The restaurant job is great....sometimes. I really like most of the people that work there, and the tips are good. The job is actually fun most of the time too. It's fast-paced and you are always busy, that's the kind of work environment I really enjoy.
Anyway, I blogged briefly about how I told the managers with my application and in person that I can not do weekday daytime shifts due to having another job. They book me 5 days all weekdays. Ugh. So I talk to the manager, and give her a note so she has the info about everything.
However she did nothing with this information. And when I didn't show up for an entire week they thought I was a no-show. No call to me asking why I wasn't showing up or anything. I did not realize this until I called to find out the next week's schedule and they said they took me off of it because I didn't show up for a week. I explained to a different manager what happened and they said it wasn't my fault and gave me some additional shifts which was a process in itself.
I worked Thursday and Friday this week. However next week's schedule is out and again I'm not on it because they think I quit without saying anything. It's a lot of effort to keep on their cases about giving me shifts. It really should not be this difficult.
Anyway, Thursday was a great shift. It was a busy night and I made some good tips in 6 hours. I go in last night and I have a poor section. That's okay though, I don't mind having only a few tables, however after 2 hours of working I still had no tables and some other servers had full sections. I talked to the hostesses and asked them to give me a table and they said they would. But I still saw tables being sat and not in my section. Anyway after 3 hours of working and having no tables they did a section change and I was cut from the board (meaning I was done). I told the manager that I had no tables and she didn't have anything to say just told me to clock out. I also mentioned to her as a reminder that I would not be able to come in the next day because I had a wedding to attend (I'm actually working at the wedding but they don't need to know that), I asked her if she wanted me to make a note for her about this and she said no. Although this is also the manager that forgot to mention I was not going to come in the last time. I told her I could work in the morning or Sunday if they needed me to.
In the bathroom I don't know what came over me but I just started crying. The place is just poorly organized and it's making me look really unreliable and irresponsible and I'm not like that. Then to work a 3 hour shift and get paid under minimum wage with no tables or tips is really frustrating. The drive is hardly worth it. A girl came in and saw me and told the manager that I was crying and she came in to ask if I was alright. I just said yes and that I would talk to her later. I didn't though, I just went home.
Three girls cried at work last night due to organization issues. Also I know of at least two girls who have quit because of the poor management. I've never had so many work issues.
I called in today to remind them that I wasn't coming in and that I am not on the schedule for next week. The manager I talked to today said that it wasn't a problem and he would get that changed. I really hope it happens this time.
The inadequacies of others isn't your fault. You just have to remember the CMA rule: "cover my ass". You don't want XYZ shifts? Write it on a sticky note and past it on the schedule, make a photocopy of it (if possible) and ask someone to sign and date your note. Sounds anal, but look out for yourself first and foremost.
ReplyDeletewow. man... i've never heard of such disorganization in the workplace. the manager/schedulers have to get their act together. yikes.
ReplyDeletei'm glad they realized though it wasn't your fault at all.
Ugh! I've had problems with schedules when working in restaurants too. One thing I finally did was talk to the person who actually made up the schedule - he was someone who was never on the floor during any of my shifts, and my managers were not passing my schedule requirements along to him. Once I spoke with him and gave him a written list of when I was available and when I was not, the problems went away. Do you know who makes the schedule at your restaurant? Can you talk to them directly?
ReplyDeleteLittle Miss Moneybags has a great suggestion but my advice is not to stay much longer if it makes you unhappy or sad.
ReplyDeleteYou are worth more than that. I know people say you should stick it out when things get hard but when it makes you cry I think that is crossing the line.
Talk to D. Get his opinion.
Work issues are those that should be given attention to when it comes to businesses. They should keep track of how their employees interact with each other and if there are issues that should be talk about. Workplace training online courses can help solve this problem and create a good information and knowledge in having a more productive workforce.
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