Im a bartender for a corporate restaurant that has a strict no overtime allowed policy. It’s so strict manager bonuses depend on it and they will lose income if people hit OT; and if I swap shifts and hit OT I can get in trouble.
2 employees called out bc they were sick the night I was working a lunch shift. I volunteered to stay for the Night Shift to help and make some extra money. Even though they couldn’t replace the two employees, the managers told me no because picking up this shift would mean I MIGHT hit overtime. So instead of having 2 bartenders work like we normally do, we had just 1 bartender, a newer employee, and she also had to pick up extra tables.
Well fast forward to the next day, I get a text from two different sets of regulars, both who have been coming for years and I know personally. They say the service last night was so poor, and the bartender was so overwhelmed with guests, that they decided they’re never coming back and to wish me luck. Evidently the restaurant was so slammed, specifically behind the bar, that people weren’t even being greeted and just got up and left. The singular bartender didnt have time to even get orders in or make refills.
I talked to the regulars and the staff and they all said they’ve seen busier days and had I been there things would’ve been totally fine, but the 1 bartender was being pulled between having tables, dealing with bar guests, and making drinks for the restaurant by themselves.
The restaurant prob lost a few regulars that night and other guests who will likely not come back all so they could save… and here’s the best part… the possibility of paying me 1 hour of overtime which would be an extra $4.77 in labor costs.
TLDR: My restaurant wouldn’t let me work 1 hour of overtime ($4.77 extra of pay) even though I wanted to. The restaurant got slammed and a lost several customers bc servers were too busy and understaffed.