I have worked in several restaurants and pubs waiting tables. There's usually a list of tasks to complete before opening and closing and things to check during your shift.
Sometimes the place is just empty or there are only a couple costumers, and you're done with all your tasks already.
You should be allowed to rest a little right?
Wrong.
Quoting every manager/owner I've ever worked for:
“You can't just sit down, find something to do. There's always work to be done.”, followed by completely random “assignments” and new tasks made up on the spot.
I've had to pull out weeds from the sidewalk with my bare hands, sweep said sidewalk, sort through garbage bins by hand to separate different materials for recycling, dust and clean shelves and all surfaces, glassware and bottles, wash the manager's car, deep clean the kitchen, try to repair appliances, move heavy boxes around and so on.
All while the manager/owner just randomly disappears, or worse, just sits down to chat with friends or use their phone.
I'm so done with this BS.