So I have multiple managers, but only my general manager and my direct supervisor are the people I directly work with. I work a unique restaurant that can seat servers with 60-120 people at once with help from other servers. Weekends are usually busy and I came in today and saw that I would be a closing shift, which is very difficult and goes til very late, and I would only have about 15 people all day. Which for the job I work is not many people at all. I saw I was a backup on another event that reached 33 people, but the other server had it handled, and didn’t want me as backup. I asked my direct manager “R” if it was ok for me to leave, as there was nothing for me to really do. I was told to stay in that event of 33 and that I will be working my full shift. I make 9 dollars and hour since I make tips, and I was frustrated since this meant I won’t make much in tips at all, and will be staying late and doing a lot of work for less than minimum wage.
I expressed my frustration in a way that wasn’t very professional, and I will admit to that. However I don’t think my anger was unjustified. The job I work is very specific, and many don’t realize how it works until they themselves work the position. R later told me that I could stay to greet the people, but would pass them to the other server. I stayed behind and took the food and drinks, and after it had cooled down it had been about an hour since I came in. I asked R if there was anything else I needed to do, and she said to check the bathrooms, but specified that I wasn’t scheduled badly because of anything personal, and they can’t always tell how busy they are. I clarified that I understood that, and apologized for my unprofessional behavior earlier. While K and I were talking, our kitchen manager “P” who was in the room chimed in and asked if I was leaving.
I said I was and they asked me when I came in. I told them and they got visibly angry and asked why I was leaving before “prime dinner time” I said that it was because of my lack of people, and offered to stay behind either as someone who exclusively runs food, or in my original serving position. P then says that to leave before i know for sure if my events were busy was stupid, and I said that the pre-sales were only 3 people, and I didn’t anticipate it getting more than 20 people. P then starts raising their voice, and called into question my work. They said that I called out too much, (once this year because of surgery) I give up too many shifts, (3 in total, 1 being from said surgery) and that I am on my phone too much when there was stuff to do, but the one incident they mention I explained that I asked my gm if there was anything for me to do and they said no. I also said that I had checked myself and I didn’t notice anything.
P then said “so you want to leave because it isn’t convenient to you. You think we jiped you?” I said that I was jiped on the schedule, but I knew it wasn’t purposeful or with malice. P then turned to R and said “so I guess they no longer want any hours.” R started to say no, but I clarified that this wasn’t an issue with hours, and that I do not want them cut. I restated that I didn’t think they had it out for me or anything, but I was cut off and P said “well we were making the schedule and saw that you had good sales and we’re making good money, so we figured we’d humble you a little.” After this point I decided there was no point in the conversation, and asked R if there was anything else for me to do, and P said to clean the bathrooms like I said I would. I said that since I’m still talking I wouldn’t just leave to do that and will do it on my time. After that I left and started crying. I spoke with another manager and told them about the situation and they said they’ll talk with the gm. I stayed behind for another hour to help out and then I left. When I got home I realized 2 shifts worth a total of 16 hours had been cut about 20 minutes after that conversation by P.
I had not been notified by the managers, and was sent an email detailing the changes and who and when it was made. I drove to my work and spoke with R, and was told it was a mutual decision because they “always” reevaluate the schedule every night, and regularly cut people. That is not true, I had never been cut the night before with no notice. Luckily a coworker asked me to take their shift on one of the days and I talked with R about how unprofessional that conversation was, and showed her documentation of our conversation as well as the changes. R played the middle man and told me there was nothing about my work performance I needed to adjust, and to not ‘dwell’ on it moving forward. They did agree that the way the conversation was approached my P was “aggressive” and it seemed like it was “attacking”. I asked for an apology, and said I will not forget this incident or conversation. I am a still furious.
TLDR: I wanted to leave my shift early which my supervisor ok’d, and another manager unrelated to me called me stupid, talked about the money I make, and said she wanted to “humble” me. 20 minutes after that they cut 2 shifts worth 16 hours. I talked with my supervisor and got another shift on one of the days, but was told not to “dwell” on it.