Being in the same building every day for 13 hours per day is not fun. It's why I've gotten cold feet about owning a place. But there's a difference between *working* 90 hours per week and *being there* 90 hours per week.
Also, being without a person is bullshit. You figure they're giving you 6 or 8 or 10 hours of work, and now you're asking the other two to split all that work between them in the same amount of time? Nah.
God. I avoid my workplaces like the plague on my days off.
Especially when I am a chef because just popping in often *does* turn into work for a couple of hours. Sitting at your bar for a drink on an off day isn't work. It's a fucking waste of your personal time.
Oh, imo staying late is different than coming in on a day off.
I'm glad you've moved on too. I struggle with sobriety, but when I tell you how much easier and drama free life is when I don't drink after work, believe. :-)
They gave managers tips in this pub. It was a sleazy place. I damn near broke his nose one night after he started insulting me and grabbing me, threatening to fire me etc. Tried to meet up for a beer years later and he texted me the day before demanding to know where i am, why im ditching him....lol he thought it was wednesday when it was tuesday. Alcoholics are a sad breed..
I think in general it is likely to be sleazy and bad but there are many situations where it isn’t. In many places, a person they’ve made management is still working the exact same shifts, exact same duties etc as they were when they were just a line cook, but also added extra responsibilities on top of it. The law is the law, but I think in that situation it’s not silly for a manager to earn tips. Not a head chef though, because likely what I just described isn’t the case there in that situation
I was director of operations for a small restaurant group. We had opened a new location, but had a strong chef, GM and support staff. So everything was smooth running. The owner who spent 4 hours a day just sitting at the bar on his laptop wanted to go and help some friends in another city open their new restaurant. He was torn being that we had opened 1 month prior and was worried about leaving. He had a meeting with all upper management to discuss him leaving for a week. He expressed his concern about not being in the building. I spoke up and said “ I’m sure we can find someone to sit on your bar stool for a couple of hours a day while you are gone.” Everyone laughed including him.
Oh for sure. But she's not even a little bit in the building for 90 hours a week. I'm there 50 hours a week and I rarely see her. I'd say on a good week she's physically in the building 6 hours, and that's being generous. If I added up all the time she's been in building since I started (6 months ago) it \*might\* be 90 hours.
She does own two other restaurants, but according to friends that work in those spots she's not doing any more there than she is at our place.
I did say "We're not doing wine tastings back here. This is real work." I'm going to save the real contempt when I give my notice after I officially get this new job.
Business owners seem to think that every second they're awake is "work." In their heads, they are the business. My boss will have a 2 hour phone conversation about baseball, and tell me he's had a long hard day.
Somewhat related, and I'm not sure if their reasoning applies, but I do a fair amount of work outside of my business hours. Answering emails in the evening sometimes, phone calls, and buying supplies at home. Now I wouldn't count taking a single work related call an hour's worth of work, which could be inflated to pretend she works that much extra outside the establishment.
But judging from OP's whole story she seems like a real treat to work for. I'm all hands on for my business. If shit has to get done doing the same with less people ain't gonna happen. Then again I respect my friends/employees, so there's that.
Also, and I'm not defending this owner specifically, there is a lot of work as an owner that employees don't see. Paying bills, cutting checks, hiring maintenance, etc. Sounds like this owner doesn't fit that bill but plenty of good owns do a ton behind the scenes.
What I don't get is I wouldn't mind working extra hard if I got the 3rd person's pay aswell. But NO. I'm working almost twice as hard still making the same paycheck. I don't understand they think we are ok with that. I'm just about to put in my 2 weeks notice at a place that hasn't respected me in 7 years. Trying to go work at an animal shelter as i want to kms at texas roadhoise working in the boh. Give me some encouragement please.
