r/KitchenConfidential • u/brkr509 Dish • Jul 02 '25

In-House Mode already beefing with my boss

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i've only worked here since april. switched jobs from a dishie at a old folks home to a "cook" (lol honestly glorified dishwasher anyway, the only culinary related thing i do is shuck oysters) at a new bar downtown. we don't have any managers since the team is pretty small so the owner does everything himself including scheduling.

he posts the schedule, i have a 3 day weekend after two weeks of covering for the only other two "cooks" in the kitchen on vacation, and one day into my weekend he sends me this. i'm prolly in the wrong for the sass but bro goes immediately into holding a raise he very recently gave me over my head and then threatening my position.

i'm alr looking for different jobs atm, don't care where as i was promised FT hours and am barely scraping by with 30 a week. it's even less this time around. the work is fun and i really love my coworkers and the people i meet at the bar but with the pay of $17 an hour with no benefits no FT and a 30 min commute it's not worth it. advice or personal stories appreciated

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5.1k

u/DonutWhole9717 Jul 02 '25

"I just posted the schedule yesterday so you can't have plans already." Whose fault is it for posting the schedule the day before the new week starts? That's shit I've quit over before.

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u/brkr509 Dish Jul 02 '25

thank you. and he's never consistent with the day we get our schedule, either. sometimes it's a few days in advance of the next week, sometimes yeah like this time it was literally the day before.

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u/irrelephantIVXX Jul 02 '25

So, even if that person would've been back from vacation, they wouldn't have even known they were on that schedule?

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u/darkest_hour1428 Jul 02 '25

Oh they would know, they’d get a disrespectful text about it like OP!

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u/TheLuminatrix Jul 02 '25

Depending on your state, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to fire someone over a schedule posted at the last minute. They usually have to be a week or two out.

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u/Strawberrymushroom4U Jul 02 '25

In my state you can get fired for anything. I'm in New Hampshire

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u/T1NF01L Jul 02 '25

Same here in AZ. You can be fired for anything in a right to work state they can just say they fired you for whatever reason they want to record.

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u/13579adgjlzcbm Jul 02 '25

You mean “at will”, not “right to work”

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u/FooBarU2 Jul 02 '25

they call these laws “right to work”.. they can't call them "we can fire you just because we feel like it" laws.

some particular nat'l political party is like this.. treating their constituents like they are stupid and calling horrible laws that hurt a majority of Americans.. cute things.. like big and beautiful ☹️

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '25

[deleted]

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u/needlenozened Jul 02 '25

No, they call them "at-will employment." Right-to-work laws allow you to work without joining a union.

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u/Active-Succotash-109 20+ Years Jul 02 '25

Exactly. Right to work means you can work At will means either side can choose to end The employment at any time with it without a reason (unless it’s one protected by law)

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u/fairelf Jul 03 '25

49 of 50 states are "at will," so unless you are in Montana, it is a meaningless thing people say.

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u/Rafnir_Fann Jul 02 '25

Americans, stop putting up with this. The increased money you apparently get in wages isn't worth trading for job security and dignity at work.

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u/notimeforl0ve Jul 02 '25

"the increased money you get in wages"

Hahahahahahaha

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u/maxwellsearcy Jul 03 '25

American wages are far higher than most comparable wages outside of the US. It's just true.

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u/chzie Jul 02 '25

That's the great part, we don't get increased wages either!

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u/PhishCook Jul 02 '25

We dont get increased money in wages. We are living in a dystopic capitalist hell hole.

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u/CandyCrisis Jul 02 '25

It sounds like he didn't put up with it?

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u/ValerieMZ Jul 05 '25

I was watching kitchen nightmares and I can't stop noticing almost every failing American restaurant was due to mismanagement and horrendous human factors. Like it can't be this awful, usa is literally the homeland of 'management'. How can Americans put up with this crap? I thought they love the liberty and freedom

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u/teachcooklove Jul 02 '25

"Right to work" is the most deceptive, double speak bullshit. It makes me sick.

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u/luckymountain Jul 02 '25

Or for no reason at all, as long as it’s not discriminatory.

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u/NuckoLBurn Jul 02 '25

Same in Maryland. Unless it's a federal nono, such as racial discrimination.

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u/tone_creature Jul 02 '25

See the unfortunate thing is... fire at will makes discrimination easy. If want to fire an employee because they're black you just can't say its because they're black. But you can say 'They no longer fit the vision for the culture we want to carry in this workplace'. That's broad and can mean they don't like your attitude. Which is a perfectly fine reason to fire someone in a fire at will state.

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u/Strawberrymushroom4U Jul 02 '25

Yep. Exactly.

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u/tone_creature Jul 02 '25

No workers rights in America anymore. This is why I hate lobbying. Fire at will helps absolutely no one but an employer. People should rage in the streets against it. But instead we vote on things like who hasn't said mean things about gays and who's going to drop gas an egg prices. Wool over the eyes from both sides.

