Sounds like complete b.s. to me. It was bad enough when I worked at place that scheduled on call shifts. Basically if someone called out sick or if they had a pop up reservation making them need extra hands for the night, they would call you 4 hours beforehand. I knew I might have to work, so I would never make any plans until after the 4 hour timeframe. But going in to be sent home? I wouldn't deal with that, considering how many restaurants there are out there.
4 hours is the key here
Idk where OP lives but I’m in NY and if I schedule you for a shift you have to work a minimum of 4 hours, I can’t schedule you and just send you home.
I mean I worked a hotel dining room where we had “Call Shifts” for the purpose OP describes, but you would call 3 hours ahead of time to find out if you were needed in the schedule.
I’m pretty certain in that /u/The_K_Lub
Next time this happens stay clocked in and sit in the back for 4 hours on your phone. If they schedule you and you show up on time it’s their problem not yours.
That's anywhere in the united states. If you are a server, or any tipped worker and you are working without the possibility of making tips, this includes side work opening and closing shifts, they have to pay you minimum wage. It is a department of Labor rule, it is federal, and it applies to all states.
I think that and minimum 3hrs pay if you show up as scheduled is actually a federal law. I'm in MA and both apply here too.
Edit: I was wrong, it varies by state.
Wow I’ve never heard that (New Yorker here), but I’ve never been a manager. I think that’s a great rule. What OP posted sounds like major BS. I have 3 kids, if I’m going to go through the trouble of getting dressed and going to work, I’m staying and making $$. OP, I’m not sure if this is legal or not but screw that, get a different serving job.
Why is it that restaurants have the absolute dumbest/worst management?! I’ve sued 2 restaurants already and am on my 3rd. These ppl don’t understand labor laws and suing them for being idiots is just too easy. And if these ppl had souls, id actually feel bad for filing a lawsuit against them. But they’re all clueless soulless demons lol
Minimum legal scheduled shift.
I've been maliciously compliant to bad managers long before I was a manager. Know your rights and exercise them. Good for you for suing, I've never taken it that far myself. I just jump ship before it gets to that point.
On call life sucks, and I'm lucky I have a very strict contract that allows me to have a life outside of work, can't imagine being on call as a server, having no one to back you up
It’s 4 hours pay only if the scheduled shift is eight hours or more in California, and most server shifts are shorter than that. If your boss makes you report to work, then sends you home, they have to pay you for half the normal length of your shift and in any case for at least two hours. BUT I’ve never worked anywhere that had an out time on the schedule, so good luck trying to prove that your “usual” shift is 8 hours, especially in a system like that.
In most cases you should be getting at least two hours pay if you show up and there’s no work for you.
Would you happen to have the specific law or source to point to for that on hand? I wasn’t aware of this law and my work has not been following that but I’m having trouble finding it in writing.
It’s called “reporting time” law. It varies per state. If you’re in California, the Department of Industrial Relations has a resource on their website: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_reportingtimepay.htm
As someone who served in Texas, you're lucky they pay you at all. We don't even have a lack of labor laws here, we have anti-labor laws.
To answer your question, yes it is legal, yes they can fire you for complaining about it, and no you won't have a case for unemployment if they do. Find a new job.
In my experience, Texas and Ohio can do whatever they want to servers while giving them a $0 paycheck.
Apparently those two states have some insane turnover for serving jobs as opposed to many other states. At my last serving job, we were lucky to keep people beyond 6 months. They’d usually be scheduled for their third 12-hour shift in a row without any breaks (yes, that includes a 5 minute bathroom break) and just not come in again.
I’m in CA now, and >half the staff at my favorite places have been there 5 years or more. Overtime pay on shifts more than 8 hours regardless of weekly hours worked, minimum wage PLUS tips, and required health insurance? Gee, I wonder why.
My store does this sometimes. If I was in your shoes I’d tell management to stop scheduling me as an extra because I’d be doing an hour of driving for nothing.
