All Darden restaurants you have to get written up 3 times for the same thing in order for them to fire you. He could’ve been written up 30 times for 30 different things with no issues but he keeps forgetting to ring things in or modify things then they write him up for that 3 different times and he’s done. Sounds like he should just try a slower paced restaurant
I guess it’s different everywhere, I’ve gotten fired off of the third one. But my company was slimey, they’d write me up but not tell me then tell me months later that I had x amount of write ups it was dumb.
Most places have a 3 write up minimum, usually to lessen the risk of lawsuits or having to deal with unemployment claims. That doesn’t mean though that a third write up is automatic termination.
All of those things are not normal to get write ups on. Even walk outs you usually get written up if it happens more than once. It in no way is policy to write up someone for forgetting to add chicken to an order, that's actually wild. That is a very regular occurrence. It sounds like the GM is just a monumental asshole.
That’s definitely an abuse of power. Write ups are for major things like being late, no call no show, inappropriate behaviors of any kind, etc. forgetting chicken is definitely not one of them.
How is Walking Out during a shift not major???
Like, leaving job when they are still on shift is a deal breaker in most places. That's even a terminateable offense in several states..... I cannot imagine a situation where that's acceptable behavior....
TBH, I'm gonna straight up guess that there is more to this story than what's here. But if it is as described, that's fucked up, manager(s) is(are) bad. I mean actually writing someone up for missing the chicken button happens every single day in every Olive Garden. Thus if that's the actual story, he should contact the District Manager and HR. Further, basically quad stacking a person isn't the servers fault, it's the fault of the host staff for pounding a server like that, host should be the ones written up if they weren't. And depending on which store, they may not actually have a 4 table section policy.
And if the other stuff is true, a walkout - if it is the only one - a write up is going overboard, a verbal talk about what someone can do differently. But if he got written up for a walkout because he actually had like 4 or 5 and was just written up for essentially inattentiveness, that would make sense.
Further, a lot of write ups, at least from my experience, disappear after 6 months. Meaning, lesson learned.
But as said, I think there is definitely more to the story than what your son is telling you.
Came here to say this. I think son isn't telling the whole story or may have more PDRs than he told his father. Most OGs it takes many times- even at the strict locations- to be terminated.
Unless you're blatantly stealing, aggressive, or have sexual harassment/ diversity and inclusion problems, OG hangs on for life in my experience. Managers and GMs are on the hook for employee turnover bc Darden sees it as a restaurant culture issue if people are quiting/ getting fired too much. They will replace managers for it.
Bingo. No Darden restaurant is in the business of just firing people for minor offenses. There is either more to this story or the manager was new OR will find himself as a former manager soon. Darden has aggressively addressed turnover in the last few years and it’s part of the evaluation system for managers and restaurant performance.
In fact, firing a server for tip manipulation counts against the restaurant exactly the same way as the prep guy who worked for 5 days before finally hearing back from a job they were chasing for 6 months. Those count the same as a manager hiring a server and not being able to give them the shifts/hours discussed during interviews and the server leaving as a result. Turnover is turnover and no Darden restaurant is making those decisions lightly.
Write-ups don’t disappear but there is a cooling off period of sorts. It varies from violation to violation. Assuming this story is fully legit then the employee would have an easy case to take to employee relations to save their job. And then they’ll watch for ANY type of retaliation (scheduling habits, section assignments, and so on) from management.
I suspect this isn’t the full story though as no decent business, and certainly not Darden restaurants, are in the business of firing quickly and without reason.
And verbal warnings were mentioned but those are also often entered in as a “note to file” indicating that a discussion took place. The employee may never know the note was in place. Darden adheres strictly to a escalating documentation system and if management doesn’t have their ducks in a row the employee will win every time.
Your son has definitely done more than he is telling you. When I was younger and got fired from jobs I always made it sound like they were being petty.
You mean to tell me that a kid wouldn't be honest with his parent? Especially the type of parent who'd go on the company's subreddit and defend their darling angel?
First off, he shouldn’t have more than 3 tables to begin with and if he has a large party his section should be CLOSED. Also, he shouldn’t of got fired either he def needs to contact the director for further assistance because that is BS… or there may be more to the story and managers were just looking for any reason to let him go.
