I’d like to give some unsolicited advice to anyone starting a job for the first time:
Lemme explain. When I was fresh out of high school, I took this job as a waitress/hostess at the local pizzeria. It was one of the first “official” jobs I’d ever had, by which I mean it was the first time I needed to record my time. This place didn’t use computers the way most companies do, but something similar to this...
As I said, most companies keep their records on computers now and that information will be on your personal profile. For this job, we recorded hours and tips on time sheets that the managers would use to calculate our earnings. I’ll explain why this matters later.
Anyway, this place was so understaffed it was pathetic. You could count yourself lucky if there was more than two waiters working on even the busiest of nights. On top of understaffing, the owners refused to hire anyone to bus tables or any sort of janitorial work. That meant it was left to the cooks and waiters to clean on top of their respective duties. It also meant we were working after-hours, sometimes until 3am, trying to get the restaurant back in order for the morning shift.
Yeah, that was a pain in the ass, especially when you’d have to be up for a 10am shift the next day. And if you also considered this wouldn’t happen if your superiors would hire someone to perform that specific task. However, we were all broke and a few employees were even happy to get those extra hours. We at least thought we were making extra money.
I found out later that one of my managers would clock me out a exactly 10pm every night, no matter how late I’d be staying over. He did that by crossing out my original punch and write 10pm beside it. This fucker was clocking me out almost 5 hours early. When I address the issues to his superiors, they try to convince me it was okay because I was making tips.
Bitch, the restaurant was closed at that point. I wasn’t making tips or even wage. I was working off the clock, which is illegal.
They managed to pull the wool over eyes because the night managers would take those time slips into the office and made sure they stayed out of sight. I didn’t think much of it for a time and didn’t ask to see them. When I got that first check, I noticed something was amiss.
My bosses wouldn’t let me see them, either. It was always under the guise of, “we can’t go over that with customers in the restaurant” and after the customers left it was “I can’t go over them because I need to go make my deposit at the bank.” The only reason I found out about it, my boss came to me and accused me of lying about how much I was making in tips. He told me that I was suppose to record that I had made at least $15 dollars, even if I only made $3 because they were paying me a wage. This snake threatened to fire me because we’d had a few slower nights and I’d made more than he thought I should, on top of working me who knows how many hours for free.
I continued working there for awhile, mostly because I had to. Afterwards, I started basically demanding to see my time sheet before they’d do payroll. One of the managers thought I was terrified of him and would alter my information for the sake of spiting me. This dude starting changing the fucking amount of tips I made. If I made $20, he’d change it to $60 and that $40 difference would be deducted from my check. Fuck that. I kept an eye on my hours and got my damn money.
In conclusion, all I’m trying to say is watch your hours and be sure employers aren’t fucking with your money. Be aware of both company policies and labor laws. I’ve found that some companies (especially in my small town) count on young people being naïve to get away with these kinds of actions, some of which are illegal. And don’t assume everything your superiors ask of you is legal.
Most companies have all you information on a computer, which you can print (I recommend doing so). If you end up working for a company stuck in the stone age like I did, make prints of your time sheet or insist on signing them before they are processed. Also, keep a record of pay stubs. I know this all sounds terribly boring, but it may be resourceful to you later.
Sorry about the long post. I hope you all have better experiences than this, but it helps when you know what to look for.
