Boss Criticizes Bartender For Drinking During His Day Off, Changes His Tone Immediately When They Quit
We’d all like to believe that we have some say at work. That we and our employers are essentially in a partnership, working together for mutual benefit. Equally, we’d also like to think that life is fair and virtue is rewarded. But that’s often not the case.
Recently, one business owner who thinks they can walk over their employees texted their bartender at 3 AM, saying the guy had to come in on their day off. In the morning. After a couple of hours. Luckily, the bartender stood up for themselves and put the toxic boss in their place.
Somehow, screenshots of their exchange have made it to the internet, and we managed to get a hold of them.
Of course, it’s easier to assume such a strong position when you have a safety net but let this conversation serve as a reminder to all abusive managers that you are only as good as your team is. And if you treat them like trash, it’s only a matter of time before your actions backfire against you.
Image credits: piqsels (not the actual photo)
Insurance lawyer and legal writer Jeffrey Johnson highlighted that employment in the United States is “employment at will” and the most dramatic consequence of that (with very few exceptions) is that an employer may fire an employee at any time, for any reason.
“Regardless of your usual schedule, when you work is 100% up to the employer,” Johnson wrote. “The employer can require you to come in early, to stay late, or to work on what is supposed to be your day off. If you don’t work when your employer says you must, you may be terminated. Worse, you could be terminated ‘for cause.'”
A for-cause termination means that the employee has done something other than just generally mediocre or even poor performance, which is considered a good cause for termination.
“More dramatic examples include theft or assault at work or stealing, but less dramatic examples include insubordination and violating your manager’s instructions,” Johnson explained. “Refusing to work when your employer tells you (including working on your day off) would be both insubordination and violating employer instructions, and so would potentially constitute good cause for termination. The fallout from your refusal is that if your employer chose to treat this as a for-cause termination, you would not be eligible for unemployment benefits. For-cause termination deprives you of unemployment.”
However, if you have an actual written employment contract stating your days off, that’s different: a contract is binding on both employer and employee and is enforceable against both. In this case, your employer cannot make you work on a day contractually guaranteed to be your day off.
We don’t know for certain whether or not there was such a contract in this situation but judging from the end of the chat, something tells me there was. Either way, that’s not how you manage your staff.
People applauded the bartender
527Kviews
Share on Facebook"You need to stay ready for work"? WTF, S/He's a bartender, not a transplant surgeon.
"What if someone dies of thirst?! Didn't you see the movie where an explorer crawls through the desert in a desperate search for an oasis full of vodka?"
Load More Replies...Why is the boss calling someone up at 3am?? Did someone book am 11-hour party at 2:55 am? At least my former boss waited until 8am on a Sunday morning to tell me to get back to work (I had quit two weeks earlier and moved to another city).
Yeah, I didn't like this one ... I'm more of an "Eat a D.." kind of guy!
Load More Replies...Something similar happened to me with my first serving job. I was clear about not having any experience, because I knew I would need some help & patience. On my 3rd shift there the manager failed to schedule enough workers during a huge 5k marathon, where the race would run directly in front of the restaurant. Needless to say, we were swarmed with a ton of people who wanted to eat/sit & watch their friends & family run. We were no match. There was 1 bartender & 1 other server, aside from myself. Not even an hour after we opened the manager (who to be fair was feeling overwhelmed) was calling all of us stupid. He was in the kitchen shouting at the chefs/cooks and slamming items down. It was like watching a toddler have a tantrum. But my last straw was when I asked if he would show me how to reload the paper for receipts (again, it was only my 3rd shift and we typically had a hostess who handled this) so I ask him for help and he WENT OFF! Telling me how dumb I was. I quit on the spot.
I wouldn't even be awake at 3 am, let alone answer any messages from my boss.
I’m not going to answer a message from my boss at 3am. I’ll ignore it and sleep in and see how “perky” I’m feeling the next day and if I want to work. Advance notice is everything. Also, providing an option. “I’m in a pinch, can you please work?” - instead of making it a demand. Treat people with respect and they’ll treat you with respect.
A better thing to do would’ve been not only to call people earlier so they can plan better, but also to send a group text calling for volunteers to fill in those 11 hours. Maybe even offer to split the shift up; like A will work 11am til 1 pm, and B will work 1 pm to 4 pm, C will work 4 pm to 7 pm, and D will work 7 pm to 10 pm—-or whatever combination the employees work out amongst themselves and report back to the manager, so it can be put on the schedule. Including employees in decision-making that directly affects them, as this example does, makes them feel included and heard by management, instead of just pushed around and expendable.
And maybe offer a higher wage for that "event." You know the restaurant/bar would make a lot more money than normal so if you have poor planning, cough up a little more.
Load More Replies...It’s the bosses tone that is unacceptable to me. He could have asked nicely (he didn’t ask at all, he demanded it) and he could have apologized for the circumstances. Then maybe this wouldn’t even have been that big of an issue. I will never ever understand why some employers think it is ok to threat their employees like robots.
"You need to stay ready for work"? WTF, S/He's a bartender, not a transplant surgeon.
"What if someone dies of thirst?! Didn't you see the movie where an explorer crawls through the desert in a desperate search for an oasis full of vodka?"
Load More Replies...Why is the boss calling someone up at 3am?? Did someone book am 11-hour party at 2:55 am? At least my former boss waited until 8am on a Sunday morning to tell me to get back to work (I had quit two weeks earlier and moved to another city).
Yeah, I didn't like this one ... I'm more of an "Eat a D.." kind of guy!
Load More Replies...Something similar happened to me with my first serving job. I was clear about not having any experience, because I knew I would need some help & patience. On my 3rd shift there the manager failed to schedule enough workers during a huge 5k marathon, where the race would run directly in front of the restaurant. Needless to say, we were swarmed with a ton of people who wanted to eat/sit & watch their friends & family run. We were no match. There was 1 bartender & 1 other server, aside from myself. Not even an hour after we opened the manager (who to be fair was feeling overwhelmed) was calling all of us stupid. He was in the kitchen shouting at the chefs/cooks and slamming items down. It was like watching a toddler have a tantrum. But my last straw was when I asked if he would show me how to reload the paper for receipts (again, it was only my 3rd shift and we typically had a hostess who handled this) so I ask him for help and he WENT OFF! Telling me how dumb I was. I quit on the spot.
I wouldn't even be awake at 3 am, let alone answer any messages from my boss.
I’m not going to answer a message from my boss at 3am. I’ll ignore it and sleep in and see how “perky” I’m feeling the next day and if I want to work. Advance notice is everything. Also, providing an option. “I’m in a pinch, can you please work?” - instead of making it a demand. Treat people with respect and they’ll treat you with respect.
A better thing to do would’ve been not only to call people earlier so they can plan better, but also to send a group text calling for volunteers to fill in those 11 hours. Maybe even offer to split the shift up; like A will work 11am til 1 pm, and B will work 1 pm to 4 pm, C will work 4 pm to 7 pm, and D will work 7 pm to 10 pm—-or whatever combination the employees work out amongst themselves and report back to the manager, so it can be put on the schedule. Including employees in decision-making that directly affects them, as this example does, makes them feel included and heard by management, instead of just pushed around and expendable.
And maybe offer a higher wage for that "event." You know the restaurant/bar would make a lot more money than normal so if you have poor planning, cough up a little more.
Load More Replies...It’s the bosses tone that is unacceptable to me. He could have asked nicely (he didn’t ask at all, he demanded it) and he could have apologized for the circumstances. Then maybe this wouldn’t even have been that big of an issue. I will never ever understand why some employers think it is ok to threat their employees like robots.




















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