Blatant favoritism and making more money because of it!

by Anonymous
(US)

At the restaurant I work at the favoritism is blatant. As a waitress you make 2.13 an hour and all of your taxes are taken out of that therefore you never see a paycheck. Your paychecks are always zero. Therefore, the amount of tables and tips you receive in a night is how you make your money. At this restaurant there is a small group of servers that always get all the best tables in a night which at an expensive restaurant can be the difference in making $50 a night verses $150. The management is in charge of seating and while seating is suppose to be a fair arrangement the favorites will get 4 tables at once while other servers wait around hoping to get seated for HOURS. These favorites often get great tables right away and get to leave early while the other servers wait to get the remaining reservations which many times cannot be counted on. There have been several nights where this group of servers get several tables while others in the restaurant get one or two and are in sections in the restaurant that are unfavorable to guests to begin with. When ever anyone not in the group of favorites begins to complain about the treatment it seems that we are given even less tables as this complaining angers management. Also, the members of the favorite group often threaten their fellow servers that they may lose their jobs if they keep complaining because management doesn't like it. TELL ME HOW THIS IS FAIR??? Thank God this isn't my career as I do plan to leave as soon as I finish college. Thank God cuz I can't take much more.

Response from Carl: Thanks for the submission. I wonder if the servers who are favored have this job as a career and aren't planning on leaving anytime soon like you are? Is it possible that the management is taking care of employees they figure will stay with them for the long term? I suspect turnover could be quite high in this sort of position so I wonder if this is the case.

Carl