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TLDR – managers made me come in while sick multiple times, and while i had an emergency. i quit after a situation where i was sick while at work and was not allowed to go home for at least an hour and a half.
i started this job a few weeks ago and almost immediately knew that it probably wasn’t gonna work out, but i wanted to at least give it a chance. this is a very busy restaurant (1+ hr wait time every night for a table) for reference.
i started as a dishwasher which doesn’t sound physically straining but 1. they insist on using glass plates and cups which are extremely heavy when stacked 2. they keep very heavy pots, pans, and other dishes on shelves close to the ceiling and 3. i’m AFAB (assigned female at birth) and i’m very small so the weight was a lot. in addition to it just being physically demanding they regularly had employees, including me, pulling 10-12hr shifts because they are short staffed. these two things put together took a really heavy toll on my body really quickly. every night i came home sore and covered in bruises. all i was doing was work, eat something small, crash for 12hrs, rinse and repeat.
the second weekend i was supposed to work i got pretty sick, i suspect because of the physical labor. i was let off the hook for friday night but was coerced into coming in saturday even though i was not at all up to working. on sunday, on top of still being sick, i had an emergency pop up an hour before i was supposed to go in, and when i called my manager said i still needed to be there and only let me come in 2hrs late. (the emergency involved my fiancé who does not have anyone else in this area who could have taken care of them.)
i was already considering quitting after that, but what happened last sunday is what pushed me to quit immediately instead of trying to get another job lined up first. i was once again sick, this time i think with a bug as i am still sick even though i haven’t worked in 3 days. i started feeling ill and like i was going to throw up a few hours into my shift, and informed my manager because i know you are not supposed to work near food if you are vomiting. at first he told me to keep working because apparently dishwashers have different rules regarding that kind of thing. i told him i did not think i could continue working and he told me to sit in the office and wait for him to come talk to me. i waited for more than an hour (still on the clock at least though) and when he came in he asked me what was going on because i have been sick “a lot lately.” i tried to explain the physical demand of the job making me sick but he wouldn’t have it and basically accused me of faking illness. he then made me sit in the office for another half hour at least before finally letting me go home. i would have just clocked out and left but they require you to have a manager’s card to clock out. i seriously considered walking out while still clocked in. this whole time i was in tears and felt like i was on the verge of throwing up. i just wanted to go home and crawl into bed.
i sent an email with a resignation letter the next morning. i did not give any notice (i couldn’t take it anymore – one more shift and i probably would have collapsed on the spot) and did not give any explanation further than “this job is not the right fit for me.” fuck them.