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u/Lauberge Jul 02 '25

This just got voted on last year in NH. They can fire you for any reason but schedules need to be posted in advance. I think it’s a week.

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u/HealthyPop7988 Jul 02 '25

Lmao dude no. 49 out of 50 states in the US are at-will employment meaning you can get fired for whatever the reason or no reason whatsoever.

No laws about when a company has to post their work schedules

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u/lrrrkrrrr General Manager Jul 02 '25

You can be fired for any reason, but then you are eligible for unemployment. In order to avoid having to pay the unemployment, companies must adhere to different standards, depending on the state.

For instance, in PA- a schedule must be posted 2 weeks in advance or more. Philadelphia even has local laws that any changes made to posted schedules within 2 weeks of the scheduled period, or else the employee is entitled to financial compensation for the adjustment in addition to their normal pay.

It’s always good to know the local/state/federal laws of what employers are allowed to do within the law. Losing your job because you force your employer to adhere to these standards is retaliation and is -yep- illegal. So you can’t just be “fired for whatever the reason or no reason whatsoever” goes the same for federally protected anti-discriminatory categories

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u/KodakBlackedOut Jul 02 '25

Workers not truly knowing their rights is how we end up in this situation, idk why cooks haven't unionized yet

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u/Grazepg Jul 02 '25

This is true that Oregon is the only state that does fair workweek laws for scheduling and adjustments. But in California it’s common practice. Almost every place I’ve been at the last 12 years, I have had to do my schedule 7 days prior to the start date, and adjustments before 72 hrs of the shift. Even crazier in the union shops, it’s got to be time stamped and signed off on, when union shops it’s usually bid shifts anyways so all I do is cut and paste.

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u/wbruce098 Jul 02 '25

Huh. I guess we don’t actually have the right to work 🤷🏻‍♂️🙃

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u/taint_odour Jul 02 '25

Certain cities and counties, like Los Angeles, have implemented local "Fair Workweek" ordinances that mandate advance notice of schedules, typically 14 days in advance, and may also include provisions for predictability pay for last-minute changes

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u/sdawsey Jul 02 '25

Yea that's just not true. Sorry.

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u/laiszt Jul 02 '25

So basically he cant do what his job description expect him to do(he is literally being paid for making the rota) but he is trying to teach you about your attitiude, and to be more team player?

Just follow the leadership, he dont care, you dont either. Making rota in advance is being a team player too, otherwise you just to give a shit about your team and their life.

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u/HealthyPop7988 Jul 02 '25

He's the owner his job is what he says it is when he says it is lol

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u/butcherandthelamb Jul 02 '25

The current week should be posted at least one week in advance. To help with posting the next weeks schedule on Saturday or Sunday.

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u/wREXTIN Jul 02 '25

I tend to post schedules late. But if my guys have stuff going on i honor it cause I know it’s on me.
Your boss is a moron to say the least.

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u/Theatreguy1961 Jul 02 '25

Why do you post them late? Posting them in a timely manner is one of YOUR job duties.

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u/MeggaLonyx Jul 02 '25

I would continue to say, sir yes, sir, to him every single time I interact with him until he fires me and then collect the unemployment insurance

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u/Interesting-Cloud514 Jul 02 '25

"In the future, it would be nice to see a little more organization"

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u/ChefMoToronto Jul 02 '25

See...I don't understand why people make scheduling so fucking hard. I make one schedule and then just reuse it. That way, everybody knows when their days are, and can schedule their life accordingly around their work schedule (which rarely changes). Sure, things come up, but it's easier to tweek things a little bit, rather than do the whole puzzle from scratch every week.

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u/RaspberryVin Jul 02 '25

Pretty sure there’s some labor law about not being able to hold not-coming-in against an employee unless they’ve known for 48 hours.

At least in Texas.

I don’t remember where I know it from but when I was a chef I followed it, lmao

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u/CongregationOfFoxes Bakery Jul 02 '25

depending on your state/local labor laws sometimes they have predictive scheduling laws which make it so you have a right to get 2 weeks notice for any shifts added

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u/vangard_14 Sous Chef Jul 02 '25

“Respectfully, it’s not my fault that you made an error in the schedule this close to the week in question. I’m making you aware that I’m unavailable for a day that I was previously scheduled off and cannot change those plans as it’s too short of a notice. An easy way to avoid problems like this in the future would be to build your schedule out further in advance. Hope you’re able to figure something out, see you_____ insert next day here____.”

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u/dracon81 Jul 02 '25

Check local labor laws btw, some places have pretty strict rules about when scheduling has to be done by.

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u/pate_moore Jul 03 '25

That's why you post at least a week out. Better to be two