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Restaurant Charging Employees For Food

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Originally posted by: djheater
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
It prevents employees from wasting money by making a lot of food right before the place closes with the intent of taking it home.
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The best places I've ever worked developed a family-like atmosphere... we're all in it together, let's make it as easy as possible...

Strictly enforcing the rules may be profitable, but is not comfortable... a situation of discomfort forces turnover which is not profitable. The best managers realize this and treat the employees well.
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Exactly!!!!

Technically, being allowed to eat the leftover food for free is still a taxable fringe benefit. The pizza place I work in part time has always let us eat anything we want, any time, for free. As a result of an audit, the jerk said "it's a taxable fringe benefit." So, we actually get paid now to eat. Every pay check says something like +$2.45 meal allowance, -$2.45 taxes on meals.
 
Its fuggin stupid isnt it? Used to work at Radio Shack and this guy returned a whole pack of like 100 CD-R's that he didnt even use but opened. Manager said she had to scrap it which meant she had to throw them away and lose whatever they were worth. I asked politely "Could I have them?" she said "No but I can sell them to you" I was like "Hell no thats stupid" and she said "well thats the way it works". STUPID!!!
 
Employees should be able to eat up if it's getting thrown away. Friends should still have to pay, maybe discounted since it's cold.
 
Originally posted by: PCTweaker5
Its fuggin stupid isnt it? Used to work at Radio Shack and this guy returned a whole pack of like 100 CD-R's that he didnt even use but opened. Manager said she had to scrap it which meant she had to throw them away and lose whatever they were worth. I asked politely "Could I have them?" she said "No but I can sell them to you" I was like "Hell no thats stupid" and she said "well thats the way it works". STUPID!!!
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I used to work at a gift store chain as a stock boy and when customers would return stuff that we couldn't sell we'd break it to make sure that no one would take it from the dumpster. If we didn;t people would just return stuff when we didn't carry it anymore and then get it from the dumpster later.
 
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: KLin
The manager is in charge, not the employee.
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I am the assistant manager and I am the person in charge during this time. During the lunch period the store is crowded with a good handful of people and we have one waiter. The waiter is paid $2.25 plus tips. On average he makes $10 for tips during the lunch period. Not many people tip for the buffet. His job however goes beyond the waiting the tables to washing the dishes. None of the other waiters/waitresses want to work during this time. The reason is they make 5x more money during the dinner hours and the washing of the dishes is spread to all of the waiting staff instead of just one individual.

If I had the power to go against my manager's wishes I would give the employee and his fiance the food we were going to be throwing away. I normally would not allow it, but the guy is washing dishes for a good couple of hours until it gets busy again. I know nobody else would take this job and offering him the food we would be throwing away could make up for it. Before him the job was vacant on and off for 6 months as people would quit and the manager would have to come in to take over the duties. I don't make the rules but I think my manager is wrong for bringing it up. I agree with the rules in general but I think the situation could have been handled differently considering the outcome.

I told the waiter to just share the free meal he is allowed during lunch with his fiance, but the manager found out and told me that was a no no. He said I was not being a good employee by allowing this to happen.

Thank you all for your replys. Managers make the rules and can do what they see fit for the benefit of the company and their employees. The boss has spoken so it looks like I will be washing dishes soon.
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Your manager is a dick. He won't even allow the waiter to share his free meal? The guy has the crappy hours that no one wants, makes less, and does more work. He should be at least allowed to take 1 extra meal from the food that was going to get trashed anyway, especially since he has no control over how much food gets prepared. What incentive is there to stay at the job then? Crap jobs like those are all around and he'd be better off at another place too.


Good luck finding someone to replace him.
 
Originally posted by: gotsmack
Originally posted by: PCTweaker5
Its fuggin stupid isnt it? Used to work at Radio Shack and this guy returned a whole pack of like 100 CD-R's that he didnt even use but opened. Manager said she had to scrap it which meant she had to throw them away and lose whatever they were worth. I asked politely "Could I have them?" she said "No but I can sell them to you" I was like "Hell no thats stupid" and she said "well thats the way it works". STUPID!!!
Click to expand...

I used to work at a gift store chain as a stock boy and when customers would return stuff that we couldn't sell we'd break it to make sure that no one would take it from the dumpster. If we didn;t people would just return stuff when we didn't carry it anymore and then get it from the dumpster later.
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Dumpster diving :beer:

One time myself and a friend of mine found a stack of hard core porno mags in the dumpster behind a store called Missionary Emporium, it was great!
 
