Unfair treatment, unpaid extra duties and improper handling of my resignation – Woolworths Inkwazi Centre Mal

I was employed by Woolworths as an End of Day Replenisher (Flexi 28) at the Inkwazi Centre Mall store. My official duties were to pack and replenish stock, wash fridges and record waste. In addition to these duties, I regularly prepared bakery and hot food items – work that falls under the Interactive Kitchen speciality role and carries a higher rate of pay. I hold the Interactive Kitchen certificate and was the only person on the night shift performing this work. My kitchen colleagues repeatedly told management how helpful I was, and one manager even commented that it is rare for ****orkers to recommend someone so highly. I did this work willingly because I take pride in my job, yet I was never paid the appropriate rate or formally assigned to the role. When our Coordinator was on sick leave, I stepped in and performed the full Coordinator function, including end-of-day trade confirmation, waste recording, quality checks and temperature monitoring. In late August, while still covering these duties, I was not given the necessary system access to confirm waste or complete end-of-day trade. I had to phone and remind management repeatedly just to obtain the access I needed to do the work they expected of me. On 24 August I formally submitted my resignation letter by email. Management ignored the resignation and later treated my absence as absconding. I subsequently received an SMS summoning me to the store to sign a termination form. Because I had already relocated, I went to the nearest Woolworths Food store in Hazyview, showed them the resignation email I had sent, and asked for clarification. Staff at Hazyview contacted my previous store, who then stated that there was no need for me to go to Hazyview because “everything had been progressed on their side.” I am extremely disappointed by this treatment. I dedicated myself fully to the Inkwazi store from the time it opened, consistently went beyond my job description, and received positive feedback from both colleagues and management. Despite this, my resignation was disregarded, I was labelled as having absconded, and the termination process was handled in a manner that showed no regard for the formal resignation I had already submitted. I request that Woolworths investigate this matter properly, correct any inaccurate records relating to my employment ending as “absconding,” and provide a formal response regarding the unpaid extra duties I performed and the handling of my resignation.