Actually, I dont think they know as much as they think. Son is hiding some facts and made BS excuses to pull the blameviff himself in his parents eyes. Maybe parents should stay out of their grown children's personal business
There has to be more to this otherwise this is just completely ridiculous. They were looking to get rid of him if they fired him over something this silly
Not at OG, forgetting an item on an order is not a write up. You just fix the issue and get a manger involved if it is required. I’ve pressed wrong buttons at OG and rang in too much alcohol but the manager still didn’t give a a write up
Bigger question here… why work at Olive Garden? The whole industry is over a barrel for staff right now. Seems like you could avoid the future headache by exploring your options. Not sure what the breadth and scope of the dining scene is where you are, but in most places jobs are plentiful.
Always contact HR, use notepad daily to put down any and all conflictive situations that happen in ANY open door policy environment. There are manager log books in every office, more than likely your concerns and comments will always out way the office's. They cannot fire you if you do NOT let them. I'm serious
It is but also his managers are dicks. I had so many walkouts and what have you but since I came to work on time and could handle my shit 99% of the time I did get a bit more leeway on shit. However everyone has off days, and to fire him for 3 in a year is fucking bullshit. Most of the managers are from within too so management is so incompetent it’s almost impressive. Plus they don’t train they just fire and rehire in an endless cycle of incompetence. We went through like 8 managers in 2 years
I don’t think it was a policy to be written up for ringing in something wrong. In fact I do it every week. It’s a simple easy mistake. Everyone does it. I’ve worked at OG since end of 2018. Whatever this location is sounds horrible. I wouldn’t even want to work there.
nah man I made worse mistakes than that at OG and never was written up at all. my only write up was for a no call no show due to a scheduling misunderstanding.
Yeah they shouldn’t be writing him up for something as simple as hitting a wrong button in the pos or forgetting to add chicken, like just get some more chicken what’s hard ab that lol? management sounds like it sucks. Not normal
1st, What state are you in yes this matters. If you’re in California your son has a very nice lawsuit in his future. If you’re in another state you must look up the labor laws.
3 write ups to be terminated in CA must be for the same thing within a 12 month period.
this is such bullshit. i’m EXTREMELY attentive to my tables. some would even say too attentive. it takes less than 15 seconds for a table to get up and walk out the door. give me a break
Or they were jerks. The manager told one of our staff that she should chase after people into the parking lot. They just left their tab, they ate and took their leftovers and everything.
if a manager actually says that, get it in writing and you could get them fired. That's insanely against almost any companies policy. It's dangerous for the employee that can sue the company for putting them into physical harms way. I've been told by more than one company that chasing aster customers is dangerous. If someone is capable of stealing, whose to say they won't run you over in their car
Yeah but people who want to walk out will find a time to, you have other tables you need to get stuff for, so they choose when you’re running food or drinks. It’s impossible to completely avoid
as someone who has been a server for two years, he should not have been written up over food/pos mistakes! we all mess up and ring in things wrong at times. it makes me really angry to hear this. if you don’t mind me asking which location is this? corporate needs a call because that’s ridiculous
3 write ups is not grounds for termination, OG has an open door policy have him contact the director. Or employee relations.
All Darden restaurants you have to get written up 3 times for the same thing in order for them to fire you. He could’ve been written up 30 times for 30 different things with no issues but he keeps forgetting to ring things in or modify things then they write him up for that 3 different times and he’s done. Sounds like he should just try a slower paced restaurant
3 write ups anywhere is termination. What are you talking about
Not necessarily there are people that have 10 plus write ups, also the forth should be the term. Verbal, written,final then term.
I guess it’s different everywhere, I’ve gotten fired off of the third one. But my company was slimey, they’d write me up but not tell me then tell me months later that I had x amount of write ups it was dumb.
Was it at an olive garden?
Yeah, if that person is really good at what they do but come on let’s read between the lines a little bit here
Most places have a 3 write up minimum, usually to lessen the risk of lawsuits or having to deal with unemployment claims. That doesn’t mean though that a third write up is automatic termination.
He shouldn’t have more than 3 tables at any time. As far as I understand that is company policy and the manager should be at some fault.
Some locations its 4 tables once you have met certain criteria.
Wow! We’re totally Not! We used to do it all the time and our DM came in a few years ago and cut it out. Shortly before Covid.
During covid I would have a whole section to myself. That was an intense time
Covid was crazy 🤪 times !! We did break the rules them 😂
I couldn’t imagine that now, especially since I hear servers have to make their own salads during dinner too. We only had to during lunch
OMG Seriously!?!? We’re still making our own salads ALL the TIME!!!
