I've worked for some relatively insecure and suspicious people in the past, but my present employer takes the cake.
Before I get further involved in this topic, I would like to point out one small fact about myself: I trust people, and I believe that people ought to be trusted. In talking about the subject, I typically add, "...until they present evidence to the contrary, on an individual basis," but in practice I rarely institute that little caveat. Overall, I tend to believe that people mean what they say, to take them at their word, and to try and help out when a person says they need a hand (or some cash, if I have any on me; if I don't, I feel enormously sorry about it for some time afterward).
Y'know... I've had my toes stepped on, regarding people in this fashion, but I've also been able to say that I helped out some folks who really needed it, and I've made some excellent acquaintances who I'd never have gotten to know otherwise. As a result, I tend to regard this as being the way to go about life. You take a little risk, but it's one of the few avenues where risk-taking actually guarantees long-term gain; it's more of a temporary minor loss, really, than a "risk."
My father, now, works for a restaurant where they have no cameras. Employees are not forbidden from hanging around before or after shift. They are not told that they can't have their cellphones on them. They are not required to contact a manager whenever a customer says that their hot sandwich was cold; they can simply replace it on their own recognizance. And, so on. Week after week, this restaurant's figures add up to being a few dollars over the expected amount; they are never under where they ought to be. Oh, on a day-to-day basis, there will be somebody who needs money, and one of the registers winds up $20 short... but, then, miraculously, the money is returned, and it isn't by the management.
If you treat people with respect, they will -- not without exception, but generally -- behave accordingly. If you treat people, flat-out, like they're all invariably dishonest, lying thieves, who need to be watched by a warden who is only unarmed due to workplace regulations regarding such, again, people will -- not without exception, but generally -- behave accordingly. This isn't some instinctive, animal process; this is a conscious modification of behavior by someone who is probably over-worked, under-paid, whose basic needs and responsibilities as a living human being, outside of work, go consistently disregarded, responding to what they see as fair or unfair treatment from their employer.
My present employer, a lowly KFC franchisee, restricted to perhaps 10-15 stores throughout Ohio, does not realize this.
Here are a few of the interesting policies they have in place:
1. In addition to the usual policies on security, harassment, and safety -- which were not covered at orientation -- there are 25 rules about "appropriate moral behavior at work" which were gone over, word for word, in exhaustive detail. Amongst these is rule #25 itself: literally, "no actual or implied immorality will be tolerated in the workplace."
2. Employees cannot clock in or out of their shift, or on their lunch break, without management assistance. A manager's key or pass-code is required.
3. Employees may not leave the premises while on their unpaid, half-hour break. The assertion by the employer -- that because we are on the schedule, they are responsible for our behavior -- is patently untrue under Ohio state law. The employer is not responsible for our behavior, and while we are not on the clock their insurance, r/e what we might do (you know we're just waiting to run to neighboring restaurants and deface them, out of our tremendous KFC loyalty), does not apply to us anyway.
4. This is just a personal pet peeve, but I've worked for restaurants in four different states, now -- including elsewhere in Ohio -- and this is the first place I've worked at where the fountain drinks are not free to employees.
5. We have been threatened, lately, with a policy change, which would require us to pay for mistakes made with food orders out of pocket. So, if I ring up 10 orders in an hour, bag five of them, clean several prep stations, mop a floor, put three portions of food down to cook in the fryer so nobody runs out, and make one mistake on one of the orders I rang up that results in a sandwich and a side order needing to be handed out to fix it? There goes my hour's pay.
6. Extra food left over at the end of the night may not be taken by employees but must, in fact, be thrown out; else we, as employees, would certainly cook extra, and purposely waste it, so that we could have a free meal (God forbid, at that!) in addition to our hefty fast food wages (there are, incidentally, 20+ employees at my store; only two are minors, and most are in their 20's).
7. The store-level manager is not allowed to post a schedule until the district supervisor has approved it. At present, one of the assistant managers is being trained to do the schedule, which means that three people need to proofread, approve, and modify the schedule before it is posted. Frequently, it isn't actually up on the board prior to the last day before the new work-week, which means we have to call in to find out if we're supposed to work... sometimes at a moment's notice... and typically we won't find out more than when our first shift for the week is (we can't check our schedules ourselves until we're on the clock, because walking into the kitchen area while not in uniform is a terminal offense).
I'm sorry; I know it's a tired old cliche, but if you treat people like they're trustworthy... they'll act that way, and if you treat them like they're not... they'll resent it, and act that way.
I absolutely detest the argument that we can't complain because we agreed to the terms of our employment; I don't recall having any choice. I don't recall any negotiation; "I'm sorry, $7.30 an hour doesn't cut it for me; how about $11.15?" And what exactly are our options... don't work? That's not an option, as it doesn't allow for basic necessities of survival. Find another job? That entails not working, for a while, which isn't an option, followed by working for a place that, thanks to ridiculously low minimal compensation requirements, isn't any better.
I realize that there is probably not much that can be done about situations such as this, right now... but it's my bog, dammit 😉 Aside from bitching about it, I've talked to management about the way things are run, but it's unlikely that things are going to get very far. The franchise is soon to be taken over by the son of the current (and original) owner, who is apparently just about as much of a pretentious, snobbish, silver-spooned snob as you can possibly imagine.
