restaurant employee policies

I've been working at a Perkins in Central Florida for almost 1 1/2
years. I'm a cook however my girlfriend is a server so I understand
both sides of the line. In a nut shell Perkins is very mismanaged, and
the managers only care about there bonus checks, not the employees.
Perkins has a "no wait" policy meaning if a customer walks in they
must be sat if a table is available, regardless if a server can serve
them or not, Perkins really doesnt care. Since this happens, servers
constantly get double or triple sat and then ring all those tickets up
at once flooding the cooks(which is against corporate policy). At the
end of the day most servers skip on alot of there side work leaving it
to the closing server which is unfair but Perkins Managers have no
backbone and are afraid to discipline. Finally, to save on labor
perkins has the closing cook clean so much that they cannot have 5
minutes to have a break. The closing cook must make pancake batter
(prep job), wash all the dishes from the customers(they cut the
dishwasher at about 8pm), Portion bags of french fries in to very
small 7oz.bags, Mop the FOH Lobby, Mop the bathrooms, all while still
cooking and restocking and cleaning out line. It's very hard and
emotionally draining. After working here this long I just pray for
something better to come along, soon. My advise if your looking for a
job... DON'T WORK AT PERKINS! Hell, even the managers bitch about
working here!

I liked the reference to Pavlov.

Eydie, I'm glad you wrote your letter via PFB and posted it for
everyone to read.

I've always known I could never be a waitress, but after reading your
letter, I have never been more convinced. I always wondered what goes
on behind the scenes, and now I know (at lease in your case). I agree
with you that the method seems counterproductive and nerve-racking. I
think your letter is informative and eye-opening, and helps explain
some of the complaints consumers have while dining.

Best of luck with your education and career, and somewhere down the
line when a waitress brings you a watered down drink, I know you won't
complain!

I agree with just about everything you've said. And in fact I've
waitressed for more than a year... I did it for 4. And I am in
management now because I started as a "lowly employee" and worked my
way up. I've dealt with the terrible managers and the great ones in
both industries and stupid policies in both. And I've been in retail
for the same amount of time as food service, at one point both at the
same time, and they're not different at all. You're providing a
product to someone at a fast pace. The product changes, the people
don't... But, as a manager it drives me crazy when something happens
to bother an employee and they don't come to me about it because I'm
powerless to change the problem and it just keeps continuing then.
That's where I'm coming from... It sounds like going to your other
mgr. about the sexual harrassment thing went well and solved the
problem so I don't see why you didn't at least try that in this case.

the people there were the cashier, four wait staff, two cooks and me.
No management was there. It's not worth it to me to put myself
through that kind of torture. i just thought that asking perkins to
consider changing a bad stystem would be good because it's not
employee friendly, nor is it customer friendly. Customers deserve
good drink service just as much as they deserve good food service. It
should not be my job nor any server's job to deliver other
waitperson's food. The only way that being an effective waitress
works is if you are responsible for your own station. It's like a
cubicle. It's your space and you wouldn't ask or want another person
in your cubicle doing things, whether it was a favor or not. It's
confusing and annoying. I work well on my own, i don't require a lot
of supervision and i like autonomy. When Eydie gets in trouble Eydie
turns to Eydie, not an outside source. (Eydie is my name). If i need
help, i'll ask, but otherwise, i prefer to handle things on my own.
That way i know when and what is being done and i don't have to guess
at what someone else has or hasn't done. You sound like a caring
manager. I didn't mean to imply that that doesn't exist. I get a
little worked up when it comes to management because of my past
experiences with them. And in my most generous of moments, i can
analyze the problem. The manager's hands are pretty much tied because
of the real culprit, the corporate office. That's why i wrote to
corporate at Perkins. The local manager has zero power to change
corporate policy so going to them is a waste of time and completely
worthless. I did work in a thrift store for a year and that's been my
sole experience with retail. But it was different, it was a mom and
pop thrift store, but i loved it. My boss was the owner and
unfortunately, bipolar which is why i went back to waitressing. Had
she not had issues, i'd still be there. She told me,"I don't pay you
enough to take crap off people, so don't." And i didn't. I wasn't
rude, just firm. As i mentioned, i am a very direct person. I wasn't
always like that. When i was young i was so timid, i wouldn't say boo
to a ghost. But i got walked on enough times that i had to realize
that if i don't respect the person i see in the mirror, my life is
pretty much useless. Honor and self respect is everything to me. If
that means that i sometimes rub people the wrong way, so be it. We
all sleep alone, so to speak. And the older i get the more strongly i
believe that.