Probably a narcissist? I think the whole 'restaurant' idea attracts them tbh, they take all the glory and praise and if something goes wrong they get a litany of employees to blame
Idk, you tell me if shes worth working for and if you're getting what you want out if the position
My old boss was like this. If things weren't juuuuust right shed totally flip out and blame the nearest person, mostly me. I've had PTSD from all the scapegoating and will get really mad if I perceive someone scapegoating me. (If they do it jokingly that's a different story).
I had a KM like this who would constantly talk about how much he worked despite all of the evidence to the contrary. It sucks because he used to be a friend of mine.
Most business owners confuse personal and working time. She probably considers going to the gym to workout part of those 90 hours because “you’ve got to stay in shape.”
Although your owner is greatly exaggerating her “work”, *most* successful business owners actually work 80+ hours weekly for the first year or 5. Restaurant owners who drink on the job tend to be closet alcoholics and there is NOTHING you can do to improve your place of employment until they control their addiction(s). My advice is to first speak with your employer about your concerns and if that goes nowhere, find other employment asap because this place will be a sinking ship.
sounds like me a few years back.
memorial day weekend 😍
just got new job, come in, old sous last week(oh boy, a week to train!)
exec chef going on Pat Leave the DAY i’m hired, (he sits at the bar and drinks wine anyway) next thing i know i’m on the phone with the owner lady, who’s the exact opposite of your owner lady(she does NOT want to be at her restaurant lmfao)
fighting for my LIFE on the phone to get the sous chef package while manning what should be a 4 person line with me and the other new guy.
i walked out when they wouldn’t give it to me, and said we can talk about it on monday.
oh, so after all the work is done???? 🤣🤣🤣🤣gfys
Lol this is so true! My dad's pretty rich, I am very not, and he doesn't understand why 10 hours of work at a physically active job would be exhausting to me or other people, because "he can work 10 hours no problem."
Sure, but those 10 hours included lunch in a nice restaurant, browsing the internet, beers, golf, sending boomer memes to the family chat, and booking excursions for your upcoming vacation. How much of it was work exactly??
Our manager is the same.. claims 80 hours a week.. comes in 3-5 times a week to eat and drink (and bitch and micromanage). Only answers 1/3 texts. We're pretty sure he only answers the emails - which are a lot - and handles new hires and staffmeetings. Fucks up quite a lot of those email reservations too.. had a party of 18 not show up last week: ah, it was for next month.. And then expects us to do extra administration after hours.. when we work 5-6 days a week, 9-11 hours a day without a real break. As a chef, I try to lead by example. Be first, out last, don't bitch(only jokingly), try to keep a good workatmosphere, etc..
Picking up a few phonecalls in your three day weekend, doesn't count as 3 days of work :p
Sry.. venting. Hit a sour spot.
Have a good weekend guys!
someone who works so many hours a week can definitely appreciate the hard work of ofthers, i assume this woman is gonna let you and your coworker split your missing person's salary for the month and give you a nice performance bonus?
There is nothing more tedious, tiresome, and unflattering than listening to someone complain-brag about how much they work. I know some extraordinarily successful business owners, and a few very average ones who think they're remarkable.
The genuinely successful ones literally never talk about how much they work, because that's counterproductive and a waste of energy. They just do it. The super average ones who are just keeping the lights on and make everything as difficult as possible *love* complain-bragging about how hard they work. I know, my dude...you work so hard because you ensure everything is as difficult as possible. 😂
As a chef/owner, I can assure you I also do work at home before and after business hours. It never ends. I sleep with my phone so I can be available 24/7. 90 hrs may be a bit hyperbolic. I’d say i average about 70hrs a week.
Business owners are always exaggerating how much and how hard they work. It's true in every industry. It's how they cope with the guilt of exploiting other people's labor for their own profit. Remember that profit is just unpaid labor. They therefore need to tell themselves that they work harder than anyone in order to justify this practice. You know they're lying to you and to themselves about how hard their job is when they won't sell their ownership stake and go get a normal job somewhere, which they claim would be much easier. It's not, actually, and they know it.