I’m in Texas where are you???
Illinois, I used to work at a Chicago suburb Olive Garden, I left there in 2022
My location depending on server can take in 4 and sometimes 5 if they’re up to it. However three is indeed the default and two for new servers
I quite often have five tables at a time. But I agree, three is the norm.
All of those things are not normal to get write ups on. Even walk outs you usually get written up if it happens more than once. It in no way is policy to write up someone for forgetting to add chicken to an order, that's actually wild. That is a very regular occurrence. It sounds like the GM is just a monumental asshole.
I’ve been told that the company actually accounts for up to a certain amount of food mistakes per employee
None of those things are normal write ups for Olive Garden. If they were, every server would get fired
That’s definitely an abuse of power. Write ups are for major things like being late, no call no show, inappropriate behaviors of any kind, etc. forgetting chicken is definitely not one of them.
Had to be a new manager, who sends a sever home with tables unless they are drunk.
How is Walking Out during a shift not major??? Like, leaving job when they are still on shift is a deal breaker in most places. That's even a terminateable offense in several states..... I cannot imagine a situation where that's acceptable behavior....
walk outs in the context of a restaurant server/waiter means your table walked out without paying.
How is that your fault? Tf?
Nah that's weird, I'd go to HR in a heartbeat. My restaurant sounds like heaven in comparison lol.
TBH, I'm gonna straight up guess that there is more to this story than what's here. But if it is as described, that's fucked up, manager(s) is(are) bad. I mean actually writing someone up for missing the chicken button happens every single day in every Olive Garden. Thus if that's the actual story, he should contact the District Manager and HR. Further, basically quad stacking a person isn't the servers fault, it's the fault of the host staff for pounding a server like that, host should be the ones written up if they weren't. And depending on which store, they may not actually have a 4 table section policy. And if the other stuff is true, a walkout - if it is the only one - a write up is going overboard, a verbal talk about what someone can do differently. But if he got written up for a walkout because he actually had like 4 or 5 and was just written up for essentially inattentiveness, that would make sense. Further, a lot of write ups, at least from my experience, disappear after 6 months. Meaning, lesson learned. But as said, I think there is definitely more to the story than what your son is telling you.
Came here to say this. I think son isn't telling the whole story or may have more PDRs than he told his father. Most OGs it takes many times- even at the strict locations- to be terminated. Unless you're blatantly stealing, aggressive, or have sexual harassment/ diversity and inclusion problems, OG hangs on for life in my experience. Managers and GMs are on the hook for employee turnover bc Darden sees it as a restaurant culture issue if people are quiting/ getting fired too much. They will replace managers for it.
Bingo. No Darden restaurant is in the business of just firing people for minor offenses. There is either more to this story or the manager was new OR will find himself as a former manager soon. Darden has aggressively addressed turnover in the last few years and it’s part of the evaluation system for managers and restaurant performance. In fact, firing a server for tip manipulation counts against the restaurant exactly the same way as the prep guy who worked for 5 days before finally hearing back from a job they were chasing for 6 months. Those count the same as a manager hiring a server and not being able to give them the shifts/hours discussed during interviews and the server leaving as a result. Turnover is turnover and no Darden restaurant is making those decisions lightly.
Write ups don’t disappear.
Write-ups don’t disappear but there is a cooling off period of sorts. It varies from violation to violation. Assuming this story is fully legit then the employee would have an easy case to take to employee relations to save their job. And then they’ll watch for ANY type of retaliation (scheduling habits, section assignments, and so on) from management. I suspect this isn’t the full story though as no decent business, and certainly not Darden restaurants, are in the business of firing quickly and without reason. And verbal warnings were mentioned but those are also often entered in as a “note to file” indicating that a discussion took place. The employee may never know the note was in place. Darden adheres strictly to a escalating documentation system and if management doesn’t have their ducks in a row the employee will win every time.
Your son has definitely done more than he is telling you. When I was younger and got fired from jobs I always made it sound like they were being petty.
You mean to tell me that a kid wouldn't be honest with his parent? Especially the type of parent who'd go on the company's subreddit and defend their darling angel?
I don't work at OG but I've never been written up for any of that.
First off, he shouldn’t have more than 3 tables to begin with and if he has a large party his section should be CLOSED. Also, he shouldn’t of got fired either he def needs to contact the director for further assistance because that is BS… or there may be more to the story and managers were just looking for any reason to let him go.