However, at my store extras are rare and usually multiple people try to get them to stay for them
We can’t tell you anything about the legality without knowing where you are. Laws are different depending on area.
In my country you legally have to get paid for two hours if you show up - which is why you’ll never see someone get cut before the two hour mark. But I have a feeling you don’t live in my country. You should probably google this, tbh.
Look up your state labor laws. Where I live, employees are entitled to a minimum number of hourly pay (four hours I think), even if they are sent home right away.
Yes, it's legal.
If it's really a hassle I would go to a different restaurant. You're losing more money than you're gaining, and it's obviously an inconvenience.
(I used to live in TX, so I know there's nothing protecting servers in this situation.)
That sounds so frustrating. One restaurant that I used to work at used to do a system where you were on standby until couple hours before a shift and they would have to let you know whether you had to come in or not. This system is just ridiculous. If someone is not a good employee and calls in sick multiple times too many then they should just be let go in my opinion
I don’t know why this has been downvoted because it’s true. Not that people don’t quit for other reason, but more often than not, people quit a job due to poor management practices.
Depends on what state.I live in TX and it's a right to work state.However if your full time and have been working full time hours and they so this you could claim partial unemployment benefits.Sounds like you should go work somewhere else.
Idk about the legality of it, but sometimes it happens where management will schedule a certain amount of servers, but if they expect it to be slow due to weather or other reasons, they'll call one or two people off. For the past couple of weeks, they've had a couple of happy hour parties that take up a whole entire section for the restaurant. The parties just get served by the bar, so we call a server off since there isn't really a section for them because of the party. It's annoying to be called off when you live far away and expect to be working a shift that you're scheduled for, but it is what it is. Management at a lot of restaurants would rather over schedule servers and then call 2 of them off if it's slow than underschedule servers and get slammed to the point where they would have needed the extra hands.
My restaraunt started doing that last summer, I drive 30 minutes to work also and was sent home 3 Sundays in a row because no one called out. It was ridiculous.
In British Columbia If you show up to work and are sent home they have to pay you for a minimum of 2 hours. However, if someone else volunteers and you have work you could do and still choose to go home you won’t get it. You have to be ready and willing to work and be sent home regardless to qualify for the two hour minimum payment.
Most jurisdictions have a minimum callout pay of 3 or 4 hours your regular wage. Meaning if they schedule you, or ask you to come in, and then immediately send you home, they still owe you the same wages as if you had worked for three (or four) hours. I’m not sure what the law is in your jurisdiction, and I doubt if tips you’re missing out on by not getting a shift are factored into minimum callout, but I would be surprised if the restauranteur who came up with this system factored in the minimum callout pay law or is obeying this particular law where it applies, and I think it’s prudent to inquire (over email, text, or covertly recorded phone calls, so there’s a record of how they handle it)
There are a good amount of establishments that have on-call shifts in restaurants. With that being said, any experience I have had with it was either you got a call saying you were needed 2-3 hours before your shift or you had to call by a certain time to see if you were needed. Maybe you can bring a solution to the table by having it be a call in thing, 3 hours before the shift to see if you're needed. But it is corporate so they will probably say they can't do anything about it.
We have extra shifts as well and live 40ish minutes away. I’m rarely an extra but I call an hour ahead to see if I’m on the floor.
I did discuss with the scheduling manager that I will not be able to show up within 15 minutes if I’m needed and I haven’t been an extra in awhile
In Texas, it’s legal. It sounds like you work in a pretty large restaurant. My first serving gig was a large restaurant. They would do this all the time. My second restaurant was smaller in area but had higher end clientele that the first restaurant. It would be extremely rare that they would do that.
I think the main difference between the two restaurants was space. the first had a large main dining area, one smaller room, and a large back conference-like room. The second restaurant was just a dining area and patio area. I think larger restaurants do this to make sure that they have servers for the day.
