The pen is mightier!

[Bender]

Basically what I have done is wrote on the shift rota at where I work and told them they can kiss my ass if they think I am working 6 days next week.

The actual message was "I am NOT working SIX days, so KISS MY ASS!"

I was pissed that I was the only person to be on the rota to be working six days. Two guys had two days off, a girl who is 16 she had three days off and this other guy had 3/4 days off - but he doesn't normally cook, he does the pots. And thay have different rota.

Yes we are short staffed, and I feel that they have tried to warm me up to the idea of working a lot. Being that I had a 121 chat with the manager about working hours previously.

I told him that I had a problem working more hours than is stated in the uk working times regulations. Which is 48 hours a week.

Since I started working at this restaurant in Jan, I have been working 3 out of 4 weeks with only one day off. So I've been doing on avarage 55 hours a week, maybe more/less. My contract obligation stands at 5 days a week.

Being that my manager never took me seriously the first time I mentioned the working times regulations, I figured they would take written word a lot more seriously.

Now, what I wrote was not aimed at anybody, not addressed to anyone. It wasn't slander on account of this, and it can't be classed as libel either. So, all in all I stand firm in the fact that I have done nothing wrong. I've not insulted anyone, I've just expressed my feelings through my pen.

My Manager came to see me while I was at work today to air his response which wasn't very good. He wasn't pleased or impressed. I got near enough a warning, but didn't ... not yet anyway. He just stressed the fact that I should speak to him in future if I have any problems at work.

I just generally felt they were taking advantage and taking the piss basically, I can't keep on working six day weeks.

Some of my colleagues thought it was funny what I did, I think the guy who done the rota might have took it personally though.

If I have any problems I usually put them on paper or in a letter or something. Fight with my pen, so to speak.

I have my two days off that I should be getting now, I'm just apprehensive at the thought that this might have any repercussions. Or, wondering if it will blow over as I want it to.


If it comes to warnings or whatever I can start penning other letters. Because it was my employer in the wrong first to have me working more hours than is legally stated.

Anyone else been in a situation like this?

 

[dillaxx]

i usually took more hours when i worked as stocker over the summer... i guess i hadnt been working there long enough to get sick of my job.. im going back this summer though...

 

[S O F I]

Yeah, the manager figured you wouldn't have the balls to refute the working hours. You seem to be like Charlie before he became Hank in Me, Myself, and Irene so that's why.

 

[Bender]

well my manager figured wrong. I said I would try and help out where I could. It's not just me that's been working six day weeks. I ain't gonna be the only one there working my balls off which is why I've complained this time around. I don't care. I will go and work somewhere else if they can't agree with me on hours. It's been too long that we've been short staffed, it's getting ridiculous now.

 

[Cooper]

I've been in a similar situation and often work more than 48 hours a week.

 

[Jeremy]

Get your resume out there.

 

[Bhuddahhoodlum]

in my years of working i've found that sometimes you HAVE TO stand up for yourself. most folks start cussing and get fired, walk off the job, fight, or even cause personal damage to another co-workers property.

but sometimes you just have to show that you will not be stepped on. doing so in a professional way that they can use against you (another trick they can use up there sleeve). if it's a job you like and wish to keep respectably sticking to your guns is the most beneficial way.

but then there are times where being civil just won't cut it. you'll know what to do then.

 

[Tha_Wood]

as we speak i am supoosed to be getting my bosses lunch

 

[Bender]

It's my day off tomorrow, I have been thinking of updating my resume.

Fuck though, why does it have to be like this? I've been doing like flawless services where like I haven't cooked a single thing wrong, even when its busy. I know I'm the best cook at that place because I know my shit and I can work under pressure. The same manager who spoke to me said before now that the company has a problem finding chefs, that's why they offer their own training. I wish the conditions were ideal but they are not. Being a chef is a hard job as it is, it shouldn't be left to me to fill in for other staff that aren't there. I've made a contact or two while I have been in this business, it wasn't that long ago I saw my old head chef i used to work for, I know where he works. I walked out just after he left at the last place we worked. It seems being a chef is a difficult but demanding job. There is high staff turnovers all over the place. I've walked out of two jobs, got fired from one - not because of my cooking but because of something else unrelated to WHAT I DO. People just don't realise, especially managers, how difficult cooking can be. Blame the cook, that is their attitude if ever something goes wrong. They just don't realise how much shit we put up with. Ain't nothing more demanding than being fed, not even sex.