It's independently owned by two brothers and the waitresses are
awesome. We get great service and we tip $5 for b'fast every weekend,
no matter what. I tipped $5 on my $4-something b'fast just yesterday.
Why? Out of gratitude that it isn't me waiting tables on a gorgeous
Saturday morning, to make up for the cheap old ladies who order b'fast
and then leave $1 on the table, and because the waitresses bring free
refills on our beverages even without our asking for them, and they
know to bring me an extra plate so I can steal one of my bf's
pancakes.

The Perkins you describe sounds like a nightmare, and I agree with you
that their procedure of having anyone/everyone being responsble for
everyone's food doesn't make much sense. What if three waitresses
drop what they're doing and they all go back? That's two people who
wasted their time. So long as a waitress is picking up food shortly
after it's ready to be picked up, I don't think another waitress
should have to bother with it. 30 seconds sitting under a heat lamp
isn't going to affect the quality of an omelette and hasbrowns.

I don't blame you for quitting. Good luck finding a place that's
better managed!

I bet the other waitresses got to take proper care of their customers
and be tipped accordingly since it saved them time since you were
delivering all their food. The good restaurants I have worked have
hired an expediter to work through the busiest hours that delivers all
the food so the servers can concentrate on taking care of the
customer.

Ouch.

I know what you mean by that. I once worked in a place where
everybody was responsible for everything. That was fine when it was a
slow to average sort of day. During the rush (there were at least 3
separate and unique "rushes") it was pure chaos. You couldn't keep
stuff straight, customers got cranky (Customer service was #1
priority, even if it meant that you couldn't get away from the counter
to make the food for the customers to buy).

Wow I am loving you! My uncle worked there and got me a second job
there as the midnight hostess on friday and saturday nights. No one
ever trained me. I had a line at my register, a line at my door (It
was HS football season) and a togo oder called (Mind you no one ever
taught me the computer system or helped me learn the menu) and the
manager argued with me when i asked him to simply take the ToGo order
and put it in. The person sat on hold for about10 minutes, (and lets
not forget i am trying to have three different bodies at this point)
the manager finally took the order but brought it out to me. I am
dealing with rude customers at the register, rude people demanding to
be sat and the manager tells me to put the order in. The people showed
up to get the order before it ever was rang in, my line was even
longer at this point, all the waitresses were seating the people at
the door (if the register is off, it's my @$$ so i chose to stick with
dealing with it). Needless to say, when the line died down, people
were done piling in the door and i had things caught up (including
restocking the bakery), i left a note for the GM and walked out. I
never walked out of a job in my life until then. the GM wanted to talk
to me when i went to get my last check. She apologized, said if i was
willing to come back she'd amke sure i got proper training...i said
i'd think about it. But after talking to my uncle, decided to go ahead
and quit. wow...felt good to add to your vent :)

About goddamned time an EMPLOYEE made a complaint.

As an ex waitress, I agree. That's a very weird policy.

I'm glad to see the other side of the equation. Waiting Tables,from
experience, is the most harrowing, demanding, and difficult job and to
see someone who Cares enough, not for selfish reasons, but to try to
get a company to change policies to help make positive changes for the
company, the employee, and ultimately the customer is nice to see
happen.
This is why I always make sure the person who did the work gets the
tip by handing it to them directly. I've seen too much back stabbing
abong wait and bus staff at restaurants who pocket other's tips while
they;re busy doing other people's work. Not Fair.

Eydie, I admire your courage and conviction to make things better. And
Kudos on the pending degree. I'll be there in spirit cheering you
on!!!
Good Luck in the Future!!!

Okay, I work in a restaurant. I was always taught that when there is
hot food in the window, you carry it to the table, no matter if it is
yours or not. If you were a customer and had been waiting for food,
would you not appreciate it if it was broght to you hot and fresh.
Apparently you have never worked in a restaurant before, because I run
any where from 6 to 16 table sections in the restaurant I work in and
can run other servers food and still take care of my section.
I learned that if you have food going to a section near your own you
can take things that are needed in your section. I learned to carry
three plates and a couple of drinks or a couple of pitchers at the
same time, it helps and saves you steps.

This forum is for consumers; not for former employees to gripe.

It sounds like they have their priorities a little backwards.

I think you did the right thing by letting corporate know rather than
trying to do anything at the store level since it sounds like this is
a company-wide policy.

It's kind of sad that they make the wait staff do that because then,
as you pointed out, it makes the customers think that THEIR waitress
or waiter isn't being attentive to their needs. Not to mention that
it must get incredibly confusing to keep things straight! Who got
what and who still needs what.

For the sake of the employees and the customers, I hope something
changes, but I know I will be sure to keep this in mind if I ever get
a desperate craving for Perkins one day.

Did you apply for a management position there? You should.

I agree with some of what you say, but not all of it. LOok at it from
the patron point of view.

"If your food sits in the window and ruins, you are responsible for
it." and the customer is inconvenienced and served cold food. Not
good for business either.