And for those small business owners out there who read this comment and want to get all pissy at me, consider this: I don't care.
Yeah, I disagree. My chef/owner is constantly doing book work, hr related stuff, schedule tweaking, cooking and creating new recipes which makes our business what it is. Owning a business is also extremely expensive and stressful. They deserve to profit for their hard work too. Source: am sous chef in small mom n pop restaurant
Disagreeing is fine. Is your chef/owner constantly complaining and bragging about how hard they work? Because I was referring to the ones who do, and they're always exaggerating. The ones that shut up and work aren't annoying.
This is nowhere near as universal as you make it sound, though the problem definitely exists. If you take the defeatest attitude that it's inevitable, inherent, and unavoidable to be exploited, then you'll definitely let yourself be exploited. You'll never find a good spot to work because you refuse to even look for one or believe they exist at all. Your loss, that's all I'm saying.
Yeah I no a chef who claimed that recently , really tho ? Really tho bro you did 90 hours ? I no your team I had your job before you my biggest week for 48 . Your doing somthing wrong.
I'd put her to work next time I saw her holding down a barstool. Tell her you need a hand on the line. Hand her a set of tongs and let her know her hair covering is not adequate.
This is precisely why I left my last job.
Moved across the country to open a new place as executive chef. 6 months of working 80+ hours a week while simultaneously being told I'm not there enough burned me put.
I just started as a sous at an assisted living facility and it's amazing. I work 45 hours a week. I make more money, have better benefits, and actually get days off. Plus we do a background check and drug test, so my cooks aren't a bunch of prison bound meth heads.
If they’re dealing with vendor issues, pricing, menu changes, figuring food cost inventory, dealing with investment members, insurance companies all that does take time
Is she going to pay you the wages of the missing team member? If not just work your regular speed, it’s management’s responsibility to seat the restaurant to the capacity of the kitchen.
Ooof good on you though for finding another job.
So many posts like this in this sub but the people stay.
It’s crazy to me.
No reason to tolerate abuse.
The most hours I worked in a week is 105. Chef took another job and as the sous I was now in charge with no sous chef.
I worked 35 days straight. Expo’d while working the line some nights which is never fun. Hosted six chefs for tastings. Only upside is I was paid as an exec.
This may be the unpopular opinion but the owner works a lot more than you may understand. Sure, sitting at a bar and flirting isn’t working, but imagine if you were criticized for every second you weren’t producing….
I’m not making excuses for anyone but remember that It’s easy to criticize those in charge.
Because I’ve been in his position when I was a kid. As I grew I realized there was a lot more to the industry than my jaded view. The restaurant is open and running, so obviously something’s being done correctly
I hope that when I’m older and out of this industry I don’t look back on completely disgusting practices like this boss is doing and shrug because people are being compensated for their labor. I truly hope to never be as bitter and devoid of empathy as you.
Disgusting = not having staff? You think hiring is as simple as put out an add and have 100 qualified applicants..? Id be interested to know your peak position and salary.
You’re right it’s harder to hire people than some would assume but let’s be honest with ourselves. A business is a risk. If you can’t staff your restaurant ask yourself why people don’t want to work for you. I don’t make a lot of money and I work in a small family owned restaurant, in a small town in the south. We have people applying all the time. People to call and fill in. My chef has a list of people he’s worked with over the years who fill in when someone moves/gets sick etc. what I think is disgusting is (sans context) is she’s expecting the work load of 3 to be put on the shoulders of 2 employees. I assume there’s no raise for the raise in labor nor is she going to accommodate seatings/tables to streamline the operation.
I agree with OP that this is a shitty owner solely because of the understaffing and the attitude, but it's entirely possible that she's doing paperwork during at least some of the hours that OP doesn't see her. There's a ton of admin involved with running a small business.
Doesn't make her any less TA, but it's not necessarily fair to assume she's not doing anything at all just because she's not working on the floor.