The employee shouldn't have been charged or given any sort of "deal" or compromise or whatever; they should have been reprimanded for doing something they're not supposed to.
 
Originally posted by: Aimster
At a certain restaurant the lunch buffet ends at 2 P.M. Let's say the employee goes and grabs whatever they want from the buffet before they throw it away so he/she can eat it for lunch. They also decide to take some of it home. What is left over from the buffet is thrown away. Should the manager of the restaurant charge the employee for the food? The food at this point is not hot and is pretty much warm if not cold. One instance the employee brings their fiance over and they eat the cold leftover lunch that was saved and the manager decides to charge the employee's fiance for a cold meal. The employee argued that if they are going to charge the fiance for a buffet they should make it all fresh since the fiance was being charged for cold food. Should the friend be charged for a cold meal? What about the employee? Your thoughts. Thanks
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You should have asked first.
 
They should charge the employees, or at least set a strict limit of exactly how much free food each employee may have, per day.

Why? When you run a restaurant you learn to make this rule quick, or employees start to "throw away" and waste perfectly good food just so they can eat it/take it home to feed their 45 roommates.

The only way to stop this is to prohibit employees from taking food waste. In my stores, all edible food waste is taken to nearby homeless shelters.

If an employee takes any food waste, I treat it as theft. All prep mistakes and outdated food is counted at the end of the day.
 
I worked at Mcdonald's for awhile when I was between jobs in my chosen profession.When I worked till closing the night manager himself used to bag up parfaits,salads and any other good food that would otherwise be thrown away and he'd insist that I carry it home.His thinking was that the wages were not good and that any little bit extra helped out a lot,he also hated waste and couldn't see fit to throw out good food while there were employees who would be grateful to have it.Trust me, my wages just barely paid my rent during that time, I was very grateful for the extra.

 
Originally posted by: Geekbabe
I worked at Mcdonald's for awhile when I was between jobs in my chosen profession.When I worked till closing the night manager himself used to bag up parfaits,salads and any other good food that would otherwise be thrown away and he'd insist that I carry it home.His thinking was that the wages were not good and that any little bit extra helped out a lot,he also hated waste and couldn't see fit to throw out good food while there were employees who would be grateful to have it.Trust me, my wages just barely paid my rent during that time, I was very grateful for the extra.
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Places like McDonalds have a certain amount of food they can throw away each day. A lot of people complain to get free food so they have a certain budget for that. The managers at MCDs, Taco Bell, etc. almost always give away free food to their employees. It hardly cost the company anything. A hamburger or ten is not going to make a percent of a difference when it comes to the end of the day's food cost for the store.
 
The way I see it, a restaurant is doing an employee a favor by offerring them a discount on any food, no matter what the discount is and no matter what the food. There is no law stating that an employee must get a discount or that a restaurant must offer one. Any instance where a discount is offerred is merely a matter of being an employee benefit. The majority of people who work service jobs certainly don't work there BECAUSE of the benefit, so it's not like they should have any reason to feel cheated.

Additionally, why it would definately be kind of the manager to give the employees free food, why do the friends and family of the employee deserve even a discount, let alone free food? They don't do anything for the restaurant, they can't show their thanks by working extra hard or anything.

You also must factor in what someone already said, about controlling the waste food. If an employee knows that they can get freebies if there are leftovers, what incentive do they have for NOT making extra?

Any wasted food, regardless of whether an employee takes it or it gets thrown away is a loss to the restaurant, and up until the garbage guy comes to pick it up, it is technically their food.


That being said, it certainly would have been "cool" of the manager to give out free food and would been ideal not to waste anything, but it certainly isn't required or shouldn't be expected by anyone. It doesn't make him a jerk or anything for not giving things out. There is no such thing as a free lunch... while it may not cost you anything, someone is getting screwed and bad habits are being rewarded.
 
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Geekbabe
I worked at Mcdonald's for awhile when I was between jobs in my chosen profession.When I worked till closing the night manager himself used to bag up parfaits,salads and any other good food that would otherwise be thrown away and he'd insist that I carry it home.His thinking was that the wages were not good and that any little bit extra helped out a lot,he also hated waste and couldn't see fit to throw out good food while there were employees who would be grateful to have it.Trust me, my wages just barely paid my rent during that time, I was very grateful for the extra.
Click to expand...