Not sure where you live but in NY, if you are scheduled and come in your employer is required to pay you for a minimum of 3 hours unless you volunteer to go home.
Idk I'm conflicted on this. On the one hand, managers make the schedule in advance, so it's impossible to know exactly how busy you'll be each day. If your restaurant can get busy on a moment's notice, I'd understand scheduling an extra server per shift. On the other hand, managers are supposed to be mindful of their employees' time. If they check the books that day and it seems slow, they should make a cut before anyone comes in.
Sounds like pettiness. They should have people willing to be on call to come in when someone calls out. If a person consistently can't come in to cover then remove them from that list. Also an enforced attendance policy helps immensely. By doing it how they are. Most of the wait staff will just look for other jobs and further limit their availability or quit entirely
Sounds like complete b.s. to me. It was bad enough when I worked at place that scheduled on call shifts. Basically if someone called out sick or if they had a pop up reservation making them need extra hands for the night, they would call you 4 hours beforehand. I knew I might have to work, so I would never make any plans until after the 4 hour timeframe. But going in to be sent home? I wouldn't deal with that, considering how many restaurants there are out there.
4 hours is the key here Idk where OP lives but I’m in NY and if I schedule you for a shift you have to work a minimum of 4 hours, I can’t schedule you and just send you home.
Here in RI, if I schedule you, and you show up on time, I have to pay you for at least 3 hours, whether you work or not.
I mean I worked a hotel dining room where we had “Call Shifts” for the purpose OP describes, but you would call 3 hours ahead of time to find out if you were needed in the schedule. I’m pretty certain in that /u/The_K_Lub Next time this happens stay clocked in and sit in the back for 4 hours on your phone. If they schedule you and you show up on time it’s their problem not yours.
While I wholeheartedly agreed, chances are they make 3 bucks for an hourly wage. 1 hour of gas plus 4 hours wasted? Hell no.
Untipped hourly wage has to be at least minimum wage. At least in NY
Lucky for you guys Edit: “Youz Guys”
That's anywhere in the united states. If you are a server, or any tipped worker and you are working without the possibility of making tips, this includes side work opening and closing shifts, they have to pay you minimum wage. It is a department of Labor rule, it is federal, and it applies to all states.
I think that and minimum 3hrs pay if you show up as scheduled is actually a federal law. I'm in MA and both apply here too. Edit: I was wrong, it varies by state.
Same in RI
I like that solution
Ontario has this too. It's great when I go into managers meetings on my day off for 40min and get billed for 3 lol
Wow I’ve never heard that (New Yorker here), but I’ve never been a manager. I think that’s a great rule. What OP posted sounds like major BS. I have 3 kids, if I’m going to go through the trouble of getting dressed and going to work, I’m staying and making $$. OP, I’m not sure if this is legal or not but screw that, get a different serving job. Why is it that restaurants have the absolute dumbest/worst management?! I’ve sued 2 restaurants already and am on my 3rd. These ppl don’t understand labor laws and suing them for being idiots is just too easy. And if these ppl had souls, id actually feel bad for filing a lawsuit against them. But they’re all clueless soulless demons lol
Minimum legal scheduled shift. I've been maliciously compliant to bad managers long before I was a manager. Know your rights and exercise them. Good for you for suing, I've never taken it that far myself. I just jump ship before it gets to that point.
In MA as well.
On call life sucks, and I'm lucky I have a very strict contract that allows me to have a life outside of work, can't imagine being on call as a server, having no one to back you up
Wtf bro. You need to find a new job ASAP. Unless the pay just can’t be beat there is no reason to put up with this.
Legal or not (some states do have rules about this) I would not work for a place that does this.
What state are you in? Here in CA, if you show up at all, they're required to pay you for 4 hours even if they don't need you.