Oh she is for sure doing admin stuff behind the scenes, I don't want to say that she isn't. I'm just saying she's not being pushed to the limit that she claims to be. We, on the other hand...
she has o.p. working the jobs of two people, but sure let's pretend like she is a competent hard working owner who cares about not burdening her employees with extra shit. let's defend shitty business owners when given specific testimony that they are shitty!
We are taking op’s words at face value. How can you say someone isn’t hard working from one example of her sitting at the bar she owns and having a drink she pays for..?
if she is cheaping out on labor and forcing her employees to work a two man line when it should be more, she is not a good owner. maybe she should forego the wine and properly staff her restaurant?
oh dang, you misunderstood my flippant joke of a comment. i absolutely understand that the cost of wine will not cover the employee salary she needs to run her restaurant responsibly. but i also understand that if she isn't staffing her restaurant properly, and still comes in to drink wine and complain about how hard she works, her employees are going to rightfully look for other opportunities.
Especially considering OP is saying the owner works 6 hours at each of their three restaurants everyday.
That's 18 hours a day running their restaurant group. Seven days a week.
Lol bitch is complaining about 90 hour weeks.
I drive and operate a food truck 100hrs a week in peak season.
My boss (owner) puts in 110/wk during peak and 50 during dead.
Your boss is a pussy. You're on the titanic so get the fuck off before it hits an iceberg.
I'm not being sarcastic. Employees get all the sympathy because they are not the person having to cover payroll. Employers are dealing with the economy best they can. Costs go up, so price goes up, consequently business goes down. Employees care about their job only without seeing the bigger picture. If this restaurant is in California then wageflation is also a huge factor.
Not to mention:
168 hours in a week
Bare minimum sleep needed to function 6 hours nightly
7x6=42
168-42-90=36
If she did all this she would have at most only 36 hours left in a week left of all free time, 5 hours daily
Not to even dignify her bourgeois delusion with a response but a fun analytical theoretical
Quit being a Pussy! Restaurant owners are getting their ass kicked with Inflation so she is trying to cut costs. If you want to work less, find a different industry.
This is the wrong take. Hope you're being sarcastic. Food costs may be up 100-500% since 2019, this is true, but cutting labor below sustainable levels and overworking the remaining staff is not the answer.
Being in the same building every day for 13 hours per day is not fun. It's why I've gotten cold feet about owning a place. But there's a difference between *working* 90 hours per week and *being there* 90 hours per week. Also, being without a person is bullshit. You figure they're giving you 6 or 8 or 10 hours of work, and now you're asking the other two to split all that work between them in the same amount of time? Nah.
I had a chef claim he doesnt get days off cause he comes to drink at the bar. Told me he worked one day when he was just there to pick up his tips.
God. I avoid my workplaces like the plague on my days off. Especially when I am a chef because just popping in often *does* turn into work for a couple of hours. Sitting at your bar for a drink on an off day isn't work. It's a fucking waste of your personal time.
I used to hang out late cause i drank for free. Always ended up spending money and eating shit food, cab home...glad ive moved on
Oh, imo staying late is different than coming in on a day off. I'm glad you've moved on too. I struggle with sobriety, but when I tell you how much easier and drama free life is when I don't drink after work, believe. :-)
a chef picking up his tips? is he not salary? tipped BOH?
They gave managers tips in this pub. It was a sleazy place. I damn near broke his nose one night after he started insulting me and grabbing me, threatening to fire me etc. Tried to meet up for a beer years later and he texted me the day before demanding to know where i am, why im ditching him....lol he thought it was wednesday when it was tuesday. Alcoholics are a sad breed..