 

[Da_Funk]

You could try out for Hell's Kitchen

 

[Bender]

You could try out for Hell's Kitchen

Do you know how I can register?

 

[Da_Funk]

FOX Broadcasting Company: Hell's Kitchen

Look for the casting sub title and click on get info.

 

[Bender]

haha! I might email them. A little tv exposure could do me good lol

 

[Da_Funk]

Its worth a shot at least, imo.

 

[Saint33]

often kitchens are like this. I swear to god at the kitchen I worked, I'd ask for more hours and I'd get less, then when I only wanted a few hours, they end up giving me 6 shifts a week. I'd book off days well in advanced, and then not get them off, and my boss would leave it to me to find someone to take my shift. Day's when I'd ask my manager specifically to be one of the first sent home, he would keep as late as possible.

Kitchen's are just horrible for scheduling and hours. It sucks because I loved to cook, and the people were great. But with University and my other commitments, it's just too much to handle.

The saddest thing was why I got fired. I booked off my sister's wedding a month in advanced, and constantly reminded my boss that it was booked off. Low and behold, the schedule comes out, and guess what? I work that day. So I tell my boss I can't make it, I booked it off and he tells me I'll have to find someone. I was a little irritated, but I just figured I'd do it rather than make a big fuss about it. So I find a guy to take my shift, and the day before the shift, I get a text from my boss saying "Nolan can't take your shift, he doesn't know enough on line. Find someone else" So here I am, at 11:30 at night and my shift is at 3pm the next day, and I have to find someone to take my shift before then. So I try to find someone, but no one can do it on such short notice, so I text my boss, I can't make it and there's no one to take the shift, and he texts back, well then you can't work until we have a sit down. A week later I sit down with him, and he tells me "I'm not a team player, and he has to make an example that skipping shifts for any reason isn't acceptable, blah blah blah."

 

[Sebastian]

A week later I sit down with him, and he tells me "I'm not a team player, and he has to make an example that skipping shifts for any reason isn't acceptable, blah blah blah."

And he is obviously a clueless dumbass.

 

[Saint33]

And he is obviously a clueless dumbass.

biggest deuche on the planet. The guy is like 35 and lives for Earls Restaurant, like it's his whole life. He's surrounded by high school students and students in their early stages of University, and he considers them all his best friends, despite the fact that they all hate him. It's actually sad really. He still texts me from time to time asking me where I've been and why I don't visit them from time to time

 

[Bender]

And you paid attention and listened to this 'douche'?



At least I think me and my manager know where we stand with each other now. I've exercised my right to get the proper hours I should get.

 

[Saint33]

And you paid attention and listened to this 'douche'?



At least I think me and my manager know where we stand with each other now. I've exercised my right to get the proper hours I should get.

well as he was my boss, I was forced to. He was actually the day team leader for most of my time there, so I didn't have to deal with him, my old managers were much better and a lot more fun. Then he switched to nights and it ruined everything. I swear to god he thinks he's Gordon Ramsey

 

[S. Fourteen]

[HuFF HuFF.... my first post got erased during a server mishap so I had to run back here. Huff HuFF...]

What's Scary? [whoa, deja vu! lol] Germs that go around in a restaurant. Any place, it could be the very place you decide to eat at 10 minutes before close on a Wednesday night. And with the tight work scheduling - you're gonna get infected people working in the kitchen. Mucus in your pasta and all that. Spring fever's in the air, yeah.

What's Harder? Cooking when you yourself is infected, ugh! You can't taste shit, can't smell shit. You feel like vomiting. Your legs are numb and they hurt. The stuff you prepare doesn't look good and that's not good.

You see what I mean? Stop eating out so much. Give this man his two days off that he deserves. A rested chefs rice is twice as sweeter. Stop crowding the buffet, god damn it.

[This post was brought to you by Your Favorite Over-Priced Microwaved Frozen Ready-Made Appetizer At Your Favorite Restaurant]