Hi all. I just wanted to share my experience with working in this industry.
I was in high school when I started working as a hostess for a restaurant chain in Canada. I’m going to list my negative experiences. I can go into more detail about these points if anyone is interested.
-No breaks. If you wanted to have a break, you had to take up smoking cigarettes.
-A drunk man who sexually assaulted me at the bar was kicked out for that night. HOWEVER he kept coming in and management didn’t do anything about it. He then became a regular customer and I had to see him every single shift.
-Not able to eat food. My coworkers and I would have to secretly steal unfinished meals from guests in order to get sustenance and continue working.
-Had to wear indecent uniforms that were non-negotiable. The dresses we were told to wear were extremely short (I couldn’t clean tables without the dress going up, accidentally flashing people). I tried to talk to management to change this but was told it can’t be done.
-Following from the previous point, when winter came around the working conditions became a nightmare. It was a cold winter, regularly around -20C (-4F) or lower . The hostess stand was right in front of the door (no double doors or adequate heating) and we could see our breath in our working station. That paired with the little clothing we were provided made it unbearable to work. From this, I ended up getting severe dermatitis around my mouth and nose that took 2 years to get rid of after quitting.
-We were all very overworked, being given too many tasks and scolded for not being able to keep up with it all. Majority of us were paid minimum wage or server wages.
Recently I went back to eat at the restaurant with my family (3 years after I quit). They thankfully installed double doors and it seems the uniforms are more flexible now. This was really awesome to see, but to my dismay, I saw that same man sitting at the bar. So I guess there are still a lot of things that haven’t changed.
I’m curious to know other people’s experiences working in this industry. So feel free to comment!