I worked at Kaze for only three days before I was asked to leave. The first day I was there, I noticed that the place was filthy in the back. I trained with a sweet girl named Brooke. However, Brooke seemed way more interested in playing with her cellphone than in serving the customers.
The final hour I was there, my trainer (Brooke) had to leave, and I was left alone to wait the tables, on my first day! I was not allowed to keep any of the tips (which, I believed, was fair. I was still only in training). The manager, Michael Navarro, was a complete jerk to me, and was completely clueless about anything!
When I arrived for my second day of training, I was told that the first day is volunteer work and I would not be paid for it. I was never informed of this until the second day. I asked if I could see the employee handbook (to verify this. I figured it could've just slipped his mind), and was told that they do not have one.
When Michael was putting me in the computer, I noticed he put my training pay in at $6.50 an hour. Federal minimum is $6.55 an hour. When I pointed that out to Mike, he looked at me and said "Well, the owner says it's $6.50 an hour, so that's what you're gonna get".
On the third day, I realized that I had yet to fill out any paperwork, such as my tax forms and no one had asked to see my ID or birth certificate. So I walked in and asked the manager, "Hey, when will I be filling out my W-4 form? Would you like me to do it now before we open for lunch, or would you prefer I wait until we close at 2?"
He didn't have an answer for me, so I went back up front and began prepping up the soups. Five minutes later, he comes out and tells me to come with him. I follow him to the bar, and he hands me the W-4 form and then proceeds to tell me that they are overstaffed and will no longer be needing my services.
I asked him why, and his response was, "I don't know what you think you know about the laws, but the owner has been sued before and always manages to slip out of it"
I took that as a mild threat, and intimidation. Basically, I would not go back there, and I think they may be doing illegal practices. I'm just trying to save other people considering this place for employment to not do it. You will be ripped-off and mistreated.
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