Dodgy Bosses

angel

              Where are all the decent bosses?

I am a 22 yr old maker of liquid gold, who is pleasant, good natured, hard working (if i may say so myself) and fun.
Which is why I dont understand the last 3 bosses I have had in fairly respectable well known cafe's have either: worked my fingers to the bone on 14 hour shifts with half hour lunch breaks, or worse tried to hit on me and cut my hours when i did not comply.
Now every job interview I go to i'm the one asking the questions.
Are you happily married?
What are your views on slave labour?

BeanCounter

Hi Angel, I'm a decent boss (by several accounts), but I don't run a cafe. It is unfortunate that your bosses are seeking to take advantage of you in any way - even in these days of enlightenment, EEO, anti-discrimination and anti-harrassment legislation. The law is certainly on your side, but I think it would take a fair bit of emotional energy to pursue a harrassment or discrimination claim through the courts. I'm a male and happily married, but many years ago I worked for the rudest, most egotistical man I'd ever met (and he'd still qualify for that title). After tolerating his behaviour for too long, I determined never to work for someone like that again. Regards, Gary

Ozkoz

Too bad you do not live in Queensland!!! I own a clothing business and will be opening a Coffee Roastery this week. I do not consider myself a "boss". Work should be fun and people working together should earn each others respect. We, at the Roastery, have a common and sincere "Passion" for coffee and for what we are trying to achieve. Money is only a by product of a job well done. Your prior "bosses" seem to have put money before passion - "A HUGE MISTAKE". Alan

angel

thankyou both for your sympathy and empathy. I have not entirely lost hope in the world! It just seems that for every one passionate coffee afficionado there are ten bastard coffee shop owners who dont give a damn about their coffee, their staff all they care about is the money. (and i seem to have struck each one of those this week!) Make great coffee have a happy atmosphere with happy staff and you have happy customers. Why is this so hard?

Matthew_White

I know this feeling, although for me it was a co-worker who was friends with the boss, and who no-one else at the job liked. Bar job, I was a casual who ran the bar before he came in. After that, whenever we both worked the bar (Lobby bar in a hotel, not very busy, but 2 people in it on Thurs-Sat) he made me do floor service while he got to do actual bartending. He encouraged people to drink, more than I would say is safe "Can I interest you in a drink?" "Yes thanks, I'll have a cappacino." "C'mon, this is a bar, have a real drink!" He also split the tips so that he got more cash tips and I got more of the credit card/room charge tips. Which meant that my tips got taxed. >.< I did the best thing I could in the situation and told the manager that I couldn't work with him, and thus I quit the place and advised him tht the full time guy was not good for the work environment.

angel

Thats really rough. Its a pain when people like that make it so hard for the rest of us. But c'est la vie these things happen. What goes around comes around........

antiskim

I am an employer and have often hired  employees who have had this experience with so called bosses - it seems to be very common. It often makes them paranoid about all bosses thinking they will all be the same. This can result in employees treating the boss as they are all bad before they are given a chance to prove themselves, and thus a viscious circle begins. Its all about mutual respect, it never works any other way. As an employee if you feel are not respected you need to make the decision to move asap because there are many employers that will respect you and your skills you just need to find them. Treat the interview not just as a time to get that job but also as if you are interviewing the boss. Good luck