HELP! policy change!! how do you handle taking breaks?
I have been working for the same company for the past four and a half years. since I started with the company we have been essentially given a paid 30 minute break. in fact that policy had been in place with our parent company since the thirties.
I was just informed in a very poor fashion (word of mouth from an evening barista who was informed that if she wanted to take her dinner break then she would be docked pay) that this will immediately cease to be the case and that if we would like to take a lunch we will not be paid. apparently this is ok according to the NY labor laws.
the trouble as I see it with this change is that as a general rule we work as a pair of employees at a time. one barista, and one counter person/ general store clerk. our employees skills are not really interchangeable. under our old policy our employees could go and take a break but needed to remain in the store on-call in the event of a rush and if called on to work you simply got to add another five minutes to the remainder of your break.
given that they are now required to give us a break if we would like one and that if we are not being paid then we can freely leave the shop. that is going to leave our store understaffed. they will in turn need to add another shift of coverage in order to allow both shifts of employees take breaks.
I cannot see how this will result in an increase in profits for the business owners, given the higher staffing requirements as well as the decrease in quality of service from all employees.
help me out and let me know what your shops break policy is.
also if you have any suggestions as to how I should go about bringing up my concerns with the shop owners that would be fantastic. As soon as I heard about the new policy I immediately called our company VP and spoke with her about it. thankfully I was heading out the door and didn;t really have time to say anything that I would really regret, but I need to go into the next convo with a game plan.
chris ganger
cafe manager
ithaca coffee company
I was just informed in a very poor fashion (word of mouth from an evening barista who was informed that if she wanted to take her dinner break then she would be docked pay) that this will immediately cease to be the case and that if we would like to take a lunch we will not be paid. apparently this is ok according to the NY labor laws.
the trouble as I see it with this change is that as a general rule we work as a pair of employees at a time. one barista, and one counter person/ general store clerk. our employees skills are not really interchangeable. under our old policy our employees could go and take a break but needed to remain in the store on-call in the event of a rush and if called on to work you simply got to add another five minutes to the remainder of your break.
given that they are now required to give us a break if we would like one and that if we are not being paid then we can freely leave the shop. that is going to leave our store understaffed. they will in turn need to add another shift of coverage in order to allow both shifts of employees take breaks.
I cannot see how this will result in an increase in profits for the business owners, given the higher staffing requirements as well as the decrease in quality of service from all employees.
help me out and let me know what your shops break policy is.
also if you have any suggestions as to how I should go about bringing up my concerns with the shop owners that would be fantastic. As soon as I heard about the new policy I immediately called our company VP and spoke with her about it. thankfully I was heading out the door and didn;t really have time to say anything that I would really regret, but I need to go into the next convo with a game plan.
chris ganger
cafe manager
ithaca coffee company
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Brady on
-
If memory serves me, in some states it is required that employees be given a paid 15 minute break during a 4-hour shift, and an additional 1/2 hour break (unpaid) for 8-hour shifts.
Our shop currently has no policy, as we have no employees :). A previous shop did not really have a formal policy either, though since our shifts were 5-6 hours, there was no meal break. Brief small breaks for snacks, smokes, phone calls were allowed when your presence on bar was not required... but these were to be brief.
How long are the shifts you are referring to? 8+ hours? Honestly, sounds like you had an unusually good deal that is now over. Maybe the owners figured out they were the only ones doing this and corrected it?
-
-
Oh, and I agree with January's statement... you have a legitimate operational concern that needs to be addressed. I too suspect that you'll just cross-train and have one person cover bar during break time. Good policy anyway to have your employees be interchangeable. We run one person on bar from 2:00-close (6)... same as my previous employer. May not be practical if you are a high-volume shop, though if you run 2 in the morning I'd bet you could run 1 in the afternoon, at least for a few minutes.
-
Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on
-
Check your NY State labor laws, I just did. NY requires employers to give an unpaid minimum 30min uninterupted lunch break any shift over six hours. From what I can find NY labor law does provide for any paid break by law. Not 5 minutes, not 10 minutes every 4 hours like my state, not lunch, squat.
-
-
miKe mcKoffee aka Mike McGinness said:
Oops, that should have been NY does NOT provide for and paid breaks...Check your NY State labor laws, I just did. NY requires employers to give an unpaid minimum 30min uninterupted lunch break any shift over six hours. From what I can find NY labor law does provide for any paid break by law. Not 5 minutes, not 10 minutes every 4 hours like my state, not lunch, squat.
-
Permalink Reply by chris ganger on
-
Thanks for the responses folks. let me start off by saying that i AM aware of the NY labor laws regarding breaks and such.
as far as the crosstraining option goes. That is something that we dod do. I am our barista trainer and have been responsible fro training nearly 50 people to act as baristas for us. the concern is one of quality and time. many of our store/ counter employees have either begun, and not completed, or failed to achieve a level of competence making drinks. The training to make drinks at a level that I am comfortable with takes me at least three full shifts with the employee, during which they are completely superfluous to the normal opperation of the cafe. I am not sure that our management is not interested in making that sort of a commitment to each and every employee.
Before I took over management of our cafes it was store policy to have all employees crosstrained(sort-of). it was a sort of a catch as catch can with regards to making drinks (keep in mind that we are also a gourmet market and a small tavern in one store). It was attrocious with regards to quality control, waste, and consistency. the first change that i made was to change our policy so that only those employees certified to work the bar did so. Crosstraining employees that have no knack or true desire to make good bar drinks is not really something that i want to do.
I intend to have an in person meeting with our VP in the next couple of days. I want to have my position and concerns hammered down firmly before then and this input is really valuable. I really do appreciate it.
chris
-
-
chris ganger said:(keep in mind that we are also a gourmet market and a small tavern in one store). It was attrocious with regards to quality control, waste, and consistency. the first change that i made was to change our policy so that only those employees certified to work the bar did so. Crosstraining employees that have no knack or true desire to make good bar drinks is not really something that i want to do.
AHHH... now that's a whole different kettle of fish. Sounds like a positive change that you've made, and now need to defend. Hopefully, the same managers that supported this operational change will understand and support it again. Good luck.
Barista Exchange Partners
Barista Exchange Friends
Keep Barista Exchange Free
Are you enjoying Barista Exchange? Is it helping you promote your business and helping you network in this great industry? Donate today to keep it free to all members. Supporters can join the "Supporters Group" with a donation. Thanks!
© 2024 Created by Matt Milletto.
Powered by
