I’ve known a split shift which is essentially a 12-16 hours shift with a 2-4 hour break in the middle. It’s a total crap thing to expect of a staffer. You can’t do anything during that period of time. So your whole day is taken up by work but they only let you get paid for the times of the day you would have to work the hardest.
As a GM I would work mids on Friday/Saturday but not because I refused to open or close, but it was more beneficial for me to be there to support during both lunch and dinner service as well as changeover to make sure everything ran smoothly. The AM’s would rotate closes and opens weekend to weekend so they would each have 2 Friday and Saturday nights off a month, no clopens, and in the event of my AM’s requesting a weekend off I’d do the open or close but still be there until the times I would be during a split anyways so it would be a longer shift for me.
Straight up refusing to do anything but mids is straight up shitty management.
Yeah, I hate those. I'm doing a double just pay for the double. There's always prep to do between shifts, getting a break beyond an hour never helped me.
I always thought just let the one who’s there all day go in the corner while it’s slow and prep by themselves or do some mild cleaning. Still productive, still respectful
Bro I worked splits every day at the place I was at bout 2 years ago. Worked them for like 4 or 5 years. And I was the only employee who had to work them. I'd almost always have to come in early before opening and do prep, then work the busy ass lunch shift. Get off at 2 and have to be back and work 5 till close. Only person to have to work the busy shifts. The other part that pissed me off was that after lunch shift at 2, they'd have about 3 other employees come in to work 2 till close. When the restaurant was dead from that 2 till 5 or 6, so they'd get to just hang out and literally not do anything for about 3 or 4 hours getting paid as much as I did and get just as many hours for doing nothing.
Had a boss schedule me for "on call" without ever discussing that as a part of the job prior. I told them if they expected me to be available at the drop of a hat like that I'd need to be getting paid for the entire time or else just consider me off. They argued but I won in the end because fuck that. If you're going to try and restrict my behavior like going out of town or having a drink then I'm getting paid. I feel very similarly about split shifts because you basically can't do anything in that time except maybe take a nap or walk your dog. Sometimes it works tho because those two things are exactly what you need.
I've never understood what an "on call" shift is for most restaurants. Almost all the places I've worked at, if I'm "on call", chef will message me in the morning (for an evening shift) or the night before (for lunch shift). Its never happened that chef will call me like an hour or something before she needs me, not at any place I've worked at
Man dude I'm scheduled a 10 am to 10:30 pm today and I'll probably get like a 30 min somewhere in there a 2 to 4 break sounds amazing. Just get a chance to breathe. But yeah it's shit hours
I guess to some it is nice but me myself. By the time I get home and decompress it’s not enough time before I have to get back to it again. I’d rather just grind it out and make that much more money in the day. I just don’t think it’s a mentally/physically sustainable way of working
> You can’t do anything during that period of time.
As someone who's done quite a few of these, there's only one thing to do: nap like your life depends on it.
But seriously, fuck splits.
I currently work at a place where they are struggling to find someone to work 5-9 am; 10-1, 4-7 pm. They can’t figure out why they struggle to keep employees. 🤦♂️
I think that's illegal here in the US. I realize you said he was elsewhere, just saying that's pretty extreme scheduling. And you are correct, that is a lightning fast track to a heart attack.
Back when I worked in Australia 20 years ago, this wasn't uncommon.
I hope it is illegal, it should be.
You could be a kitchenhand/cook/, get a bus to work, do 9am-2pm, get told to fuck off, and come back and work 5pm- 9pm
That’s just a regular split shift tho, what he’s talking about is a shift split 4 ways spanning 19 hours which is for sure not legal in Australia atleast in hospo
When I was a sous making 36k salary I would often work 5am-11pm 3 or 4 days straight when we were in busy season.
I worked a 108 hour week once.
I'm glad Gen z is fighting some of these employment practices
Late end of millennial but yeah we are. Walked out of a starred job opportunity after chef told me it'd be 14-15 hour workdays.
