Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

My Scathing Reaignation Letter From My Last Bad Job...

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • My Scathing Reaignation Letter From My Last Bad Job...

    [NOTE: This is exactly how my four page resignation letter read, with the exception of names I have changed here, for various reasons. This letter ran four typed, single-spaced pages, and three copies of it were delivered to HR, in sealed envelopes: one to each of the two owners, and one to HR. This was to ensure that HR did not bury this or keep it from the owners, and to make sure that they saw it as well. It went off like a small nuclear bomb within the company, which was rather pleasing to me, as I frankly expected them to ignore it. The one crazy bitch owner called me three weeks after I dropped it off—which I did after my last shift had been worked, though I gave the company five weeks notice, and worked my last shift September 11—and we had what can only be called an amusing convesgakon about it and some of the points I raised.]

    Monday, August 20, 2018

    This is to signify that I am resigning my bartender position at Bad Fish, effective at the end of the work schedule for the week of September 10-September 16, 2018.

    Stupidity Inc. has a form they want filled out for employees leaving the company, including the reason for the departure. That form, however, did not have enough space for what I felt would be an adequate explanation of my decision.

    First, let me say that it has been my pleasure to work with General Manager Limpy McCurkin and his management team, as well as the staff at Bad Fish. They are not in any way, shape, or form a reason for my decision, and in fact, leaving Limpy and his crew are the biggest regret I have in resigning.

    As for why I AM leaving, there are two basic reasons: money, and the company itself.

    The money I have made while at Bad Fish has been, to put it mildly, subpar. This is not in any way due to a lack of effort or work ethic on my part, as the managers there can attest to. I always work hard and diligently, and take the best care of my customers that I can. It is certainly not location; located, as it is, right next to Tourist Destination Spot, the restaurant should be humming. And yet....it is not. It is also not due to the time of year or the shifts I work; I have talked to many people around town who complain about what they are making, on the same or similar shifts to mine, and yet they are making twice or three times what I am making when they voice these complaints. So in my opinion, the main reason for the sad state of economic affairs at Bad Fish is my second reason for leaving: the Stupid Inc. company itself.

    I have been in the food service industry for 32 years. I have done just about everything in it since I started as a cook in an ice cream parlor back in high school in 1986. I have worked for many companies, good and bad, and many people, also good and bad, over those years. And that experience gives me what I believe to be a fairly keen sense of what works and what doesn’t work in the industry.

    First, let me say that the company was utterly fantastic in its treatment of its employees during and after Hurricane Irma. To say otherwise would be a lie. For that, I am thankful. However, the rest of my time with the company has shown me the company’s far less impressive aspects.

    Stupid Inc.’s basic attitude seems to be that they have been in this business a long time, and they know what they are doing. However, I have also worked in this business for a long time, as indicated above, and the most successful companies I have worked for, and seen as a customer, all worked under the philosophy that you change or you die. In other words, you are never too good at something that you can’t learn something new or how to do something better. This has also been my own philosophy, in both my personal and professional life, for a long time. I learned this while working along or for some of the best on all levels in the business. Stupid Inc. clearly believes they know better, that they do things a certain way and that there can be no other way to do things, and more to the point, they transmit that belief in no uncertain terms to their employees. This not only limits the company’s ability to do something better, it also turns employees off, and makes them far less motivated to be innovative or creative, traits the better companies in this and other fields actually cherish and encourage in their employees.

    But it goes beyond this rigidly fixed way of doing things. Other policies they have often make their employees’ work environment unpleasant, and causes many superior employees to leave for other opportunities.

    Their policy of charging their front of the house employees a percentage of their tips to cover the cost of using credit card companies’ services is one such policy. While technically legal, it is ethically questionable, and comes off as downright shady. Employees struggling to make rent and bills in this expensive town are going to wonder, rightly so, why their employer needs that portion of their hard-earned tips. I have worked for a lot of companies in a lot of places in my time in the business, both in Key West and around the country. Working for Stupid Inc. was the first time I had ever encountered this policy. I was frankly surprised to find out that such a policy was even legal. So from day one, this put a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