Places like McDonalds have a certain amount of food they can throw away each day. A lot of people complain to get free food so they have a certain budget for that. The managers at MCDs, Taco Bell, etc. almost always give away free food to their employees. It hardly cost the company anything. A hamburger or ten is not going to make a percent of a difference when it comes to the end of the day's food cost for the store.
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Disagree. It all adds up, and it's not their money to be spending in a wasteful manner.

It's a business, not a food shelter. The goal is to make money by doing things including reducing costs.
 
Originally posted by: gotsmack
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: KLin
The manager is in charge, not the employee.
Click to expand...

I am the assistant manager and I am the person in charge during this time. During the lunch period the store is crowded with a good handful of people and we have one waiter. The waiter is paid $2.25 plus tips. On average he makes $10 for tips during the lunch period. Not many people tip for the buffet. His job however goes beyond the waiting the tables to washing the dishes. None of the other waiters/waitresses want to work during this time. The reason is they make 5x more money during the dinner hours and the washing of the dishes is spread to all of the waiting staff instead of just one individual.

If I had the power to go against my manager's wishes I would give the employee and his fiance the food we were going to be throwing away. I normally would not allow it, but the guy is washing dishes for a good couple of hours until it gets busy again. I know nobody else would take this job and offering him the food we would be throwing away could make up for it. Before him the job was vacant on and off for 6 months as people would quit and the manager would have to come in to take over the duties. I don't make the rules but I think my manager is wrong for bringing it up. I agree with the rules in general but I think the situation could have been handled differently considering the outcome.

I told the waiter to just share the free meal he is allowed during lunch with his fiance, but the manager found out and told me that was a no no. He said I was not being a good employee by allowing this to happen.

Thank you all for your replys. Managers make the rules and can do what they see fit for the benefit of the company and their employees. The boss has spoken so it looks like I will be washing dishes soon.
Click to expand...


Your manager is a dick. He won't even allow the waiter to share his free meal? The guy has the crappy hours that no one wants, makes less, and does more work. He should be at least allowed to take 1 extra meal from the food that was going to get trashed anyway, especially since he has no control over how much food gets prepared. What incentive is there to stay at the job then? Crap jobs like those are all around and he'd be better off at another place too.


Good luck finding someone to replace him.
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Ditto.

That guy is paid POORLY even though he gets $10 worth of tips for that cappy hr. He works HARD and NO ONE else takes it.

If I was management I'd make the rest of the waiters take it in turns to work those hrs.

The food thing at the end of the day it is a business. They are out to make money and not give food away.

When I worked at KFC I'd give my friends some free food when they bought their food. I'd just slip it in to their trays 😛

Koing
 
Originally posted by: Injury
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Geekbabe
I worked at Mcdonald's for awhile when I was between jobs in my chosen profession.When I worked till closing the night manager himself used to bag up parfaits,salads and any other good food that would otherwise be thrown away and he'd insist that I carry it home.His thinking was that the wages were not good and that any little bit extra helped out a lot,he also hated waste and couldn't see fit to throw out good food while there were employees who would be grateful to have it.Trust me, my wages just barely paid my rent during that time, I was very grateful for the extra.
Click to expand...

Places like McDonalds have a certain amount of food they can throw away each day. A lot of people complain to get free food so they have a certain budget for that. The managers at MCDs, Taco Bell, etc. almost always give away free food to their employees. It hardly cost the company anything. A hamburger or ten is not going to make a percent of a difference when it comes to the end of the day's food cost for the store.
Click to expand...

Disagree. It all adds up, and it's not their money to be spending in a wasteful manner.

It's a business, not a food shelter. The goal is to make money by doing things including reducing costs.
Click to expand...


You'd rather it be thrown away? Even places that prep food very closely to expected volume have overage at times.

I will tell you this, I worked at McD's long enough to become a crew leader,when I landed a good job in my real profession McD's still got a full 2 week notice from me and I even helped out on a per diem style basis for a month afterwards on weekends or as a closer.This happened because of the decent manner in which I was treated.I benefitted during a down time but McD's also benefitted, a win,win for all concerned.
 
yes she should be charged. She is not an employee, why should she get a free meal? The employee's fiance is the same as joe blow to the management. Does joe blow have to pay when he eat there?

 
Heh. At Starbucks the employees get all the leftover pastries that would be thrown away at the end of the day ...
 