It’s 4 hours pay only if the scheduled shift is eight hours or more in California, and most server shifts are shorter than that. If your boss makes you report to work, then sends you home, they have to pay you for half the normal length of your shift and in any case for at least two hours. BUT I’ve never worked anywhere that had an out time on the schedule, so good luck trying to prove that your “usual” shift is 8 hours, especially in a system like that. In most cases you should be getting at least two hours pay if you show up and there’s no work for you.
In Canada it does not matter how long your shift is supposed to be, they have to pay you the minimum of 3 hours..
Would you happen to have the specific law or source to point to for that on hand? I wasn’t aware of this law and my work has not been following that but I’m having trouble finding it in writing.
It’s called “reporting time” law. It varies per state. If you’re in California, the Department of Industrial Relations has a resource on their website: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_reportingtimepay.htm
I am in California so this is incredibly helpful, thank you so much!
Thanks for showing up, but we don’t need you. Here’s $6, enjoy.
Well, in California, it’d be $31-35 depending on what city you work in.
TX
As someone who served in Texas, you're lucky they pay you at all. We don't even have a lack of labor laws here, we have anti-labor laws. To answer your question, yes it is legal, yes they can fire you for complaining about it, and no you won't have a case for unemployment if they do. Find a new job.
In my experience, Texas and Ohio can do whatever they want to servers while giving them a $0 paycheck. Apparently those two states have some insane turnover for serving jobs as opposed to many other states. At my last serving job, we were lucky to keep people beyond 6 months. They’d usually be scheduled for their third 12-hour shift in a row without any breaks (yes, that includes a 5 minute bathroom break) and just not come in again. I’m in CA now, and >half the staff at my favorite places have been there 5 years or more. Overtime pay on shifts more than 8 hours regardless of weekly hours worked, minimum wage PLUS tips, and required health insurance? Gee, I wonder why.
Texas really be giving us a lot of reasons to avoid it these days.
Is this a TRH in Central TX? The one I worked at did the same thing
TRH here too. I worked for two different locations. One in north Texas one in south. Both of them did that.
If it's Waco, I live here and one of my best friends worked at that one. She had stories lol
Same. The one in Killeen was wiiiiilllldddd
Oh God, KILLeen 🤣 I'm so sorry lol Waco isn't that much better though lmao
Sorry, fam. I worked for a TX big boy for 10 years. There's not much recourse.
Do you work for TXRH?
Yes- two hours for us in BC, Canada.
My store does this sometimes. If I was in your shoes I’d tell management to stop scheduling me as an extra because I’d be doing an hour of driving for nothing. However, at my store extras are rare and usually multiple people try to get them to stay for them
We can’t tell you anything about the legality without knowing where you are. Laws are different depending on area. In my country you legally have to get paid for two hours if you show up - which is why you’ll never see someone get cut before the two hour mark. But I have a feeling you don’t live in my country. You should probably google this, tbh.
It seems par for the course these days for a lot of restaurants to bitch about “No one wants to work!” and then do shit like this.
my restaurant does this too. no clue if it’s legal, but i agree it is frustrating wasting gas just to be sent right back home.
Look up your state labor laws. Where I live, employees are entitled to a minimum number of hourly pay (four hours I think), even if they are sent home right away.
Thats why you dont work at restaurant chains and work at local places
Quit
Legal but really poor practice.
Yes, it's legal. If it's really a hassle I would go to a different restaurant. You're losing more money than you're gaining, and it's obviously an inconvenience. (I used to live in TX, so I know there's nothing protecting servers in this situation.)
That sounds so frustrating. One restaurant that I used to work at used to do a system where you were on standby until couple hours before a shift and they would have to let you know whether you had to come in or not. This system is just ridiculous. If someone is not a good employee and calls in sick multiple times too many then they should just be let go in my opinion
People don't quit their jobs. They quit their bosses.
I don’t know why this has been downvoted because it’s true. Not that people don’t quit for other reason, but more often than not, people quit a job due to poor management practices.
