I certainly hope it doesn't impact the quality of the food.

Olive Garden manager fired after time-off rant: ‘If you’re sick ... prove it to us’

I agree that "Bring us your dead dog" was just a teeny bit over the line.

I agree that a picture of the dead dog should suffice.

Yeah, a quick snap. Everybody has a camera at all times these days...

Given the quality of OG's food, perhaps he wanted the dog for another reason?

There are ways to motivate employees without losing control. Cut hours is one.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I agree that a picture of the dead dog should suffice.

In the picture it could just be sleeping.

quote:

Originally posted by ChuckFinley:

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I agree that a picture of the dead dog should suffice.

In the picture it could just be sleeping.

Or just pinin' for the fjords ...

I’m sure that attitude will really help with staffing shortages.

They should’ve named the guy.

Well, you never know- given the way American workers have become lazier and more apathetic over the past two and a half years, he may have been dealing with some genuine goldbricks. Also, note that his remarks came after "totalling" his car. The guy wasn't at his best and was under a lot of stress.

I know I wouldn't want to be dealing with the new American worker- lazy and entitled.

I grew up working in restaurants. If you couldn’t work you’d have to call teammates and get someone to cover your shift. It was give and take and you needed to play ball. I worked doubles for people many times. They’d often pull it to go to a concert, or they wanted a night off, day off, whatever, and many times they’d incentivize it by giving you a $20 or whatever. If it was NYE or something you might get a $100 spot.

But it’s that industry and standard to get someone to cover your shift. Sounds like that manager has a bunch of Gen Z folk with no personal accountability.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Well, you never know- given the way American workers have become lazier and more apathetic over the past two and a half years, he may have been dealing with some genuine goldbricks. Also, note that his remarks came after "totalling" his car. The guy wasn't at his best and was under a lot of stress.

I know I wouldn't want to be dealing with the new American worker- lazy and entitled.

I have noticed that some businesses hire very well, young people that is. I know some of that depends on region/location, but I believe there are good workers to be found almost anywhere, even in shitholes. Not many maybe, but they exist. But the businesses that hire well are often exceptions and not the rule. Some businesses excel at hiring the worst possible quality people, something I don't understand. I don't know what the recipe is for those that hire well, but it's like majik.

I thought he said something really nasty. I heard plenty of that stuff growing up. My high school football coach would kick you and smack your helmet. Hospitals do not put up with nurses calling out and casinos give you the pink slip after three no call/no shows. Privileged employees.

Comments like the ones made set the manager up as the bad guy. If they were in fact lousy employees, he’d have been better off just firing for cause. Spell it out to corporate that the business was losing revenue by being short staffed. Then see who corporate sided with.

Having been in retail and restaurant the better part of the past 30 years, I actually sympathize with this restaurant manager.

At the end of the day… I’m not saying he was right, but I understand.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:


I know I wouldn't want to be dealing with the new American worker- lazy and entitled.

Yeah, and there isn't a ton many in the restaurant industry can do because of hard it is to hire "workers". One of my favorite places was shutting down at 2 pm because they didn't have the staff to work the dinner shift. I don't know how people are supervising.

I have some empathy for this lady. I'm guessing she is under pressure to keep the restaurant performing and profitable and she likely can't keep it staffed as her people are constantly calling off.

A friend of mine owns a bar and his servers are CONSTANTLY calling off, or calling with some lame reason why they are late.
- Woke up late (for an evening shift starting at 7)
- Had to stop and get gas (an hour late)
- Dog had to go out (2 hrs late)
- and my favorite "I don't wanna talk about it, I'll get there when I get there"

They always call off at the last minute so there is little chance of getting someone to come in and cover. The establishment suffers and the owner has to cover everything himself. Why not fire them you ask? Too difficult to find replacements. Past history has shown when he has, the new employees are the same or worse within 2-3 months.

Granted, she went way overboard. Almost to the level of the Principal on Ferris Buellers Day Off... but I'm guessing she just got pushed to the edge.

I’d imagine it’s on the manager to cover for the employees that don’t show up. I’d also imagine the manager is salaried and doesn’t get overtime or any extra pay when this happens. It’s easy to imagine the quality the pool of potential employees the manager has to pick from. We post about them frequently, can’t do math, do two hours of work every four hours, entitled to $15 an hour, etc. I empathize with the manager.

In my area, motivated young people are snapped up in a heart beat and move on ASAP when better opportunities present themselves. While subbing one day, I overheard a student complain that Chick-fil-A required her to wear black socks and carry a pen and was thinking about quitting because that was just too much.

quote:

Originally posted by ChuckFinley:

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I agree that a picture of the dead dog should suffice.

In the picture it could just be sleeping.

Valid point. It's awkward, but we're going to have to require that they poke the deceased animal with a stick in the photo...nothing disrespectful...just a gentle nudge to verify its not sleeping.

A few months ago we were in Concord NC meeting some friends and made the mistake of selecting the Olive Garden for lunch.

When we arrived the place was pretty empty and there were many visible empty tables. We were told the wait would be 1 hour because of “how busy it was”. We called a few other local restaurants and were quoted similar wait times.

Eventually we decided to wait it out at the Olive Garden since we were already there. When we were finally seated and noticed the restaurant was at maybe 1/4 capacity. Our waiter admitted the reason for the long wait was that they were terribly understaffed.

I feel bad for the managers of Olive Garden and similar restaurants.

There are specific procedures and policies set up for dealing with absenteeism. It's not hard, and it DOES NOT involve shotgunning emails out. Once you put someone "on paper" and require a medical certificate, the words spreads.