    Another questionable economic policy of Stupid Inc.’s is their tip out procedure. Now, I must note, I am all for tipping out support staff, and as the Bad Fish managers can attest, I always round up, often tipping more than I am required. The tip outs go, theoretically, to the hosts, the food runners, and (from the servers) the bartenders. There are often shifts where there is no food runner, and some with no host, and yet, the same tip out is required of the employees on these shifts as it is on shifts where such support staff is present. If those tip outs were simply distributed among the support staff for the rest of the week, as the company claims it is, that would still be a bit questionable, but I’ve talked to many support staff at various Stupid Inc. establishments that say they rarely even see those tip outs on their paychecks. This complaint is echoed by servers when it comes to service charges (aka gratuities) applied to large parties. Where is this money going? Too many people have pointed out discrepancies in their pay for me to believe it is just one or two disgruntled employees saying they are not getting that money. So again, where is it going? In this day of lawsuits against companies for tip and wage skimming, it is a valid question, and one that has yet to be satisfactorily answered by Stupid Inc. Key West is often said to be the second most haunted city in America. Perhaps we are tipping out ghosts?

    It is not just in the financial area that Stupid Inc. comes off as ethically questionable. At one time during my employment, I had one of the higher ups in the company ask me what my standard was for carding people for alcohol. When I told her that it was to card anyone who looked 30 or under (generally considered the state standard), she suggested that I should relax those standards, as some people did not like getting carded. I pointed out to her that, should I serve someone whom I should not serve, due to relaxing said standards, I would be the one to suffer the brunt of the legal consequences. She relented after that, but I have trouble believing her suggestion to me was an isolated incident. The fact that someone in upper management of the company would even suggest that I should turn a blind eye to long-established alcohol carding procedures is simply staggering.

    Returning to financial issues, Stupid Inc. considers themselves a preeminent Key West restaurant company, and yet they do not use direct deposit to pay their employees, a practice that is virtually standard today. It is especially inconvenient to employees who live in New Town or up the Keys to have to come to Old Town to get their paychecks. At a location like Bad Fish, where you can’t park within blocks of the place, it is even more aggravating. And apparently the company once did have direct deposit, but they did away with it. Why? If it was for the cost, this once again strikes the employees as penny-pinching by the company. If there is no cost to the company for direct deposit, why not take advantage of it, to the benefit of the employees?

    Another area that jumps out is maintenance. Stupid Inc. seems to have the philosophy of, if it’s broke, just barely fix it. Rather than replace or fix something correctly, the company sends their maintenance team to address the issue, which almost always consists of them making the cheapest and easiest patch job. More often than not, this means that they will have to come back to address the problem again in a relatively short amount of time. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    I mentioned above the lack of business at Bad Fish, despite its proximity to Tourist Destination Spot. This seems counterintuitive. After all, with the slightest bit of marketing or promotion, such a location should rock. Therein lies the problem. Stupid Inc. does virtually no marketing or promotion for the restaurant, other than distributing coupons to concierges and relying on the employees of sister businesses to give out the same coupons to their patrons. It is patently obvious to anyone that works at Bad Fish for any length of time that of the five business under the auspices of Stupid Inc., Bad Fish is approximately their 37th priority, if that.

    As for those coupons, the company provides little incentive to their employees to distribute those. The occasional gift card to other company businesses? That is not the highest of motivations for most employees, especially when one of them MIGHT get a ten dollar gift card from time to time.

    Of course, this goes right along with their Christmas party policy: there is none. Employees get to hear from their friends about their company’s Christmas parties. Either their friends rave about how their company treated them, or complain about how lame the party was. But even if it’s lame, at least they got a party. Not so for Stupid Inc. And their idea of a Christmas bonus? Apparel from the company. Basically, work clothing. The image of a miserly company just keeps coming to mind, not just to me, but to many who work for the company.

    And the company seems wholly unresponsive to their employees. Early in my time with Bad Fish, it was suggested to Limpy by one of the owners that I should apply for an open managerial position. I did so, and was excited about my prospects. While I can absolutely accept not getting a job, it is troubling to me that I never heard back from the company at all, even to say, “Thanks, but we’ve gone with someone else.” If the owner suggests you apply for a position, and you do, and you don’t hear back from the company at all, that is going to make you really wonder why you’re bothering to work for such a company.

    And then there is there “no personal postings on boards” policy. I fully understand that a place of business is a place of business, and the bulletin boards cannot—and SHOULD not—be cluttered up with notes for personal causes, fundraisers, house parties, etc. But when a popular employee dies, as did happen, and the managers are not allowed to even post a notice about that employee’s memorial service or their celebration of life, in the back of the house, where no guests would see it, that is taking the impersonal to a new level. Rules are there for a reason, but in extreme circumstances, exceptions should be made. And by many accounts, this company HAS made an exception to this rule for lesser things. The fact that they didn’t here, and several employees who would have liked to have attended said services were not even made aware of them, is downright galling, even despicable. The company not only failed their employees when they did that, they did a disservice to the deceased, who was not only a coworker, but a friend to many at Bad Fish. Her friends and coworkers deserved better that that.