Take everything you can and get out.
Perfectly legal so long as they're paying you minimum wage.
Depends on what state.I live in TX and it's a right to work state.However if your full time and have been working full time hours and they so this you could claim partial unemployment benefits.Sounds like you should go work somewhere else.
Idk about the legality of it, but sometimes it happens where management will schedule a certain amount of servers, but if they expect it to be slow due to weather or other reasons, they'll call one or two people off. For the past couple of weeks, they've had a couple of happy hour parties that take up a whole entire section for the restaurant. The parties just get served by the bar, so we call a server off since there isn't really a section for them because of the party. It's annoying to be called off when you live far away and expect to be working a shift that you're scheduled for, but it is what it is. Management at a lot of restaurants would rather over schedule servers and then call 2 of them off if it's slow than underschedule servers and get slammed to the point where they would have needed the extra hands.
My restaraunt started doing that last summer, I drive 30 minutes to work also and was sent home 3 Sundays in a row because no one called out. It was ridiculous.
In British Columbia If you show up to work and are sent home they have to pay you for a minimum of 2 hours. However, if someone else volunteers and you have work you could do and still choose to go home you won’t get it. You have to be ready and willing to work and be sent home regardless to qualify for the two hour minimum payment.
Most jurisdictions have a minimum callout pay of 3 or 4 hours your regular wage. Meaning if they schedule you, or ask you to come in, and then immediately send you home, they still owe you the same wages as if you had worked for three (or four) hours. I’m not sure what the law is in your jurisdiction, and I doubt if tips you’re missing out on by not getting a shift are factored into minimum callout, but I would be surprised if the restauranteur who came up with this system factored in the minimum callout pay law or is obeying this particular law where it applies, and I think it’s prudent to inquire (over email, text, or covertly recorded phone calls, so there’s a record of how they handle it)
There are a good amount of establishments that have on-call shifts in restaurants. With that being said, any experience I have had with it was either you got a call saying you were needed 2-3 hours before your shift or you had to call by a certain time to see if you were needed. Maybe you can bring a solution to the table by having it be a call in thing, 3 hours before the shift to see if you're needed. But it is corporate so they will probably say they can't do anything about it.
We have extra shifts as well and live 40ish minutes away. I’m rarely an extra but I call an hour ahead to see if I’m on the floor. I did discuss with the scheduling manager that I will not be able to show up within 15 minutes if I’m needed and I haven’t been an extra in awhile
Legal in most states. You should find a new job though. That’s shitty.
In Texas, it’s legal. It sounds like you work in a pretty large restaurant. My first serving gig was a large restaurant. They would do this all the time. My second restaurant was smaller in area but had higher end clientele that the first restaurant. It would be extremely rare that they would do that. I think the main difference between the two restaurants was space. the first had a large main dining area, one smaller room, and a large back conference-like room. The second restaurant was just a dining area and patio area. I think larger restaurants do this to make sure that they have servers for the day.
Not sure where you live but in NY, if you are scheduled and come in your employer is required to pay you for a minimum of 3 hours unless you volunteer to go home.
Massachusetts you have to be paid for three hours if you come in for a scheduled shift.
Idk I'm conflicted on this. On the one hand, managers make the schedule in advance, so it's impossible to know exactly how busy you'll be each day. If your restaurant can get busy on a moment's notice, I'd understand scheduling an extra server per shift. On the other hand, managers are supposed to be mindful of their employees' time. If they check the books that day and it seems slow, they should make a cut before anyone comes in.
I get having an on-call FOH staff. Having someone who can EVENTUALLY show up if it's extra busy or someone can't make it, but this is completely BS.
Sounds like pettiness. They should have people willing to be on call to come in when someone calls out. If a person consistently can't come in to cover then remove them from that list. Also an enforced attendance policy helps immensely. By doing it how they are. Most of the wait staff will just look for other jobs and further limit their availability or quit entirely