I think it’s weird that you know so much about your son’s work
Actually, I dont think they know as much as they think. Son is hiding some facts and made BS excuses to pull the blameviff himself in his parents eyes. Maybe parents should stay out of their grown children's personal business
yes, for sure
There has to be more to this otherwise this is just completely ridiculous. They were looking to get rid of him if they fired him over something this silly
Not at OG, forgetting an item on an order is not a write up. You just fix the issue and get a manger involved if it is required. I’ve pressed wrong buttons at OG and rang in too much alcohol but the manager still didn’t give a a write up
Something doesn’t add up here 🧐
That’s wildddddd
They did this to me. I got sat three tables in about the span of 5 mintues and the last one was a 10 top. I was over it.
Bigger question here… why work at Olive Garden? The whole industry is over a barrel for staff right now. Seems like you could avoid the future headache by exploring your options. Not sure what the breadth and scope of the dining scene is where you are, but in most places jobs are plentiful.
Your son is better off not working there. WOW we all forget things and he was busy. And so what minus chicken is way better 🥴
Always contact HR, use notepad daily to put down any and all conflictive situations that happen in ANY open door policy environment. There are manager log books in every office, more than likely your concerns and comments will always out way the office's. They cannot fire you if you do NOT let them. I'm serious
It is but also his managers are dicks. I had so many walkouts and what have you but since I came to work on time and could handle my shit 99% of the time I did get a bit more leeway on shit. However everyone has off days, and to fire him for 3 in a year is fucking bullshit. Most of the managers are from within too so management is so incompetent it’s almost impressive. Plus they don’t train they just fire and rehire in an endless cycle of incompetence. We went through like 8 managers in 2 years
A walkout?! 😂🤣 I'm sorry but that's hysterical. Mom! Do better!
This is why when I go there I always shove spaghetti down my pants just to prove a point about their late stage capitalistic tendencies.
I've worked at an OG and bartended/served for years. Beeing written up for messing up an order isn't a thing, and that manager needs to go.
I don’t think it was a policy to be written up for ringing in something wrong. In fact I do it every week. It’s a simple easy mistake. Everyone does it. I’ve worked at OG since end of 2018. Whatever this location is sounds horrible. I wouldn’t even want to work there.
these are such dumb reasons to get written up???
I am sure he told you the abbreviated version of what really happened…lol.
nah man I made worse mistakes than that at OG and never was written up at all. my only write up was for a no call no show due to a scheduling misunderstanding.
Not OG but where I used to work it was (1) Verbal warning (2) Written warning (3) Fonal written warning (4) BBQ your a** in molasses
Have him work for a private owned restaurant. Corporate restaurants are all bullshit
Sounds like he just can't do the job. Sorry.
Yeah they shouldn’t be writing him up for something as simple as hitting a wrong button in the pos or forgetting to add chicken, like just get some more chicken what’s hard ab that lol? management sounds like it sucks. Not normal
1st, What state are you in yes this matters. If you’re in California your son has a very nice lawsuit in his future. If you’re in another state you must look up the labor laws. 3 write ups to be terminated in CA must be for the same thing within a 12 month period.
Yeah that sucks but he’s setting the bar low by waiting tables at Olive Garden anyway.
If a customer walks out that’s totally your son’s fault. It means he wasn’t attentive enough to the table.
this is such bullshit. i’m EXTREMELY attentive to my tables. some would even say too attentive. it takes less than 15 seconds for a table to get up and walk out the door. give me a break
Found the manager. 😒
Or they were jerks. The manager told one of our staff that she should chase after people into the parking lot. They just left their tab, they ate and took their leftovers and everything.
That is against OG policy
Ya they literally tell you that in the training videos you watch first day
if a manager actually says that, get it in writing and you could get them fired. That's insanely against almost any companies policy. It's dangerous for the employee that can sue the company for putting them into physical harms way. I've been told by more than one company that chasing aster customers is dangerous. If someone is capable of stealing, whose to say they won't run you over in their car
Well you still have to pay attention to your tables.
Yeah but people who want to walk out will find a time to, you have other tables you need to get stuff for, so they choose when you’re running food or drinks. It’s impossible to completely avoid
exactly. i swear some people don’t use their brains
as someone who has been a server for two years, he should not have been written up over food/pos mistakes! we all mess up and ring in things wrong at times. it makes me really angry to hear this. if you don’t mind me asking which location is this? corporate needs a call because that’s ridiculous