Pizza Hut RGM posted a handwritten notice on Oct. 14 that informed all employees of the "from now" need to wear proper uniform, (hat, name tag, shirt tucked in, black slacks. Employees were to arrive on time for their shifts. Failure to adhere to this notice would result in write-ups and termination.
Several employees were written up that day for tardiness, I was one of them. The RGM told us he had thrown away all our past tardiness write-ups, and we were starting fresh.
In the five years I worked at this store, management went from telling us it was ok if we were five min late to threatening to fire us if we weren't on time. Wishy-washy. We were also allowed to call in if we had a delay without being written up. "Just call and let us know" was what we were told.
Due to cuts in labor cost, the schedule had become erratic with weird times like 11:15 and 10:45. We were used to at least a thirty minute round off.
I was written up on Oct 14 when the notice was posted. Ok. Whatever. On Oct 15 I was written up again. I thought I had read the schedule to be 11:30. But it was the next day that said that time. I was scheduled at 11:15. Aargh! The managers didn't even say anything to me when I arrived at what I thought was early (11:23). They waited until after my shift to write me up.
I tried to explain to three different managers that I had misread the schedule. The first two shrugged "sorry" and the RGM told me in front of many other employees, "If you are late again, you'll be fired." End of conversation.
On Oct 27, I lost my car keys and called in to let them know I was running late because of it. The managers were too busy to come to the phone, so I gave the message to the CSR up front. This was a common practise, tell whoever you can...
In the time between Oct 14 and Oct 29 (the date I was fired) two other employees were late every evening for their shift. They were not written up. The managers changed their times. They even asked the employees to say they had called, whether they did or not.
I was suspended pending termination on Oct 28, sent home. The RGM told me to come in and talk about it the next day.
I arrived ready for work on Oct 29. The CSR mentioned above had bend told by the RGM that he would accept my excuse of Oct 27.
The district manager and the RGM had a secluded meeting with me. The DM asked me questions regarding my tardiness and the relativity it had with the expectations of an employer. I listened and answered the best I could. I ended up having to say yes to most of the questions. They were a little twisted, but I thought I was home free, what the heck.
Nothing was said about termination until the paper was copied and signed by all three of us. Then the RGM looks at me and says, "well, we've decided to terminate you."
What the heck. I was asked to sign the termination paper. It wasn't required, wouldn't keep me hired, so I signed. Sigh.
The two chronically late employees weren't fired until Nov 2 and I had complained about it.
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