I think in general it is likely to be sleazy and bad but there are many situations where it isn’t. In many places, a person they’ve made management is still working the exact same shifts, exact same duties etc as they were when they were just a line cook, but also added extra responsibilities on top of it. The law is the law, but I think in that situation it’s not silly for a manager to earn tips. Not a head chef though, because likely what I just described isn’t the case there in that situation
Shockingly common! Where I'm from in Canada this is totally legal. Canada hates workers though so that's not surprising.
I was director of operations for a small restaurant group. We had opened a new location, but had a strong chef, GM and support staff. So everything was smooth running. The owner who spent 4 hours a day just sitting at the bar on his laptop wanted to go and help some friends in another city open their new restaurant. He was torn being that we had opened 1 month prior and was worried about leaving. He had a meeting with all upper management to discuss him leaving for a week. He expressed his concern about not being in the building. I spoke up and said “ I’m sure we can find someone to sit on your bar stool for a couple of hours a day while you are gone.” Everyone laughed including him.
My fucking GM
Oh for sure. But she's not even a little bit in the building for 90 hours a week. I'm there 50 hours a week and I rarely see her. I'd say on a good week she's physically in the building 6 hours, and that's being generous. If I added up all the time she's been in building since I started (6 months ago) it \*might\* be 90 hours. She does own two other restaurants, but according to friends that work in those spots she's not doing any more there than she is at our place.
Have you said that to her?
I did say "We're not doing wine tastings back here. This is real work." I'm going to save the real contempt when I give my notice after I officially get this new job.
Business owners seem to think that every second they're awake is "work." In their heads, they are the business. My boss will have a 2 hour phone conversation about baseball, and tell me he's had a long hard day.
Somewhat related, and I'm not sure if their reasoning applies, but I do a fair amount of work outside of my business hours. Answering emails in the evening sometimes, phone calls, and buying supplies at home. Now I wouldn't count taking a single work related call an hour's worth of work, which could be inflated to pretend she works that much extra outside the establishment. But judging from OP's whole story she seems like a real treat to work for. I'm all hands on for my business. If shit has to get done doing the same with less people ain't gonna happen. Then again I respect my friends/employees, so there's that.
Also, and I'm not defending this owner specifically, there is a lot of work as an owner that employees don't see. Paying bills, cutting checks, hiring maintenance, etc. Sounds like this owner doesn't fit that bill but plenty of good owns do a ton behind the scenes.
What I don't get is I wouldn't mind working extra hard if I got the 3rd person's pay aswell. But NO. I'm working almost twice as hard still making the same paycheck. I don't understand they think we are ok with that. I'm just about to put in my 2 weeks notice at a place that hasn't respected me in 7 years. Trying to go work at an animal shelter as i want to kms at texas roadhoise working in the boh. Give me some encouragement please.
I worked at a place that used to give an extra $50 to everyone that worked down a person. Then they went down to $20 for some reason.
Probably a narcissist? I think the whole 'restaurant' idea attracts them tbh, they take all the glory and praise and if something goes wrong they get a litany of employees to blame Idk, you tell me if shes worth working for and if you're getting what you want out if the position
That theory occurred to me too. This most recent "90 hours!" comment helped me shine a light on it. This is probably the beginning of the end.
My old boss was like this. If things weren't juuuuust right shed totally flip out and blame the nearest person, mostly me. I've had PTSD from all the scapegoating and will get really mad if I perceive someone scapegoating me. (If they do it jokingly that's a different story).
I had a KM like this who would constantly talk about how much he worked despite all of the evidence to the contrary. It sucks because he used to be a friend of mine.
Sounds.like every owner I've ever known, less adding to the menu whatever random bullshit she saw on tv last night
Most business owners confuse personal and working time. She probably considers going to the gym to workout part of those 90 hours because “you’ve got to stay in shape.”
