is it wrong for a waitress to have to stay an hour past closing time to clean the floor and tables?

Question

only getting paid 3.18 an hour and she has to clean tables and mop the floor usually take an extra hour on school nights to do somtimes has to also clean dishes

Answer 1

Sounds like slave labor to me the business should be closed down . I think thats is ****** up to make a person work for 3 dollars an hour, what is this place running a sweat shop.

Answer 2

As stated, restaurants usually have designated "closers" (who are the last to leave) much like they have "openers" (who come in earlier than the other servers). But, there should be more than one person doing this. The only time I've seen one person do this is when the "closer" was the checkout person - all the other servers had to get their sidework checked out by this person (the penalty for not doing a good job checking out was you had to complete the work). The people eligible for the sole closer role were only experienced veterans of the restaurant and left with the closing mgr.

She should get an early start on her sidework. Usually, an hour before the restaurant closes, her section should be quiet enough to get a headstart on her sidework, in between attentive visits to her remaining tables.

This sounds like a proprietary establishment if she has to mop floors and do dishes (usually this was the bussers job or a 3rd party cleaning crew). As stated earlier, it should be a team of people staying til close to get all of this done (and the work should be limited because the other non-closing servers have sidework). Also, she should not be the closer every shift. She should know about it ahead of time on her schedule. But, as others have stated, if this is a chronic issue that interferes with school, have her find another job.

Answer 3

The question "is it wrong" is worded oddly. It's certainly not unusual to have to stay past closing in the restaurant business, as others have put it's part of sidework, and even though you may only be making the server minimum (or close to it) your tips over the course of the night more than make up for this.

If it wasn't included in the job description, then it's the managers bad. But it certainly is common to have extra work. If working late on school nights is an issue, I believe if they are under a certain age there are laws to protect under-age workers from being worked past 9 or 10 (you'll have to check, I'm sure it varies state to state) and it's an issue that just needs to be discussed with who is doing the scheduling/management during the evening shift.

Recap: No, it's not necessarily 'wrong'. Servers should expect some sidework, it comes with the territory. But if it is an issue, just talk to management, they should understand and be able to work around it.

Answer 4

Absolutly not.
I am what you would typically call a closer.
I am the one that stays later than the rest and does the clean up work .
granted I make 2.35 an hour,but I also get the added benifit of being the last one cut from the floor.
I make quite a good wage when factored in with gratuity.
in fact..... I made 738.62 last week alone, That includes my wage per hour. and guess what folks I only worked 19.5 hours
That is nearly 38 dollars an hour.
so yeah, it sucks being the clean up person but I get paid pretty darn well.
I also work my tail end off.. serving for some of the most generous and also some of the biggest jerks.

*** if you have school other than college then you should not be working that late.
it is far more important to do your school work than it is to be working that late.

Answer 5

It is part of the job for servers. ($3.18? Wow, I only got $3.09.) When I was waiting tables I was frequently the closer. However, when I had my own restaurant the teens had to be out the door by 10 p.m. on school nights. It was the law. Somebody has to clean and put things away and prep, and in my case I still had to do the bookwork. Makes for long nights and tough mornings.

Answer 6

it is completely normal for a waitress to have to do these things but the restaurant should be more understanding if she has school in the morning, maybe she should only work on weekends. And she is not only getting 3.18 an hour, she gets tips right?

Answer 7

"Sidework" is part of the job... Restaurants are low-profit businesses that manage to make money by cheating employees. Labor laws are often broken... There are places that require less time after work. Maybe use your experience to shop around for a better place to work... It's good you're seeing the reality of how badly uneducated employees can be treated. Should give you some incentive to apply yourself at school!!! Do not let ANYTHING get in the way of your schoolwork. Nothing else is as important right now in this dog-eat-dog world.

Answer 8

Being a waiter myself, the "sidework" is part of the job. I open my store 5 times a week and I have to get things ready for the business day. It makes my job harder if I have to clean up after the night crew and to get everything ready for the day. Being a server is not the easiest job in the world. We work hard to make our customers happy even if we aren't. We are at your whim. I have had customers who would treat myself and other co-workers like we were at their beck and call, not caring that we had other customers to take care of, and leave a 2% tip, just because we weren't up to their "standards". We get snapped, whistled, clapped at to serve people. Treat your servers nicely is all I ask. the nicer you are, the better service you will get. Decent tippers will always get the best service, and we all remember who is and who isn't.

Answer 9

Good grief. The other day a waitress said she only made 2.85 an hour!! You two must not live in the USA because that is far below the minimum wage here !! And, if you are being paid to clean, I guess it's justified... but if not, you're working overtime for nothing.

Answer 10

I had to do it years ago & get up all though high school, it was a bummer, but part of the job, but if you can put up with it and hang in there, cause jobs are hard to come by ,it will teach her responsibility and will make her want to keep her grades up so maybe one day she can own a business of her own. Good Luck & hang tough