If anything, things might improve simply due to him not giving a damn so long as the business isn't going under.
Before I get further involved in this topic, I would like to point out one small fact about myself: I trust people, and I believe that people ought to be trusted. In talking about the subject, I typically add, "...until they present evidence to the contrary, on an individual basis," but in practice I rarely institute that little caveat. Overall, I tend to believe that people mean what they say, to take them at their word, and to try and help out when a person says they need a hand (or some cash, if I have any on me; if I don't, I feel enormously sorry about it for some time afterward).
Y'know... I've had my toes stepped on, regarding people in this fashion, but I've also been able to say that I helped out some folks who really needed it, and I've made some excellent acquaintances who I'd never have gotten to know otherwise. As a result, I tend to regard this as being the way to go about life. You take a little risk, but it's one of the few avenues where risk-taking actually guarantees long-term gain; it's more of a temporary minor loss, really, than a "risk."
My father, now, works for a restaurant where they have no cameras. Employees are not forbidden from hanging around before or after shift. They are not told that they can't have their cellphones on them. They are not required to contact a manager whenever a customer says that their hot sandwich was cold; they can simply replace it on their own recognizance. And, so on. Week after week, this restaurant's figures add up to being a few dollars over the expected amount; they are never under where they ought to be. Oh, on a day-to-day basis, there will be somebody who needs money, and one of the registers winds up $20 short... but, then, miraculously, the money is returned, and it isn't by the management.
If you treat people with respect, they will -- not without exception, but generally -- behave accordingly. If you treat people, flat-out, like they're all invariably dishonest, lying thieves, who need to be watched by a warden who is only unarmed due to workplace regulations regarding such, again, people will -- not without exception, but generally -- behave accordingly. This isn't some instinctive, animal process; this is a conscious modification of behavior by someone who is probably over-worked, under-paid, whose basic needs and responsibilities as a living human being, outside of work, go consistently disregarded, responding to what they see as fair or unfair treatment from their employer.
My present employer, a lowly KFC franchisee, restricted to perhaps 10-15 stores throughout Ohio, does not realize this.
Here are a few of the interesting policies they have in place:
1. In addition to the usual policies on security, harassment, and safety -- which were not covered at orientation -- there are 25 rules about "appropriate moral behavior at work" which were gone over, word for word, in exhaustive detail. Amongst these is rule #25 itself: literally, "no actual or implied immorality will be tolerated in the workplace."
2. Employees cannot clock in or out of their shift, or on their lunch break, without management assistance. A manager's key or pass-code is required.
3. Employees may not leave the premises while on their unpaid, half-hour break. The assertion by the employer -- that because we are on the schedule, they are responsible for our behavior -- is patently untrue under Ohio state law. The employer is not responsible for our behavior, and while we are not on the clock their insurance, r/e what we might do (you know we're just waiting to run to neighboring restaurants and deface them, out of our tremendous KFC loyalty), does not apply to us anyway.
4. This is just a personal pet peeve, but I've worked for restaurants in four different states, now -- including elsewhere in Ohio -- and this is the first place I've worked at where the fountain drinks are not free to employees.
5. We have been threatened, lately, with a policy change, which would require us to pay for mistakes made with food orders out of pocket. So, if I ring up 10 orders in an hour, bag five of them, clean several prep stations, mop a floor, put three portions of food down to cook in the fryer so nobody runs out, and make one mistake on one of the orders I rang up that results in a sandwich and a side order needing to be handed out to fix it? There goes my hour's pay.
6. Extra food left over at the end of the night may not be taken by employees but must, in fact, be thrown out; else we, as employees, would certainly cook extra, and purposely waste it, so that we could have a free meal (God forbid, at that!) in addition to our hefty fast food wages (there are, incidentally, 20+ employees at my store; only two are minors, and most are in their 20's).
7. The store-level manager is not allowed to post a schedule until the district supervisor has approved it. At present, one of the assistant managers is being trained to do the schedule, which means that three people need to proofread, approve, and modify the schedule before it is posted. Frequently, it isn't actually up on the board prior to the last day before the new work-week, which means we have to call in to find out if we're supposed to work... sometimes at a moment's notice... and typically we won't find out more than when our first shift for the week is (we can't check our schedules ourselves until we're on the clock, because walking into the kitchen area while not in uniform is a terminal offense).
I'm sorry; I know it's a tired old cliche, but if you treat people like they're trustworthy... they'll act that way, and if you treat them like they're not... they'll resent it, and act that way.
I absolutely detest the argument that we can't complain because we agreed to the terms of our employment; I don't recall having any choice. I don't recall any negotiation; "I'm sorry, $7.30 an hour doesn't cut it for me; how about $11.15?" And what exactly are our options... don't work? That's not an option, as it doesn't allow for basic necessities of survival. Find another job? That entails not working, for a while, which isn't an option, followed by working for a place that, thanks to ridiculously low minimal compensation requirements, isn't any better.
I realize that there is probably not much that can be done about situations such as this, right now... but it's my bog, dammit 😉 Aside from bitching about it, I've talked to management about the way things are run, but it's unlikely that things are going to get very far. The franchise is soon to be taken over by the son of the current (and original) owner, who is apparently just about as much of a pretentious, snobbish, silver-spooned snob as you can possibly imagine.
If anything, things might improve simply due to him not giving a damn so long as the business isn't going under.