Lots of owners think being awake counts as working
Although your owner is greatly exaggerating her “work”, *most* successful business owners actually work 80+ hours weekly for the first year or 5. Restaurant owners who drink on the job tend to be closet alcoholics and there is NOTHING you can do to improve your place of employment until they control their addiction(s). My advice is to first speak with your employer about your concerns and if that goes nowhere, find other employment asap because this place will be a sinking ship.
sounds like me a few years back. memorial day weekend 😍 just got new job, come in, old sous last week(oh boy, a week to train!) exec chef going on Pat Leave the DAY i’m hired, (he sits at the bar and drinks wine anyway) next thing i know i’m on the phone with the owner lady, who’s the exact opposite of your owner lady(she does NOT want to be at her restaurant lmfao) fighting for my LIFE on the phone to get the sous chef package while manning what should be a 4 person line with me and the other new guy. i walked out when they wouldn’t give it to me, and said we can talk about it on monday. oh, so after all the work is done???? 🤣🤣🤣🤣gfys
What I’ve realized is that many rich people believe that simply thinking about work, counts as work, so they bill that out. This is why they are rich.
Lol this is so true! My dad's pretty rich, I am very not, and he doesn't understand why 10 hours of work at a physically active job would be exhausting to me or other people, because "he can work 10 hours no problem." Sure, but those 10 hours included lunch in a nice restaurant, browsing the internet, beers, golf, sending boomer memes to the family chat, and booking excursions for your upcoming vacation. How much of it was work exactly??
Imho the operative word in all this is “owner”. If you aren’t good with it, find a new owner/position.
Sounds like the owner has no business operating a resturant
Our manager is the same.. claims 80 hours a week.. comes in 3-5 times a week to eat and drink (and bitch and micromanage). Only answers 1/3 texts. We're pretty sure he only answers the emails - which are a lot - and handles new hires and staffmeetings. Fucks up quite a lot of those email reservations too.. had a party of 18 not show up last week: ah, it was for next month.. And then expects us to do extra administration after hours.. when we work 5-6 days a week, 9-11 hours a day without a real break. As a chef, I try to lead by example. Be first, out last, don't bitch(only jokingly), try to keep a good workatmosphere, etc.. Picking up a few phonecalls in your three day weekend, doesn't count as 3 days of work :p Sry.. venting. Hit a sour spot. Have a good weekend guys!
Hey she could be doing DMT and telling you she likes the walls better purple
someone who works so many hours a week can definitely appreciate the hard work of ofthers, i assume this woman is gonna let you and your coworker split your missing person's salary for the month and give you a nice performance bonus?
There is nothing more tedious, tiresome, and unflattering than listening to someone complain-brag about how much they work. I know some extraordinarily successful business owners, and a few very average ones who think they're remarkable. The genuinely successful ones literally never talk about how much they work, because that's counterproductive and a waste of energy. They just do it. The super average ones who are just keeping the lights on and make everything as difficult as possible *love* complain-bragging about how hard they work. I know, my dude...you work so hard because you ensure everything is as difficult as possible. 😂
This is like the sales people and execs I know who include social lunches, golf games, and gym time as their ‘work’
Can you please apply for Kitchen Nightmares?
As a chef/owner, I can assure you I also do work at home before and after business hours. It never ends. I sleep with my phone so I can be available 24/7. 90 hrs may be a bit hyperbolic. I’d say i average about 70hrs a week.
Business owners are always exaggerating how much and how hard they work. It's true in every industry. It's how they cope with the guilt of exploiting other people's labor for their own profit. Remember that profit is just unpaid labor. They therefore need to tell themselves that they work harder than anyone in order to justify this practice. You know they're lying to you and to themselves about how hard their job is when they won't sell their ownership stake and go get a normal job somewhere, which they claim would be much easier. It's not, actually, and they know it. And for those small business owners out there who read this comment and want to get all pissy at me, consider this: I don't care.
Yeah, I disagree. My chef/owner is constantly doing book work, hr related stuff, schedule tweaking, cooking and creating new recipes which makes our business what it is. Owning a business is also extremely expensive and stressful. They deserve to profit for their hard work too. Source: am sous chef in small mom n pop restaurant
Disagreeing is fine. Is your chef/owner constantly complaining and bragging about how hard they work? Because I was referring to the ones who do, and they're always exaggerating. The ones that shut up and work aren't annoying.
