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If the pay isn't high enough to motivate workers to routinely exchange their labor for it, maybe the pay is too low? 
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Apr 13, 2019 08:53
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Going to the doctor for a note is lame but if its ER I just tell them to bring their discharge papers and if someone gets hurt at work when I give them the WC packet I also tell them to make sure they ask for the work duties release form. I'm a fuckin monster
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Apr 13, 2019 09:00
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pile of brown posted:Going to the doctor for a note is lame but if its ER I just tell them to bring their discharge papers and if someone gets hurt at work when I give them the WC packet I also tell them to make sure they ask for the work duties release form. There's a huge difference between documentation regarding returning to work, proper work duties upon returning or applying accrued sick or PTO hours vs demanding bullshit, expensive and extraneous paperwork because someone has a 24 hour bug or is peeing out their butt or needs a loving day off. I literally have managed thousands of people and have managed to treat them with respect and humanity - AMA
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Apr 13, 2019 10:21
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If the free market isn't paying a high enough wage to incentivise staff to come in rather than spend time with loved ones then it is a failing of the employer to offer sufficient incentive and not the staff for taking the day off
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Apr 13, 2019 13:05
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If an employee has a pattern of bad attendance and calling out, you do what other people above has mentioned. Address it privately, set down in writing some expectations that can work for you both, and then fire their rear end if they can't stick to the agreement. If they aren't reliable then you aren't anymore short handed than you were before firing them because you could never be certain of their performance anyway. Same as an employee though. gently caress putting up with bullshit. If you can make it a few weeks between pay checks (a big ask I know) just quit your lovely job. It always pays to keep an eye on the job ads.
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Apr 13, 2019 16:58
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MAKE NO BABBYS posted:I literally have managed thousands of people and have managed to treat them with respect and humanity - AMA Whats the most frivolous orridiculous use of/excuse for a darn, i need a day off sickday that you've let slide? Counterpoint, whats the one that made you laugh that someone had the balls to try it, and went 'haha no' for? I understand there's degrees of imposition and inconvenience, and indivudual rapport/context matters - i'm both curious where the line lays, and fishing for funny stories at the same time.
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Apr 13, 2019 21:48
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TheParadigm posted:Whats the most frivolous orridiculous use of/excuse for a darn, i need a day off sickday that you've let slide? All of my staff are aware that if they need a day off for any reason, whether it's because they're ill or they need a mental health day or their dog is sick or their sister just had a bad breakup and can't stop crying or they're hungover as gently caress, they can tell me (with reasonable notice) "Chef I need a personal day today" and know my answer will be "no problem, we'll get you covered, let me know asap if you need tomorrow too". You'd think that this kind of loose management would mean people call out constantly, but instead, because I treat my staff with a modicum of respect they do the same to me and not only do they not abuse the policy, they pretty quickly offer to cover other people's shifts if that's what's needed. It's loving crazy, I know. In the last 4-5 years that I can remember, I've only had to have attendance-issues meetings with two people, one of whom had some persistent health concerns and I helped him find a job that was more accommodating to his needs (he was dishwashing for me and as it got worse he was less able to stand for longer than 30 minutes at a time), and the other one was a lovely employee who I soon fired for various reasons. So I guess to answer your question, I got a call once and as soon as I picked up I heard my cook say "Chef, I'm sad. I'm just... I'm just sad. I can't do today." So I checked that she had someone in the house with her and told her I was around if she needed to talk at any point. Zero regrets. 10/10 calling in sick. Would do again.
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Apr 13, 2019 23:11
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Coasterphreak posted:The problem is the twenty-two-year-olds that wake up with a hangover ten minutes after they should have been on their way in claiming they're "sick" which tends to be pretty common. Who cares? If they make a habit of it, manage them out. Otherwise, it's not really anyone's business why someone calls out sick. I've worked the other side too, in the bakery, where we were a 5 person staff and if I called out nobody would be in to bake and deliver breakfast. I did that for well over 2 years, 6 nights a week, before I took a day off due to sickness and got guilt-tripped heavily for it. It was hell, and half of why I quit and left the industry for better paying grounds where management doesn't expect that level of commitment as a baseline. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Apr 14, 2019 |
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Apr 14, 2019 02:05
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edit: ehhh, that was a stupid TMI post
JacquelineDempsey fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Apr 15, 2019 |
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Apr 15, 2019 01:53
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I have the uncanny ...luck? of illness usually happening on my assigned days off.
