Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Fired

My close friend, who actually convinced me to apply at Hooters, was fired yesterday. She had received her final write up. The unfortunate thing about working at Hooters is that your write ups stay with you for the length of your employment at the restaurant. Even if you had been there for almost three years like she had. There is no renewal at the end of the year. Your slate is never wiped clean. I've been working at my location for little over three months and so far I've only heard good things. But there are circumstances that can occur that are out of my control. Like being walked out on for example. If that should happen, my options are: 1. keep it to myself and pay their bill or 2. the restaurant takes care of it and I receive a write up. Obviously I'd rather take the hit on my tips rather than receive a write up, but imagine being walked out on a $300 check? I think I'd still rather take the hit than receive a permanent write up. Her firing has reminded me of my mortality in a sense. I need to find some way to make myself more of an asset to the company. Like KH, I should probably let management know that I am interested in becoming a bartender. I should also aim to become a certified trainer, because although more is expected of you, I feel that they are also more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt in most situations. I don't want to lose this job. It's perfect for school. I work half the hours I used to for more pay. I need to be the best if I'm going to end up on top.
That's what she said.

2 comments:

purplegirl said...

That whole practice seems a little suspicious to me--you might want to check your local labor laws. I know here it's illegal to make a server pay the tab when a customer walks out, and punishing someone with a writeup or firing over it seems a bit shady as well.

brit said...

You're right, I should check that out. I think they mostly use that as probably cause to fire someone that they felt wasn't pulling their weight. There have been instances where girls didn't receive write-ups, when it is obviously not their fault. (ex: a table making a run for it.) Our sections are relatively small during rushes so it would take a real ditz to forget about a table enough for them to be able to leave without paying.