Originally posted by: Geekbabe
You'd rather it be thrown away? Even places that prep food very closely to expected volume have overage at times.

I will tell you this, I worked at McD's long enough to become a crew leader,when I landed a good job in my real profession McD's still got a full 2 week notice from me and I even helped out on a per diem style basis for a month afterwards on weekends or as a closer.This happened because of the decent manner in which I was treated.I benefitted during a down time but McD's also benefitted, a win,win for all concerned.
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No, I'd rather it be put to good use, but it IS the discrestion of the management to decide that. If they are losing out because their employees are prepping too much so they'll get some, then like I said, someone is getting screwed while the employees are getting a meal they didn't pay for.

What I was saying is that just giving away food and considering it an okay loss isn't good, because a little bit of this and that here and there CAN add up. If 20 employees work in a day, and each of them a meal home with them, that's $100 the store didn't get. If this happens every day for a month, that's about $3000! That's the approximate profit of the average fast food place in a day! I don't know about you guys, but if someone told me I was going to work one day out of the month and pretty much not get paid, I'd be a bit ticked.

I know if I worked fast food I would probably sneak myself a free meal here and there, but you just have to see it from both sides. It's not the managers being jerks, it's them doing cost control. People just can't help themselves. If all they have to do to get a free meal is to prepare an extra serving, why wouldn't they? The only thing stopping them is knowing they would have to pay for it.
 
Originally posted by: Injury
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Geekbabe
I worked at Mcdonald's for awhile when I was between jobs in my chosen profession.When I worked till closing the night manager himself used to bag up parfaits,salads and any other good food that would otherwise be thrown away and he'd insist that I carry it home.His thinking was that the wages were not good and that any little bit extra helped out a lot,he also hated waste and couldn't see fit to throw out good food while there were employees who would be grateful to have it.Trust me, my wages just barely paid my rent during that time, I was very grateful for the extra.
Click to expand...

Places like McDonalds have a certain amount of food they can throw away each day. A lot of people complain to get free food so they have a certain budget for that. The managers at MCDs, Taco Bell, etc. almost always give away free food to their employees. It hardly cost the company anything. A hamburger or ten is not going to make a percent of a difference when it comes to the end of the day's food cost for the store.
Click to expand...

Disagree. It all adds up, and it's not their money to be spending in a wasteful manner.

It's a business, not a food shelter. The goal is to make money by doing things including reducing costs.
Click to expand...

Up to a certain point, rewarding employees will probably reap gains for the company in morale, lower turnover, etc. Of course, letting everyone pig out all day probably isn't going to be a smart idea.
 
Originally posted by: Injury
Originally posted by: SampSon
Restaurants this anal deserve to have their employees steal food.
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:roll:

So someone who is trying to make a profit deserves to be stolen from?
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There is no profit to be made from throwing out food.
There is productivity profit to be made from keeping your employees happy.

I read your post above and don't really want to get in an argument.
If the food is being tossed away by health regulations, then there is no profit to be made legally by the establishment. So how is giving the food to an employee any more of a loss than throwing it away?

Fast food places make way more than $3,000 in profit a day and most of their employees don't pay a dime for food. I don't see how cost control comes into play at all. The food is being discarded, meaning it is no longer marketable or profitable to that establishment. Why should the final destination of that food being written off really matter?
 
Along time ago I worked at a fancy-pants grocery store that would throw away their cakes and bread rolls the nights they expired. They sometimes tried to give the rolls away to charity, but most times they weren't picked up and so thrown out. And they NEVER tried to give the cakes away.

So sometimes I'd grab a cake or some rolls and take it home right before leaving for the night (the nights the food would expire). That was until the store manager threatened to fire me if she ever saw me do that again. I figured, WTF!? They're certainly not losing money because I'm certainly not gonna purchase expired food. I don't even think they could sell it to me, policy-wise. If it's gonna be thrown away, then what's the difference if I just take it? They're not losing any extra $$$.

Fvckin nazi b!tches. It was my job to throw them out anyway, so I'd usually just make a detour to my car on the way to the dumpster. pfffft, their cakes and rolls mostly sucked anyway, with a few good ones here and there.

I think they got bought out/went out of business. Serves them right for charging 10 extra goddamn percent on basically everything compared to any regular grocery....and if you bought the "premium" stuff? Holy sh!t I don't Bill Gates could stay afloat.
 
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