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Apr 15, 2019 07:53
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Hey everyone, I don't work in the industry but I like reading this thread to get perspectives from the other side of things. This weekend I made brunch for a few friends and I guess I reached a little bit for the stars when I attempted to make eggs benedict for 4 people. Making hollandaise, poaching eggs, and plating everything for 4 by myself was a loving adventure. How the hell is that sustainable at all in a restaurant setting? I know there are more people working in the back but that sort of thing seems so labor intensive. What are the industry tricks for this? Do you just make a huge batch of hollandaise ahead of time? What about the poached eggs? There must be something that allows you to poach multiples at once. Or do you just scream into the void if a table orders 4 eggs benedict?
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Apr 15, 2019 20:50
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For large batches you poach them and put them in an ice bath right away and hold them like that. When an order comes in you put however many you need into simmering water to reheat. The hollendase you'd make in a big batch and hold it in a bain marie of hot water or a thermal carafe.
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Apr 15, 2019 21:01
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ha hah a ha. Hello friend, and welcome to the deep end. The secret to all this is organization and being able to cook more than one thing at once. I'm going to break your questions down a bit so its easier to manage. deedee megadoodoo posted:Making hollandaise, poaching eggs, and plating everything for 4 by myself was a loving adventure. How the hell is that sustainable at all in a restaurant setting? For the eggs you use a big shallow pot. Keep it heated but not boiling, add a splash of vinegar, and grab your slooted spoon. basically you crack the eggs outside of the pot into a small transfer bowl, THEN give it a stir before adding eggs - the circular motion keeps eggs from stirring - then add the eggs into poach. Timer starts as soon as they're in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIvpbSEboYI Here's an illustrated guide to the trick. Doing more than 2 eggs at once - double the water, bring it like 2/3 or 3/4 of the way up. WHen i worked brunch, i could easily work 6-8 eggs at once. Don't be afraid to use the spoon, pull an egg out and poke it to see if its done. Ideally, you make a batch of hollandaise ahead of time and keep it hot (this is a struggle and very classic health concern because hollandaise exists within the danger zone of temperature, and high holds can ruin it and low holds can make it cold and yucky to serve), so there's 2-3 ways of coping with this: In a restaurant setting, make enough to last 2-4 hours and pitch/remake every so often as needed, and try to keep it hot/covered, add splashes of hot water if/when it dehydrates, and hope the butter doesn't seperate by keeping it too hot because then you're just in trouble. Poaching eggs are the longest part. In a restaurant setting you get the toppings working and muffins toasting right after. I'm guessing you ran into the 'my toaster only fits 2 english muffins at a time' problem and didn't think of skillet-toasting with butter in the pan instead, and/or using the oven? We still scream if that happens its not just you. Cooks have What was your kitchen arrangement for your brunch party, and in what order did you make what, and what were your 'problem spots' or felt like a chore?'
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Apr 15, 2019 21:09
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Part of it is just having done the thing hundreds (or thousands) of times. At this point I can dump a dozen eggs into a rondeau (the large shallow pot mentioned above) and walk away to do other things, and my brain just tells me when to walk back over and pull the eggs out. There are also tricks like pulling the eggs out 45 seconds too early and just letting them hang out on a plate for a few minutes while you finish everything else, then dropping them back in the water for 20 seconds to have nice hot fresh eggs. Also it probably took you 25 minutes to make hollandaise (this isn't a shot at you, just an observation) whereas I've seen breakfast cooks knock out a new 20-person batch of hollandaise in 4 minutes when the old one split unexpectedly. The last place I did breakfast, I was the only one that touched any of the hot food (eggs, meat proteins, hot sides, pancakes/waffles, crepes, french toast, etc) and sometimes I'd have 30+ seats come in at a time, that's just the way the kitchen was set up. Organization is the key. The post above all has good tricks and practices to keep in mind, but the biggest thing is just having everything ready and available (don't be rooting through your fridge crisper for spinach or be trying to cut up your veg) before you start the actual cooking. Mise en place = everything in its place, and it's a good motto to have even at home if you're cooking something complicated or for a large number of people. Plan out (even go so far as to write a list if it's complicated) the order of everything and estimated cooking times, and you'll see a much better flow. I can guarantee that you spent as much time bouncing back and forth between tasks or thinking about what to do next as you did actually cooking, whereas if you have a plan for 'heat pan > biscuits in oven > drop eggs in pot > reheat meat > saute veg > put biscuits on plate > pull eggs from water, season > meat on biscuits > veg on meat > eggs on veg > sauce that poo poo > serve', it'll go a whole lot smoother.