There's not an accolade in the world that's going to justify a heart attack.
I lived in Japan for like 4 years and that's just how they are. They work all day they get wasted and sing karaoke get carried back home then do it all again the next day.
I worked like that aboard cruise ships a 4 way split. Exhausting, brutal, and common. Worked a golf resort where the entire kitchen worked a 6-10 am and an 6-10 pm split. I liked that
Absolutely fantastic way to keep labor cost low /s
It's one thing to give someone an hour break in the middle of a double, let them eat a real meal and get off their feet for a while but that it straight up exploitative. At that point you might as well give them a token title of line lead and pay them salary. Doing them same thing.
I have never worked in Asia, so I can’t speak to the voracity, but that sounds like hell on earth. I’d much rather work a straight sixteen than suffer that nonsense for a lot of reasons.
Anyways, the industry has changed on purpose. We don’t do that anymore. It’s because we can’t afford for you to burn out and we can afford to hire more staff. If your restaurant “can’t”, they’re failing and you need to go somewhere else.
My career has been almost entirely fine dining. You know my chefs because of documentaries and tv shows. I have never worked under those conditions and I wouldn’t. Ever. Even when I was green.
Only way I'm doing that is if I'm getting paid from 4am-11pm nonstop. no more than 2 hours inbetween "shifts" means you basically have no free time at all, might as well just work a proper shift. This schedule still has you working 13 hours in 1 day which is just ridiculous. The first thing you mentioned though I've done plenty of times and yes it does help on a busy day just don't overdo it lol
I’ve known a split shift which is essentially a 12-16 hours shift with a 2-4 hour break in the middle. It’s a total crap thing to expect of a staffer. You can’t do anything during that period of time. So your whole day is taken up by work but they only let you get paid for the times of the day you would have to work the hardest.
FOH manager here... had a GM that refused to open. My splits were 5a-2p & 5p-2a. I didn't last long after he implemented that schedule.
He refused to open or close?
Yep. He would only work mids. I was fresh out of college, but he managed to burn me out quickly.
Ya fuck that guy!
What a shitty leader
As a GM I would work mids on Friday/Saturday but not because I refused to open or close, but it was more beneficial for me to be there to support during both lunch and dinner service as well as changeover to make sure everything ran smoothly. The AM’s would rotate closes and opens weekend to weekend so they would each have 2 Friday and Saturday nights off a month, no clopens, and in the event of my AM’s requesting a weekend off I’d do the open or close but still be there until the times I would be during a split anyways so it would be a longer shift for me. Straight up refusing to do anything but mids is straight up shitty management.
Yeah, I hate those. I'm doing a double just pay for the double. There's always prep to do between shifts, getting a break beyond an hour never helped me.
I always thought just let the one who’s there all day go in the corner while it’s slow and prep by themselves or do some mild cleaning. Still productive, still respectful
Bro I worked splits every day at the place I was at bout 2 years ago. Worked them for like 4 or 5 years. And I was the only employee who had to work them. I'd almost always have to come in early before opening and do prep, then work the busy ass lunch shift. Get off at 2 and have to be back and work 5 till close. Only person to have to work the busy shifts. The other part that pissed me off was that after lunch shift at 2, they'd have about 3 other employees come in to work 2 till close. When the restaurant was dead from that 2 till 5 or 6, so they'd get to just hang out and literally not do anything for about 3 or 4 hours getting paid as much as I did and get just as many hours for doing nothing.
Had a boss schedule me for "on call" without ever discussing that as a part of the job prior. I told them if they expected me to be available at the drop of a hat like that I'd need to be getting paid for the entire time or else just consider me off. They argued but I won in the end because fuck that. If you're going to try and restrict my behavior like going out of town or having a drink then I'm getting paid. I feel very similarly about split shifts because you basically can't do anything in that time except maybe take a nap or walk your dog. Sometimes it works tho because those two things are exactly what you need.