    Lucy Loo certainly deserved better.

    Nothing I have said here is unique to me. These are not merely my personal grievances. I have heard variations of these company wide. Because of that, I do not believe it is a coincidence that Stupid Inc. is known around Key West as “The Evil Empire,” a moniker I did not coin, but have heard from many disparate sources.

    Some of these things seem almost designed to irritate and anger Stupid Inc.’s employees. And none of the issues listed here would be that big of a problem, taken individually. Taken all together, however, they paint a picture of a company that seems to not care about their employees, not care about retaining good employees, and not care about making the employees they do have happy.

    Honestly, I am not putting all of this down out of vindictive spite. I am unhappy with the company, certainly. Which is why I am leaving. But I hold out a small amount of hope that some of the things I have said here might just help Stupid Inc. realize that they need to change, and that such changes may truly help current or future employees, and thus, the company itself. The hopeful optimist in me thinks there is a chance this will happen. But the jaded cynic in me knows what Stupid Inc.’s track record is, and doubts these words will actually make one bit of difference.

    Whether or not those in charge at Stupid Inc. heed my words is, at this point, more of an issue for them than for me, as I am moving onward. I do truly hope they do, as that would benefit current and future employees. Regardless of that, in the end I have done what I know is the best thing for me and for my life.

    And with that, I close this chapter of my career.

    Jester Dude
    Last edited by Jester; 02-14-2019, 02:16 PM.

    "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
    Still A Customer."


  • #2
    Welcome back. That said, I see why you left. I'm surprised you stayed as long as you did.
    I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

    Who is John Galt?
    -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

    Comment


    • #3
      So what tack did the owner take? "How dare you imply we're not great owners", "we'll ruin your life", "you just don't have what it takes to understand our genius", or what?

      Comment


      • #4
        Please, please, please post their response to the letter! The optimist in me wants to believe that they actually listened and revised some of their policies.
        "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

        Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

        The Darwin Awards The best site to visit to restore your faith in instant karma.

        Comment


        • #5
          I did something similar when I left my job (years ago) at King of Burgers. Except mine was hand-written. I didn't even really give them a chance to respond. I just moved on.
          Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

          Comment


          • #6
            Man, that really lays it all out. Sounds like a lot of crap went down. I find it hard to believe it's legal for them to pillage your tips that way. WTF, Florida??

            Glad you're out of there, Jester. Maybe they'll take your words to heart and things will improve there, but at least you've moved on.
            When you start at zero, everything's progress.

            Comment


            • #7
              Excellent missive, sir Some of the points in your letter seem to mirror some of the recently-unearthed issues at my job (that they're assuming/hoping the worker bees know nothing about).

              I too would love to hear the owner's response.
              "I am quite confident that I do exist."
              "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

              Comment


              • #8
                Welcome back, sir.

                It would be interesting to hear if your letter has received any notice from the higher-ups of "Stupidity Inc."... do you know of anyone still working in this company and if they've seen any of the issues you've listed being at least looked at?
                "Kamala the Ugandan Giant" 1950-2020 • "Bullet" Bob Armstrong 1939-2020 • "Road Warrior Animal" 1960-2020 • "Zeus" Tiny Lister Jr. 1958-2020 • "Hacksaw" Butch Reed 1954-2021 • "New Jack" Jerome Young 1963-2021 • "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff 1949-2021 • "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton 1958-2021 • Daffney 1975-2021

                Comment


                • #9
                  Sooo......is there a Kitchen Nightmares episode?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    In other news...holy moly you're still around?l thought the combination of Nunavutians and Skytrain riders had finished you off completely....��
                    The Copyright Monster has made me tell you that my avatar is courtesy of the wonderful Alice XZ.And you don't want to annoy the Copyright Monster.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth Kit-Ginevra View Post
                      In other news...holy moly you're still around?l thought the combination of Nunavutians and Skytrain riders had finished you off completely....��
                      I mean, I'm disabled with PTSD so in a sense they did. >.>

                      Sitting at home on the couch wallowing in your own misery with a cat doesn't make for particularly exciting posts though.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I'm sorry to hear that they did that to you, but I'm happy to see that you are still with us even if you are hiding the in shadows.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I'm derailing your thread, Jester~ ;p

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X