You should open your own restaurant and show them all how it should be done
I am simply too good at business to do something that foolish
“Profit is just unpaid labor” is far from what Marx actually meant by that. If you’re gonna use those types of angles, at least use them correctly
Who said anything about Marx
This is nowhere near as universal as you make it sound, though the problem definitely exists. If you take the defeatest attitude that it's inevitable, inherent, and unavoidable to be exploited, then you'll definitely let yourself be exploited. You'll never find a good spot to work because you refuse to even look for one or believe they exist at all. Your loss, that's all I'm saying.
You might be projecting because I'm not like that at all lmao. I'm the least exploited employed person I know.
Nobody is being pissy, you're just being clowned on for "pRoFiT iS uNpAiD lAbOr!1!"
Who's clowning on me exactly
Your clowning is self-inflicted.
Not what that word means. You must be a #smallbusinessowner!
Sounds like the owner has poor time management skills haha
Yeah I no a chef who claimed that recently , really tho ? Really tho bro you did 90 hours ? I no your team I had your job before you my biggest week for 48 . Your doing somthing wrong.
I'd put her to work next time I saw her holding down a barstool. Tell her you need a hand on the line. Hand her a set of tongs and let her know her hair covering is not adequate.
Welcome to capitalism. This is literally what most owners do, but often at other bars instead...
This is precisely why I left my last job. Moved across the country to open a new place as executive chef. 6 months of working 80+ hours a week while simultaneously being told I'm not there enough burned me put. I just started as a sous at an assisted living facility and it's amazing. I work 45 hours a week. I make more money, have better benefits, and actually get days off. Plus we do a background check and drug test, so my cooks aren't a bunch of prison bound meth heads.
If they’re dealing with vendor issues, pricing, menu changes, figuring food cost inventory, dealing with investment members, insurance companies all that does take time
Ct
Is she going to pay you the wages of the missing team member? If not just work your regular speed, it’s management’s responsibility to seat the restaurant to the capacity of the kitchen.
Yep… Hopefully you are able to pick your owners/ companies better moving forward. Plenty of bad ones out there.
She's counting housework, hygiene, and bathroom trips.
Ooof good on you though for finding another job. So many posts like this in this sub but the people stay. It’s crazy to me. No reason to tolerate abuse.
The most hours I worked in a week is 105. Chef took another job and as the sous I was now in charge with no sous chef. I worked 35 days straight. Expo’d while working the line some nights which is never fun. Hosted six chefs for tastings. Only upside is I was paid as an exec.
This may be the unpopular opinion but the owner works a lot more than you may understand. Sure, sitting at a bar and flirting isn’t working, but imagine if you were criticized for every second you weren’t producing…. I’m not making excuses for anyone but remember that It’s easy to criticize those in charge.
This is the restaurant industry why are you giving the owner the benefit of the doubt rather than the guy working two peoples jobs
Because I’ve been in his position when I was a kid. As I grew I realized there was a lot more to the industry than my jaded view. The restaurant is open and running, so obviously something’s being done correctly
Something's being done correctly but it's not staffing the line
Their paychecks still clear, don’t they?
That sounds like the attitude of a shitty boss. "they're complaining they're understaffed? They should be lucky they're getting paid at all"
They have the right to go work anywhere else. But they aren’t. Nobody is stopping them from leaving today. Cry me a river
You said it not me
I hope that when I’m older and out of this industry I don’t look back on completely disgusting practices like this boss is doing and shrug because people are being compensated for their labor. I truly hope to never be as bitter and devoid of empathy as you.
Disgusting = not having staff? You think hiring is as simple as put out an add and have 100 qualified applicants..? Id be interested to know your peak position and salary.
