I manage a restaurant, and I have an amazing team. The corporate team decided that a 10% budget for labor is enough for both the FOH and the BOH. Many stores are hitting these goals solely because staffing is slim. The reason staffing is slim is because we've been limited on how much we're told we can offer current and incoming staff.
Many people on my team have been with me since before COVID closures. They are amazing people and hard workers and deserve to be paid what they're worth, which is well above a 10% budget/minimum wage.
Well, I found out that many folks in the corporate team cannot access my specific stores payroll system. The only person that can is the HR team, and they have brought that down to one person so she is doing everything she can to keep up. So, as long as I stay aroundish 10% no one will question me. So everyone got a raise. In order to maintain hours for everyone we are scheduling super heavy ok busy shifts, and rotating the slower shifts.
My last little tidbit is I recognize there are a lot of shit bosses and managers in the world. It is so difficult to remain empathetic and understanding in this environment, but I do my best and take pride in it. The real issue for a lot of these companies are the corporate teams giving limitations that their management teams have to listen to or else their jobs are at stake. I've contemplated leaving a management position for something less stressful, but I worry about who might take my place. I know I'll advocate for my team when others probably wouldn't.