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Apr 15, 2019 22:38
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And sometimes restaurants gently caress up too. I bumped into a food runner once at my old place, poached egg rolled off the eggs bene and was so over done it bounced.
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Apr 15, 2019 22:58
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You probably didn’t drink enough Monster.
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Apr 15, 2019 23:51
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kiwi red bulls
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Apr 16, 2019 00:03
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it helps if you know that someone is going to yell/be passive aggressive at you if you take too long but yeah, write out your whole process if a recipe is new to you and figure out what steps you can do ahead of time and hold until it's needed, what steps you can cook in parallel, and always have premeasured quantities of all seasoning and ingredients in an easily accessible location knife skills, developing an internal timer, etc. are all real helpful in getting it done fast, but organization is the majority of it GhostofJohnMuir fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Apr 16, 2019 |
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Apr 16, 2019 01:13
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A lot of it never goes away. I still pull stuff out of the oven on smell and a quick poke to test for spring.
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Apr 16, 2019 05:07
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Same. I can usually look, poke, or smell something and know if it's done.
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Apr 16, 2019 17:07
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Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm pretty organized in the kitchen so I thought it would be easier. It really just came down to timing everything and not being able to really focus on more than one thing at a time. I feel like I'm a pretty good home cook, but restaurant is a whole other level. I have so much respect for you guys because I was losing my cool trying to get 4 plates out. I can't fathom what a busy service would be like. And it seems like one person loving something up would really just screw up the rhythm of everything. (I would be the person loving everything up).
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Apr 16, 2019 17:18
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deedee megadoodoo posted:(I would be the person loving everything up). this is often an entire “professional” kitchen
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Apr 16, 2019 18:21
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Every kitchen is always in the weeds. I've done events where labor, food cost, etc. had absolutely no limit, and we were in the weeds for like a week just because there wasn't enough storage/refrigeration or chef's vision was loving retarded and required way too many cooks for action stations, etc. I can't think of many times in my 15 years of cooking where things were chill, except maybe the banquet off season, but even then, all my cooks went on vacation, so the skeleton crew was stretched thin because we still had to be open 5a to midnight.
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Apr 16, 2019 23:09
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The only events I have ever had be chill were weddings where all I was expected to do was arrive, drop off the cake, and vacate without interacting with anyone but the wedding planner, who was an old friend of the bakery.
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Apr 17, 2019 07:10
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I feel like chefs and KMs would be able to rapidly transfer into project management fields.
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Apr 17, 2019 22:03
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Discendo Vox posted:I feel like chefs and KMs would be able to rapidly transfer into project management fields. Funny thing, this is what Im trying to get into.
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Apr 17, 2019 23:08
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Discendo Vox posted:I feel like chefs and KMs would be able to rapidly transfer into project management fields. Nah, we get frustrated and just do the work ourselves. So this job is pretty bomb, I order and sell cheese 8 hours a day, with 2 union mandated 10min paid breaks, and a 30min lunch. In at 5, gone by 2. Haven't been yelled at, insulted, talked down to, or verbally abused in any way. I can safely say that I will never cook professionally again, unless I am the sole owner/operator.
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Apr 18, 2019 19:59
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Nah, we get frustrated and just do the work ourselves. Woah you left cheffing?