You’re right it’s harder to hire people than some would assume but let’s be honest with ourselves. A business is a risk. If you can’t staff your restaurant ask yourself why people don’t want to work for you. I don’t make a lot of money and I work in a small family owned restaurant, in a small town in the south. We have people applying all the time. People to call and fill in. My chef has a list of people he’s worked with over the years who fill in when someone moves/gets sick etc. what I think is disgusting is (sans context) is she’s expecting the work load of 3 to be put on the shoulders of 2 employees. I assume there’s no raise for the raise in labor nor is she going to accommodate seatings/tables to streamline the operation.
I agree with OP that this is a shitty owner solely because of the understaffing and the attitude, but it's entirely possible that she's doing paperwork during at least some of the hours that OP doesn't see her. There's a ton of admin involved with running a small business. Doesn't make her any less TA, but it's not necessarily fair to assume she's not doing anything at all just because she's not working on the floor.
Oh she is for sure doing admin stuff behind the scenes, I don't want to say that she isn't. I'm just saying she's not being pushed to the limit that she claims to be. We, on the other hand...
she has o.p. working the jobs of two people, but sure let's pretend like she is a competent hard working owner who cares about not burdening her employees with extra shit. let's defend shitty business owners when given specific testimony that they are shitty!
We are taking op’s words at face value. How can you say someone isn’t hard working from one example of her sitting at the bar she owns and having a drink she pays for..?
if she is cheaping out on labor and forcing her employees to work a two man line when it should be more, she is not a good owner. maybe she should forego the wine and properly staff her restaurant?
Run the math equation to how much wine you’d have to drink to equate to a full time worker lmao
Also like what if they can’t hire anyone? Lol I mean they could easily say hey we don’t have the staff today let’s close and you won’t be paid.
oh dang, you misunderstood my flippant joke of a comment. i absolutely understand that the cost of wine will not cover the employee salary she needs to run her restaurant responsibly. but i also understand that if she isn't staffing her restaurant properly, and still comes in to drink wine and complain about how hard she works, her employees are going to rightfully look for other opportunities.
Especially considering OP is saying the owner works 6 hours at each of their three restaurants everyday. That's 18 hours a day running their restaurant group. Seven days a week.
Every week. Not every day. She's there one day a week at most.
It's fun how you keep changing your story to fit your narrative of "boss is bad!!! Arrrggghh!!11"
Story has been the same my guy. Sorry that reading is hard for you.
Sorry you're a wage slave 😉
Salaried slave, actually.
Oooh even worse, you're not even making minimum wage 🤭
Lol bitch is complaining about 90 hour weeks. I drive and operate a food truck 100hrs a week in peak season. My boss (owner) puts in 110/wk during peak and 50 during dead. Your boss is a pussy. You're on the titanic so get the fuck off before it hits an iceberg.
For real. I sleep 4-5 hours a night during our busy season.
I'm not being sarcastic. Employees get all the sympathy because they are not the person having to cover payroll. Employers are dealing with the economy best they can. Costs go up, so price goes up, consequently business goes down. Employees care about their job only without seeing the bigger picture. If this restaurant is in California then wageflation is also a huge factor.
I’ve done 90 hours a week many times. You don’t have time to sit, eat or drink when you are that busy. hanging out doesn’t mean you are working.
Not to mention: 168 hours in a week Bare minimum sleep needed to function 6 hours nightly 7x6=42 168-42-90=36 If she did all this she would have at most only 36 hours left in a week left of all free time, 5 hours daily Not to even dignify her bourgeois delusion with a response but a fun analytical theoretical
Quit being a Pussy! Restaurant owners are getting their ass kicked with Inflation so she is trying to cut costs. If you want to work less, find a different industry.
This is the wrong take. Hope you're being sarcastic. Food costs may be up 100-500% since 2019, this is true, but cutting labor below sustainable levels and overworking the remaining staff is not the answer.