For context, I was a manager at a tasting room for a cidery. From the beginning, I was told it was mostly administrative work (also managing events), with a little bit of serving if things got really crazy. Additional context, I’m 6 months pregnant.
So, turns out that the “mostly admin work” was a straight up lie. What they expected was me to bartend over 30 hours a week, and then also somehow do a full time load of admin work, without going over 40 hours a week. The owners refused to let me schedule additional bartenders because “when we schedule light everyone just has to work harder, and then they get better tips.” ….yeah ok, if you think people are going to tip well after waiting 30 minutes for a beer because we literally can’t move the line any faster, you’re delusional. This is a person who takes multi-week vacations, drives an expensive car, and then tells me we can’t afford to have another bartender on the clock? A bartender who makes SERVER WAGES?
So, to cut to the meat of why I quit. Last week I had a fall at work. Slipped on some rubber mats on a concrete floor and landed on my pregnant stomach. Had to be taken to the ER, told I might have a placental abruption, might have to deliver my baby way early, and had to stay in the hospital for 24 hours for constant monitoring. Everything is looking ok, thankfully, but upon discharge I was told specifically “No bartending. You have to take it easy while we make sure your placenta is healing.” Well my boss didn’t like that.
I went back to work a few days later, sooner than I wanted but it’s the US and if you gotta work, you gotta work. Immediately she starts pushing the boundaries of what “light duty” means. Telling me to stand behind the register and take orders, but have another bartender actually pour the drinks. Lady, the problem isn’t that I can’t pull a tap, it’s that I can’t be behind the bar. Still refusing to let me schedule more people. Watching me on the security cameras (because she’s not on site, she lives out of state) and reprimanding me for sitting in specific areas instead of other specific areas. Nitpicking every last thing I tried to do. If me or any staff member even remotely looked like we weren’t actively doing something, I’d get a text. It was so ridiculous, and I’m convinced she just didn’t want to fire me because of how bad that would look, so she pushed me to quit.
So I finally said “I’m not doing this with you anymore. I’m done.” I clocked out and went home. In the middle of a busy rush. My fellow coworkers supported me 100%. It was incredibly liberating.
Don’t worry, I’m fine. I have a workers comp attorney who agreed to take my case so I hopefully don’t get totally screwed. Just gotta figure out my next stupid job to pay stupid bills because that’s the stupid society we live in.