Wet Seal Employees Fired With One-Day Notice, Respond With Brutal Protest Sign And Boycott

Wet Seal Stores have received some massive pushback from disgruntled employees. In an employee protest sign hashtagged #ForgetWetSeal and #BoycottWetSeal, a list of grievances were handwritten and posted to the front window of the clothing and accessories store.

What were the major issues?

Unused vacation time, unpaid sick time, “impossible” approval for requested days off, one-day notice to find new jobs for eight employees (including the store manager and two assistant managers), and “financial hardship,” though, the sign writers note, the CFO “receives a $95,000 raise.”

Of the eight employees, who are just a small portion of the “thousands” the company has reportedly laid off in similar fashion, the store manager had been with the company for eight years, the assistant managers for seven and four years, the four associates for at least three years, and the “new hire” for four weeks.

It gets even uglier from there. Here’s the full skinny.

The sign reached the number one slot on the front page of Reddit Monday, and currently has more than 4,600 comments, many of them from equally disgruntled employees.

And if you thought the Wet Seal protest would end there, then you’ve never met social media. Over on the company’s Facebook page, posts about sales and offers have been quickly taken over by more hostile workers, some reposting the sign with others leaving their outrage.

“How can we buy these glorious pants when thousands of us are suddenly unemployed with absolutely no notice? Can’t feed my children with joggers.”

“Shame you can’t wear that to a job interview.”

“How about instead of advertising your crappy clothes, you act like grown ups and address the bigger issue here about you laying off thousands of employees with less than a one weeks notice?”

“I am so glad I left this company when I did two years ago! I simply cannot fathom what employees are going through who were just told they no longer have a job. Wet Seal execs, you should be ashamed of yourselves!!!!”

“It sucks! I had my my last day yesterday they only gave us one day notice! Sending us an email to tell us we no longer have jobs”

“Its a pretty crappy thing what wet seal did. If a company knows its closing stores they need to let their people know rather than just surprise them and give absolutely no notice. Well karma will pay them back. With the financial woes this company is having I wouldn’t be surprised if every store is dissolved within a year, especially with its crappy business practices with its employees.”

You get the point.

Ashley Lutz of Business Insider reports that Wet Seal has reported declining sales in 11 of the last 12 quarters, and that the sign that made the top of Reddit was in a Seattle location.

Wet Seal declined to comment, and has not addressed the issue on its social media channels at this time.

Do you think Wet Seal and other companies owe their employees more notice and aid when transitioning them out of jobs? Share in our comments section.

[Image via Imgur, linked above]