It's been a part of retailing for about as long as there have been overnight crews. Stores lock-in workers to reduce goods going out the door, make sure employees are on-the-job where they belong and protect against unlawful entry by criminals.
A major issue with the practice, however, is that it creates a situation that may put employees' health at risk. It could be something as simple as an employee with the flu being prevented from going home to bed or something as serious as a case over the weekend in Queens, NY, where five workers of Met Food Markets were trapped inside a store when a fire broke out.
According to a New York Daily News report, the workers retreated to the basement after the fire broke out and took turns running upstairs to bang on locked doors, security gates and the store's bolted windows.
Brian Plunkett, who lives next door to the supermarket, said, "I heard banging on the door of the market and people yelling, 'I'm gonna die!' in Spanish."
FDNY Battalion Chief Bradley Wall said firefighters just got there in time. "They didn't have much longer to go. There was smoke pumping through the place. Time was critical for them," he said.
The store's owner Joseph Doleh said the workers had a key and should have been able to get out of the store. "We never lock the back door from the outside," he said.
The employee with the key was the men's boss, Jose Correa, who was not at the store when the fire broke out. Mr. Correa was charged with reckless endangerment.
"At least nobody got hurt. That's the main thing," said Mr. Doleh.
Chief Walls the situation at the Met Food Market was not unusual. "It happens more than you would imagine," he said.
Discussion Question: How common is it for overnight crews to be locked inside stores? How do stores manage the risks associated with overnight work such as theft without putting workers at risk?