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Apr 18, 2019 23:13
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Nah, we get frustrated and just do the work ourselves.  Good luck on living the dream. I’ve been scheduled my day off in the middle of the week lately, which is something weird and new, but it allows me to actually do LifeThings on my day off. Today tho I’m just watching the news... I guess cause I’m not used to being, like, comfortable and non-sweaty during what would normally constitute work hours. Boss told me last night to start thinking of a menu to feature with a beer and whiskey tasting event. I know how this goes so I’m just waiting for her to tell me what she really wants to feature so I can just gussy that up a little instead of investing my heart into something that will be completely gutted anyways.
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Apr 18, 2019 23:37
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It might be tl;dr, but my feelings about the industry are best stated by Charles Mingus in his classic "the Clown." quote:Man, there was this clown, and he was a real happy guy, a real happy guy, he had all these greens and all these yellows and all these oranges bubbling around inside of him. And he had just one thing he wanted in this world, he just wanted to make people laugh, that’s all he wanted out of this world, he was a real happy guy
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Apr 19, 2019 01:09
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I got accepted back into the school I dropped out of to pursue culinary and I've never been happier! Chase your real job dreams and let your culinary passion bloom in a nontoxic environment.
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Apr 19, 2019 01:22
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Nah, we get frustrated and just do the work ourselves. That is the hardest thing to let go. I have to fight jumping in to problem solve for people when they start looking like they're in the weeds so they actually learn to do it.
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Apr 19, 2019 07:02
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Wroughtirony posted:Woah you left cheffing? I got really, really sick and my chefs more or less tried to kick me to the curb after I'd given them 60-80hrs a week for 2 years. Really puts poo poo into perspective. Cooks seriously need to unionize already.
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Apr 19, 2019 12:43
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So what are some good cheeses to buy nowadays?
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Apr 19, 2019 13:34
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:I got really, really sick and my chefs more or less tried to kick me to the curb after I'd given them 60-80hrs a week for 2 years. Really puts poo poo into perspective. Cooks need to cook management and the owners as next weeks special. It is way too easy to replace noisy cooks who want to be treated humanely with people who are "hungrier/more dedicated/of questionable legal status/stupid" than figure out how to actually run a business.
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Apr 19, 2019 16:47
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Re: Cheese I dunno, haven't had anything amazing lately. Deep Ellum Bleu is pretty nice, and I've got a few wheels of a 6 year Gouda from Denmark that's pretty bomb. I'm just running the current stock for now, still got a few weeks before I can go hog wild and do things my way. I also cannot keep my head out of the cooking game, saw the produce guys chucking all the carrot tops off the organics. Like guys, make pesto or pistou with that poo poo. Sell an 8oz deli to these oblivious rich white folks for $6. So uh, now we make carrot top pesto.
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Apr 19, 2019 22:22
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I am seeking advice. I’ve been a line cook for about 8 years, and I’ve spent the last year or so trying to jump up to Sous Chef. My current job is supposed to eventually end with me managing a small burger joint style restaurant, but my previous employer has contacted me to offer a sous position (which would also involve managing a restaurant, as one of three in a casino) at considerably more than my current pay, or even my expected pay should I take over my current location, although the exact amount is to be determined. I go in tomorrow for negotiation and such, and am wondering: what should I ask? What do I need to find out, what should I get in writing, and so on. I’m not afraid of putting in the work, I’m just not sure what I need to know or ask for or ask about in this sort of situation, having only ever been various types of minion before now. Edit: I guess I should add what I know already. I know it’s a salaried position, I know it’s an expected 50-55 hours a week, but you do get two set days off a week that they actually mostly stick with. I know I’ll get benefits and PTO, and a fairly generous amount that I will probably mostly have to buy out. Mithross fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Apr 20, 2019 |
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Apr 19, 2019 23:43
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If you're expected to answer your phone when you're not in the building, expect zero days off.
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Apr 20, 2019 00:56
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Coasterphreak posted:If you're expected to answer your phone when you're not in the building, expect zero days off. I already know the danger of answering your phone on your day off, but when I worked there before the sous... mostly keep their days. Maybe once a month they’d be called in. How much of that was “bad cell service” I do not know.
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Apr 20, 2019 01:25
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Always ask about the salary band. Everything is open to negotiation.
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Apr 20, 2019 01:42
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