the retail giant of routinely preventing them from taking lunch breaks so that management could search them for stolen property as part of the organization’s loss-prevention policy. In some cases, employees were held until 2:00 a.m., many hours after the store had closed, so that security could search their bags.

According to past and present employees of Kraft Heinz Company, it is simply a terrible company to work for. According to past and current members of staff, the senior managers of this F&B giant have no regard for employees’ personal lives and frequently expect members of staff to work over 11 hours a day.

When it comes to having a reputation for being a bad employer, Rent-A-Center is right up there. According to employees of this Texas-based rental and leasing service company, management care little about employees’ work-life balance and the relationship between management and staff is abysmal. Of the current and past employees asked to review the company, only 39% stated that they would recommend a job at the firm to a friend, and less than 60% viewed the new CEO, Mitch Fadel, in a positive light.

According to the reviews published on Glassdoor, many of Union Pacific’s 10,000+ employees are not impressed with the chain’s working conditions, with staff members frequently complaining of poor wages and limited job prospects. The level of disgruntlement is clearly represented in the figures: Just 12% rate the current CEO Lance Fitz and 78% would not recommend working at the company to a friend.

Kmart is another brand that ranks relatively low when it comes to employee satisfaction. The chain, which is owned by Sears, another brand that has a bad rep when it comes to workplace satisfaction, has experienced a steady decline in sales over the last 15 years. In response, it has reduced employees’ wages and even introduced commission-based payment structures. Employees that review the company on Glassdoor consistently describe low levels of pay, long working hours, and a management team that has no idea of the realities on the shop floor. Consider another supermarket if you want to show your support to the workers.

Another rental company to appear on the list, Hertz, employs some of the most unhappy workers in the United States. Employees who review the company often describe a negative company culture and ethos. Of those surveyed, 50% viewed the company CEO Kathryn Marinello in a positive light, which pales into comparison when compared with the 89% approval rating of Pam Nicholson, the CEO of Enterprise, a major competitor to Hertz.

Five main elements play a role in how employees ranked their employers: senior management, compensation and benefits, culture and values, career opportunities, and work-life balance. According to employees of The Children’s Place, this major brand is weak in all five areas; in fact, none of these aspects was rated above 2.5. One very prominent area for concern within The Children’s Place is leadership, with only 27% of the employees surveyed showing support for the current CEO, Jane Elfers.

If a role at the telecommunication giant Frontier Communications has caught your eye, you may want to give it a miss. Employees at this company frequently describe a lack of career progression, poor management practices, unnecessary structural changes, and a negative work environment. It is, perhaps, for these reasons that the CEO Dan McCarthy has been on the receiving end of some very negative reviews; in fact, only 14% of those surveyed viewed his leadership in a positive light.

While Family Dollar may be one of the United States’ biggest discount store chains, it is also known for offering a poor work environment. Recent research revealed that just 28% of the brand’s current and past employees would recommend a job with Family Dollar to a friend or family member, and only 36% of those surveyed viewed CEO Gary Philbin in a positive light. You might want to make your purchase elsewhere…