Hey so I hope this warranted because I know there Is a lot of posts like this but my GF is a manager of a chain cafe and has been struggling with workload for at least since jan and also her Area Manager. Part of me wants to vent but I'm also looking for advice on either changing the workload/ area manager getting off her back
So the most recent thing is that the AM won't allow to give more hours to staff but keeps saying to hire more because they are understaffed but how do you hire people and not give them hours? Anyway last Friday she opens store and someone calls in sick for close so she was told by AM to call every staff member on the system from every store in the state(4 stores) and no one can cover so she works the close aswell totaling over 17h that day including a hour past closetime to get though workload the expectation on managers is to work those hours and receive “time in lieu” but then there is usually no one to cover that day off and that “time in lieu” expires in 2 weeks after the day of the extra shift being worked. So anyways the drama here isn't even the fact she had to work those hours, it isn't really even that she's not getting paid properly for it, it's the fact that the AM Is SUCH a suck up they emailed my GF and cc'd the AM's boss passive aggressively telling off my GF about why she was staying back an extra hour and that she can't keep a team member on an extra 15 min past there shift completely ignoring the extra nine hours she has worked essentially for free.
There are other things that make the workload very difficult like taking jobs off GF telling her that its all sorted and then weeks after it need to be done will tell GF she needs to get it sorted and I don't think that the AM can get in trouble because they are very corporate safe(I think) and tells all of head office how bad the managers are so even though I want to I don't think she can get into any major truble(But I really want her too).
I just wanted to come here and ask about what steps can be taken in the corporate setting to negotiate better conditions or is the best path forward far away from this company even though she has been recognised company wide for her saving a dying store with 0 manager experience?
Other notes this is Australia and the company is a major international brand.
Also 2/3 other managers in the state are vocaly upset about this AM one of those managers I believe is the kind of person who writes down everything and I'm sure there is a lot to have been written.
If you can help thanks!