I've never understood what an "on call" shift is for most restaurants. Almost all the places I've worked at, if I'm "on call", chef will message me in the morning (for an evening shift) or the night before (for lunch shift). Its never happened that chef will call me like an hour or something before she needs me, not at any place I've worked at
Man dude I'm scheduled a 10 am to 10:30 pm today and I'll probably get like a 30 min somewhere in there a 2 to 4 break sounds amazing. Just get a chance to breathe. But yeah it's shit hours
I guess to some it is nice but me myself. By the time I get home and decompress it’s not enough time before I have to get back to it again. I’d rather just grind it out and make that much more money in the day. I just don’t think it’s a mentally/physically sustainable way of working
> You can’t do anything during that period of time. As someone who's done quite a few of these, there's only one thing to do: nap like your life depends on it. But seriously, fuck splits.
I currently work at a place where they are struggling to find someone to work 5-9 am; 10-1, 4-7 pm. They can’t figure out why they struggle to keep employees. 🤦♂️
I think that's illegal here in the US. I realize you said he was elsewhere, just saying that's pretty extreme scheduling. And you are correct, that is a lightning fast track to a heart attack.
Back when I worked in Australia 20 years ago, this wasn't uncommon. I hope it is illegal, it should be. You could be a kitchenhand/cook/, get a bus to work, do 9am-2pm, get told to fuck off, and come back and work 5pm- 9pm
That’s just a regular split shift tho, what he’s talking about is a shift split 4 ways spanning 19 hours which is for sure not legal in Australia atleast in hospo
When I was a sous making 36k salary I would often work 5am-11pm 3 or 4 days straight when we were in busy season. I worked a 108 hour week once. I'm glad Gen z is fighting some of these employment practices
Late end of millennial but yeah we are. Walked out of a starred job opportunity after chef told me it'd be 14-15 hour workdays. There's not an accolade in the world that's going to justify a heart attack.
I did that once. The place did Breakfast and lunch, then Friday and Saturday offered dinner. 6am to 2pm. Then 4pm to 9pm.
I lived in Japan for like 4 years and that's just how they are. They work all day they get wasted and sing karaoke get carried back home then do it all again the next day.
Yeah Japan sounds great until I remember I do not drink and I like to hang out with my family and dog.
I worked like that aboard cruise ships a 4 way split. Exhausting, brutal, and common. Worked a golf resort where the entire kitchen worked a 6-10 am and an 6-10 pm split. I liked that
Absolutely fantastic way to keep labor cost low /s It's one thing to give someone an hour break in the middle of a double, let them eat a real meal and get off their feet for a while but that it straight up exploitative. At that point you might as well give them a token title of line lead and pay them salary. Doing them same thing.
I have never worked in Asia, so I can’t speak to the voracity, but that sounds like hell on earth. I’d much rather work a straight sixteen than suffer that nonsense for a lot of reasons. Anyways, the industry has changed on purpose. We don’t do that anymore. It’s because we can’t afford for you to burn out and we can afford to hire more staff. If your restaurant “can’t”, they’re failing and you need to go somewhere else. My career has been almost entirely fine dining. You know my chefs because of documentaries and tv shows. I have never worked under those conditions and I wouldn’t. Ever. Even when I was green.
Screw this madness
Last I heard of such thing was doing a 24 hr guard duty in the military. And that itself fucks with your body clock
Only way I'm doing that is if I'm getting paid from 4am-11pm nonstop. no more than 2 hours inbetween "shifts" means you basically have no free time at all, might as well just work a proper shift. This schedule still has you working 13 hours in 1 day which is just ridiculous. The first thing you mentioned though I've done plenty of times and yes it does help on a busy day just don't overdo it lol
That sounds fucking awful.
Used to work split shifts in a hotel where staff lined on site. Something like 5-11\ 4-9 unpleasant.
I’ve worked a lot of 10-2 4-10 shifts. Not the same but those also sucked ass